Harvard Football

Certain schools develop more NFL talent than others: the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, LSU Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, USC Trojans and...the Harvard Crimson?

Well, the Ivy League institution isn't on the same level as those traditional pipeline schools, but head coach Tim Murphy's program is well on its way to becoming a must-stop for team scouts each and every fall.

Last season, six former members of the Crimson were counted among NFL rosters. The other seven Ivy League programs combined to produce seven.

Four more Harvard products will join that previous number during draft weekend.

Tight end Ben Braunecker and right tackle Cole Toner are expected to be drafted at some point during the three-day event, while fellow offensive linemen Anthony Fabiano and Adam Redmond will likely sign contracts as undrafted free agents.

The increased level of talent shows consistent growth within the program.

During Murphy's first 19 seasons as head coach, only three players were selected in the NFL draft. Center Matt Birk went on to become one of the NFL's best offensive linemen during his 14-year career. Linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski played seven seasons after being a fourth-round selection by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2000 NFL draft. And quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick just posted the best season of his career with the New York Jets.

What Murphy successfully accomplished during his 22 years as head coach was build a consistent and winning program while operating within stringent standards at one of the nation's most recognizable academic institutions.

As a result, the program has experienced a recent surge in NFL-caliber talent.

"I won't say we've peaked," Murphy said, "but we've gotten to the point where the NFL is fairly familiar with us and vice versa."

With the recent influx of talent, the NFL is showing more interest in the program. The coach and his players certainly noticed a difference.

"We do," Murphy said. "It's not like we're discussing a 180-degree difference. The bottom line is we've done a very solid job evaluating, recruiting and developing Division I football players.

"If you look at a lot of these guys including the starters [from Harvard] in the NFL last year, they weren't highly recruited kids by Power Five conference standards. They developed to the point where they became NFL-caliber players. We're grateful those types of kids are interested in our program. We're grateful we're getting kids who are legitimate student-athletes, want to get a world-class education and, if they're good enough, have an opportunity to play at the next level."

It's part of a trend where traditional academic schools are drawing more interest from recruits. In recent years, programs such as the Stanford Cardinal, Duke Blue Devils and Northwestern Wildcats have experienced a resurgence.

The only major difference between those schools and Harvard is the Crimson play at the FCS level instead of FBS. High academic standards are no longer seen as a hindrance, though.

Old stereotypes aren't nearly as prevalent or perpetuated by pop culture. Thirty years ago, movies with the "dumb jock" running around yelling "Nerrrrds!" were popular. Today's young athlete sees other athletes and entertainers who are highly successful in business ventures and areas outside their chosen professions on a daily basis.

Most understand the chances of making it to the professional ranks aren't in their favor. Academics are important. The delineation between the student and athlete in student-athlete may be growing in certain areas of the sport, but the increased overall interest in programs with reputable academics can't be denied.

"I don't think there is any question about it," Murphy said. "In a perfect world, kids want to have their cake and eat it too, so to speak. It seems like a fair number of recruits have a strong interest in Harvard, because they feel if they're good enough, they can still pursue their sport's highest level.

"They realize the odds are against them. At best, they realize they'll be in their 30s and have to work 30 more years. Why not get a world-class education with a balanced collegiate experience? They try to have it all."

However, there's still a lingering stigma as it pertains to Harvard students who are trying to make it in the NFL.

The recent influx of Crimson talent started three years ago when the Baltimore Ravens selected tight end/fullback Kyle Juszczyk in the fourth round. Teammates labeled Juice—as his friends refer to him—as the "Harvard guy."

"It came up every day and still does," he admitted. "The name carries a certain weight behind it. It was more so as a rookie I became the 'Harvard guy' since Matt Birk recently left. It certainly came up pretty much every day.

"I don't think it was held against me. It's an easy target for a young player."

Juszczyk developed into one of the game's top fullbacks, but he started as the leader of a talented tight end room.

During his senior campaign, four future NFL players were sitting in the same positional meetings. Cameron Brate followed Juszczyk and currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tyler Ott doubled as Harvard's long snapper and continues to do so for the New York Giants. Braunecker will be the next to enter the professional ranks.

Harvard has become a true tight end factory.

"I take a lot of pride being the first guy to lead the way," Juszczyk said. "My former teammates reached out to me with questions as they went through the process. I'm happy to help them out."

