NOTEBOOK: Fourth Quarter Comeback Propels Harvard to Victory

PHILADELPHIA— With 15 minutes left on the clock, the Harvard football team found itself in unfamiliar territory. Trailing in the second half for the first time since week two, the Crimson (9-0, 6-0 Ivy) needed to mount a fourth quarter comeback to defeat Penn (1-8, 1-5).

Harvard found itself on the right side of a 17-10 lead at halftime, but a weak third quarter for the Crimson saw the team’s chances of clinching a share of the Ivy title seemingly slip away.

Stalled by the Penn defense, the Crimson went 0-for-3 on third down conversions and could only manage 11 yards of offense through the first 13 minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Quakers added a pair of touchdown scores as the home team gained a 24-17 by the end of the quarter.

But buoyed by 27-yard completion to end the third, the Crimson rattled off 17 unanswered points in the fourth to regain the lead and keep its undefeated season intact.

“We didn’t even feel like we needed to change scheme or anything,” said senior defensive end Zack Hodges. “We knew this would be a battle, and if we did what we were supposed to do, we would come out where we were supposed to be.”

Senior kicker Andrew Flesher threaded the posts on a 38-yard field goal attempt to cut the Quakers’ lead to four two minutes into the final quarter. The Harvard defense stalled Penn on its next drive, and Harvard only needed three plays on its ensuing possession to score another touchdown. A 28-yard reception by senior tight end Ty Hamblin gave the Crimson a lead it would not relinquish in the final ten minutes of play.

RUN, STANTON, RUN

With a career night on the ground, junior running back Paul Stanton Jr. spearheaded the Crimson’s offensive charge, amassing 235 rushing yards—the fourth-best single-game total in school history.

Stanton got Harvard off to a quick start with its first touchdown less than 90 seconds into the contest. A short Penn punt gave the Crimson good field position, and Stanton took the handoff on the first play of the drive, running in for a 42-yard score.

Midway through the second quarter, with Harvard trailing, 10-7, Stanton added another touchdown on the second play of the drive with a 75-yard carry to help the Crimson regain the lead. His 173 rushing yards in the first half nearly passed his previous career-high total of 180 yards on the ground.

And it didn’t stop there. With the Crimson in desperate need of momentum in the second half, Stanton came up with big run after big run, pushing a stalled Harvard offense down the field. The junior added another touchdown in fourth quarter with a 14-yard carry to give the Crimson a two-possession cushion heading into the final six minutes of play.

“I knew I had to get in, just to finish the game off,” said Stanton of his last scoring drive. “We always talk about finishing the game off. We knew this would be a tough game going in. We knew we had the ability to finish, we just had to go out there and play.”

SWAN SONG

It may not have been the storybook ending he was hoping for, but Penn head coach Al Bagnoli still walked off Franklin Field on Saturday as one of the Ivy League’s all-time winningest coaches.

In his final home game, Bagnoli’s Quakers gave the Crimson everything they had, but couldn’t give the veteran coach one final win.

But the loss could hardly mar the record of one of the Ivy League’s most storied coaches. Bagnoli lead the Quakers to 111 Ivy wins over his 23-year tenure at the helm of the Penn program. Only Carmen Cozza—whose 32 years spent as head coach of Yale Bulldogs spanned 1965 to 1996—has more wins against Ancient Eight programs.

“He is the standard by which they will measure all coaches in this league this this era,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “What they’ve done in two-plus decades is absolutely remarkable. His and their body of work is just amazing.”

Penn’s 1-8 record during its 2014 campaign is a far cry from the success the program has had over the past 23 years. Bagnoli coached the Quakers to an overall record of 147-80 while at the helm of the program and led Penn to nine Ivy titles—more than any Ivy program has in its history.

—Staff writer Brenna R. Nelsen can be reached at brenna.nelsen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @CrimsonBRN.