 |  |
No Tie Zone: Harvard Rolls to Championship
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Courtesy of the Associated PressIn a battle of Ivy League unbeatens, Harvard and quarterback Chris Pizzotti wasted little time turning the 124th meeting of The Game into The Rout on Saturday.
Pizzotti had three of his career-high four touchdown passes in the first half to lead the Crimson (8-2, 7-0) to their 12th conference title with 37-6 win over archrival Yale. Harvard shredded the league's top defense to spoil Yale's bid for a perfect season.
The Bulldogs (9-1, 6-1) were looking for their first undefeated season since 1960. Their last three tries at an unblemished record - 1968, 1974 and 1979 - were derailed by Harvard. And it was clear almost from the start this wouldn't be the Bulldogs' day either.
The Crimson hobbled Yale's ground game and pressured quarterback Matt Polhemus all afternoon. Harvard cornerback Steven Williams had two interceptions, setting a school mark for season picks with 16. Polhemus completed just 2 of 18 attempts and was sacked twice.
Yale's leading rusher Mike McLeod, who came in averaging 174 yards a game, was held to 50, ending his conference-record streak of 18 straight games with a score.
Pizzotti threw for 316 yards and his 27 attempts were also a career best. He came out throwing and the strategy paid off quickly, setting the tone for the rest of the game. He completed 3 of 4 passes in an opening 69-yard drive, hitting wide-open Matt Luft streaking into the right side of the end zone for a 40-yard score just over 1 minute into the game.
Luft and Pizzotti hooked up again for another score with 1:18 left in the first quarter. Luft managed to slip behind two Yale defenders and pulled in a 33-yard scoring pass to give Harvard a 13-0 lead. Just like that the Bulldogs' stingy defense, which had held opponents to an average of 11 points, had given up as many in the first 15 minutes as it had in the last two games.
Harvard was far from finished.
Tailback Cheng Ho capped a 60-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run with 9:34 left in the first half. Yale's next drive sputtered and a high snap to punter Tom Mante sent him scrambling and he was tackled at the Yale 15. Pizzotti found reserve wideout Mike Cook in the end zone on the very next play and the Crimson lead ballooned to 27-0.
The one bright spot in the half for Yale came on defense. With Harvard threatening again from the Yale 1, the Bulldogs held firm as time expired and ran into the locker room pumping their fists, finally enlivening the crowd of 57,248 at the Yale Bowl.
But it wouldn't get much better for the home team. Patrick Long added a 19-yard field goal for Harvard in the third quarter and Pizzotti hit tight end Jason Miller for a 5-yard score early in the fourth quarter.
Yale finally scored when Gio Chistodoulou broke loose for an 87-yard punt return with 4:15 left in the game.
Elsewhere around the Ivy League:
Connor Louden kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give Princeton a 17-14 victory after Dartmouth drove 85 yards to tie the score as regulation time ended. Jon Stem set up Louden's winning kick when he recovered a fumble by Nate Servis on the second play of the extra session. Dartmouth forced overtime when Tom Bennewitz, who had 27-for-56 passing, good for 276 yards, engineered a 12-play touchdown drive in the final 64 seconds. He hit Phil Galligan on a 6-yard touchdown pass as the fourth period ended and Andrew Kempler kicked the extra point to make it 14-14.
Bobby Sewall ran for 83 yards, caught 12 passes for 83 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Brown to a 30-22 victory at Columbia. The Lions had rallied from a 21-0 deficit to close to 24-22 with 19 straight points in the third and early fourth quarters. Craig Hormann started the Columbia rally with a nine-yard scoring pass to Nico Gutierrez. Hormann was 35-for-55 for 326 yards.
Bryan Walker scored three touchdowns and passed for another -- and freshman tailback Michael DiMaggio gained 94 yards on 23 carries and ran for a score -- as Penn defeated Cornell 45-9. The Quakers had built a 45-0 lead late in the fourth quarter before the Big Red got on the board.
RUSHING
95--Bryan Walker, Penn (16)
94--Michael DiMaggio, Penn (23)
85--Milan Williams, Dartmouth (14)
80--Bobby Sewall, Brown (23)
72--Brian Anderson, Princeton (15)
PASSING
326--Craig Hormann, Columbia (35-55)
316--Chris Pizzotti, Harvard (27-41)
276--Tom Bennewitz, Dartmouth (27-56)
254--Michael Dougherty, Brown (27-40)
186--Brian Anderson, Princeton (16-21)
RECEIVING
160--Matt Luft, Harvard (8)
150--Brett Lowe, Dartmouth (10)
118--Austin Knowlin, Columbia (11)
83--Bobby Sewall, Brown (12)
79--Paul Raymond, Brown (6)
