Football Topples Cornell, 29-13, to Become Only Undefeated Ivy

A single guarantee defined the Harvard-Cornell football matchup this Saturday—that at the end of the afternoon, exactly one team would emerge as the lone unbeaten in the Ivy League.

Buoyed by a come-from-behind win over No. 25 Colgate last weekend, the Big Red had all the momentum on its side. Meanwhile the Crimson had all the history, namely a 10-game win streak in head-to-head play.

So what happened when an unstoppable force met an immovable object? The answer, which has now approached the level of cliché, is that Harvard football won. In this case, the defense grabbed three interceptions, junior running back Semar Smith recorded three touchdowns, and the Crimson (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) powered to a 29-13 victory.

“I love playing Harvard because they’ve really set the bar, in my opinion, for Ivy League football for the last couple years,” Cornell coach David Archer said. “We love to play the best.”

On an afternoon of long possessions, none was more important than the one that Harvard mounted at the start of the fourth quarter. Up 23-7, the Crimson needed an extended scoring push to pull away from the Big Red (3-1, 1-1 Ivy). And over five minutes, the hosts did just that.

Starting from its own 40, Harvard pushed to the Cornell four over 11 plays. Then Smith plunged into the end zone for a three-possession lead.

During the drive, senior halfback Anthony Firkser grabbed three passes for 37 yards, including a huge third-down conversion near midfield. He ended with 90 yards on eight receptions, showcasing the combination of sticky hands and 230-pound power that has made the senior a potential NFL prospect.

“Guys are just working hard,” Firkser said. “Every play that they’re in, they’re giving their all for whatever their job is on the team. Things are just coming together well at the start of the season.”

If Firkser headlined the passing game, then safety Tanner Lee headlined the defense. On Cornell’s first drive of the second quarter, the junior stepped in front of a third-down throw in Harvard territory for the interception. He repeated the feat in the third period, hauling in an end-zone pick.

However, the most dramatic turnover came on the first play from scrimmage. Big Red quarterback Dalton Banks fired over the middle and could only watch as the ball bounced off the pads of his receiver and into the arms of sophomore linebacker Anthony Camargo.

The Crimson started from the eight, and two plays later, Viviano found Firkser just across the goal line.

“It’s tremendous momentum when you pick the first play of the game off down to your scoring territory,” Archer said. “I was proud of our kids [that] we fought back and tied it up.”

Those opening points were the rare case of someone other than Smith recording the score. On 19 carries, the junior totaled 71 yards and, yes, three touchdowns.

His second trip to the end zone came at the start of the second half, when Harvard restarted play with an 80-yard drive. On first-and-goal from the six, offensive linemen Larry Allen, Jr. and Tim O’Brien parted the Cornell defense, and Smith strolled in untouched.

At times the Big Red front line demonstrated similar prowess, giving Banks extended amounts of time to throw. He averaged over 13 yards per completion.

And as well as Lee otherwise played, he was on the losing end of the Big Red’s first score. Earlier that drive, which started at the Cornell 24, the junior had gotten away with a push on a long throw down the middle.

But with three minutes left in the first quarter, karma came calling. As Banks pump-faked a screen to the outside, senior wide receiver Ben Rogers sprinted past Lee. The 41-yard throw arrived right as Rogers crossed the goal line to knot the score at 7-7.

Harvard responded with grit—an 80-yard drive that took four minutes. Viviano rushed for 36 yards, and junior running back Semar Smith punctuated the march with a four-yard shimmy to regain the lead.

“They run a lot of different defenses,” Viviano said. “Today they were bringing a lot of different pressures, so I was trying to get the ball out quick, get it to our skill guys who could then make plays.”

The hosts had a chance to distance themselves further late in the third quarter, when Harvard marched into the red zone. Facing a third-and-six, the Crimson motioned two receivers across the line, clearing half the field for Firkser to beat his man and catch the ball in the end zone.

Then a bizarre scene ensued. As the Harvard band celebrated, the umpires called back the score on the grounds of illegal motioning. Not even a furious Viviano could reverse the call, and the Crimson settled for a 31-yard field goal by Jake McIntyre, the longest of the freshman’s career.

The missed opportunity hardly proved fatal. While Banks added a second touchdown toss to Rogers, those points came late in the fourth quarter. More, the Crimson regrouped by recovering the following onside kick.

The only major mistake for Harvard came with 11 minutes left in the second quarter, when Murphy drew up a trick end-around pass. Sophomore wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley swept behind the line, Firkser slipped behind the secondary, but the surprise throw came out wobbly. Cornell safety Nick Gesualdi tracked the ball and leapt up for the interception.

The fact that the Crimson didn’t commit more turnovers testified to the team’s blitz-stopping ability. While the Big Red brought pressure throughout the day, the Harvard offensive line—which returned senior left tackle Max Rich after a week of inactivity—mostly handled these waves of bodies.

Only with three minutes left in the second quarter did the dam break. At that point, a blindside blitz from Gesualdi resulted in a brutal shin-level hit on Viviano.

As it turned out, the pain was temporary: The quarterback remained in the contest, as mobile as ever. For the fourth straight week, nothing—not even a motivated Cornell program—could keep Harvard on the ground for too long.

“We’ve established that we’re a gritty team,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “There will be a lot of games like this. There will be games tougher than this. From a character standpoint, we’re really pleased.”

–Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.