NOTEBOOK: Big Plays Carry Crimson to Victory Over Lafayette

Third down was not the charm for the Harvard football team on Saturday.

The Crimson (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) had to rely on record-setting plays and good field position to remain undefeated, as it converted just three of its 16 attempts on third down en route to a 24-14 win over Lafayette (3-4, 1-1 Patriot) at Harvard Stadium.

“The kids hung in there, we found a way to win,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. ”We have so many areas we can improve. The only thing we're completely happy with is the intangibles, the effort, the attitude, the grit...find[ing] the way to win.”

One of those successful third-down attempts came on a third-and-20 midway through the second quarter, when Harvard was backed up to its own 22-yard line. Junior quarterback Scotty Hosch found junior wideout Andrew Fischer on a quick screen, and Fischer, behind two blocks by tight ends, blew past the Lafayette defense to run 78 yards down the left sideline for the score.

Fischer’s touchdown was Harvard’s first of the game and gave the Crimson a 10-0 lead.

Another third down that saw Harvard move the chains was on a drive at the end of the half that led to junior running back Paul Stanton’s 43-yard breakout run to score, tying his longest of the season.

The Crimson failed to convert on any third downs outside of the second quarter, when it scored 14 points, and relied on two fourth-down conversions to keep its field-goal scoring drive alive.

“We’ve been fortunate the last couple of games on fourth down on those calls,” Murphy said. “The bottom line is [that] we’d like to be a team that doesn’t have to go for it on fourth down very often and just do a better job on third down.”

Lafayette didn’t have much more luck on third down—the Leopards moved the chains on just five of 17 third downs.

IN THE RED

Despite putting up 440 offensive yards to Harvard’s 367 and making it to the red zone three times, Lafayette’s offensive unit only put up points on one opportunity.

After captain defensive back Norman Hayes brought down Leopards tailback Ross Scheuerman in the backfield to set up a third and long, kicker Ryan Gralish missed a field goal attempt from 41 yards to keep Lafayette scoreless heading into the break.

The Leopards’ best opportunity to score came late in the third quarter, when backup quarterback Blake Searfoss led the squad 78 yards down the field. Then the Harvard defense cracked down. A pitch to Scheuerman resulted in a loss of yardage, and an attempted touchdown pass to wideout Matt Mrazek was tipped by junior linebacker Scott Peters to fall incomplete. Lafayette elected to attempt a 26-yard field goal, but this kick soared wide right as well.

“The coaches had us exactly prepared for what they like to do in the red zone, especially on third down,” Peters said. “Just overall, [assistant] coach [Scott] Larkee designed some really good schemes for us down there, and it’s working out so far in the season.”

The Leopards’ lone touchdown before the fourth quarter came off a pick-six, when corner Phillip Parnam jumped Fischer’s route to intercept Hosch.

NOTHING FISCHY

With senior wide receiver Seitu Smith out for the game, Fischer picked up the slack. The junior was Hosch’s favorite target of the day, catching six passes for 107 yards, including the long score that made it into the record books as the eighth-longest passing score in Harvard history.

“We pride ourselves a lot on stepping up when people go down,” Fischer said. “I took it upon myself to execute as well as I could and perform as well as I could.”

Fischer also became the team’s go-to kick and punt returner, a role normally shared with Smith. On the kicks that he returned, Fischer averaged over 40 yards to put Harvard in prime field position for scoring. The wideout also recorded 19 yards on four carries.

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samantha.lin@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @Linsamnity.