The reason that tight end, in particular, has been so successful coming out of Murphy's program is that the head coach also serves as position coach, which gives the team's tight ends a better overall understanding of the entire offense.

"We're a tight end-heavy offense with two and sometimes three on the field," Juszczyk explained. "We don't ever take the tight ends off the field. We play all positions: on the line, in the backfield and out wide.

"With Coach Murphy as our position coach, we learned the entire offense. On film, we didn't just watch the offense. We had to know every position. This was huge in our development. It gave us the type of versatility to play in any spot."

Braunecker might be the first one drafted among his teammates this year, but it goes beyond the tight end position. Birk previously proved a Crimson lineman can have a long and successful NFL career. Nick Easton currently serves as a backup offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings.

The reason behind the success of these two particular positions is the coaching staff's ability to identify unearthed talent.

"Those positions include guys who can develop," Murphy said. "If you look at running backs, cornerbacks and wide receivers in the NFL, the skill level is so high. It's not unlike recruiting high-level basketball players. You see who the biggest and most explosive guys are in the ninth and 10th grades. That's not necessarily the case for offensive linemen, tight ends or H-backs. You take a good athlete, and those guys can be developed."

Clearly, the Crimson coaching staff has been successful at doing so, and it stays close with all of these players when they leave the program. According to Murphy, the entire group of athletes met last Friday in New York City for dinner.

This remains beneficial for those players who are still in the program. Braunecker explained how the success of those former teammates helped him through his predraft experience.

School	Number of prospects
Brown	3
Columbia	1
Cornell	4
Dartmouth	2
Harvard	4
Penn	3
Princeton	3
Yale	4

"As far as the transition to the NFL, Cam and Juice have made it easier, because it's now not as risky to pick an Ivy League or Harvard tight end for the NFL," the incoming tight end said. "Scouts and coaches know we can produce."

Harvard's NFL success extends beyond the gridiron into NFL boardrooms.

The Cleveland Browns have four prominent front-office executives who graduated from the school. Sashi Brown serves as the executive vice president of football operations. Kevin Meers heads up the analytics staff as the director of football research. Andrew Berry, who is only 28 years old, is the general manager. And former baseball executive Paul DePodesta was named the organization's chief strategy officer in January.

The latter two played for Murphy early in the coach's tenure.

"DePodesta was only with us a short period of time," Murphy said. "He was a great kid, really smart and a hard worker.

"I think anyone who came into contact with Andrew Berry really thought he was special. Not so much as a smart guy, even though he's an extraordinarily smart guy—he was arguably the best cornerback to ever play at Harvard. He was a tremendous football player and borderline NFL talent. He was the hardest-working kid we've ever seen. That says a lot, because our kids are tremendously hardworking. But his leadership, tenacity and humility really stood out."

With leaders on and off the field, Harvard graduates are now more likely to be considered by the NFL than at any point during the program's history.

With four potential draftees in this year's class, the Crimson could experience a couple of firsts in the program's history. At no point in the modern draft era have four Harvard products been selected in a three-year period. Also, the NFL has never selected more than two Harvard players in a single draft.

For a program that is geared toward academics, this is a special group of athletes.

Ben Braunecker

When the NFL combine officially arrived in late February, the Harvard product wasn't considered a top tight end prospect. Scouts noticed Braunecker once he took the field, though.

The 6'3", 250-pound target absolutely crushed his workout. He finished among the top five in every category for his position.

"Honestly, I wasn't necessarily pleased with my numbers, because none of them were personal bests," the Ferdinand, Indiana, native said of his effort in Indianapolis. "I think it was partly due to the sleep-deprived grind of the combine plus all of the media attention. I wasn't nervous on the field, per se, but I just had to wait around a lot to be on camera. It's just more of a media spectacle than an evaluation process on the final day."

Event	Result	Rank among TEs
40-yard dash	4.73	5th
Bench press	20	3rd
Vertical jump	35.5"	2nd
Broad jump	10'1"	2nd
3-cone	6.90	2nd
20-yard shuttle	4.20	2nd
60-yard shuttle	11.32	1st

He actually improved both his 40-yard dash to 4.66 seconds and vertical jump to 37.5 inches at Harvard's pro day, according to NFL.com's Gil Brandt.

His workouts only accentuated a solid collegiate career. During his senior campaign, Braunecker led the team with 48 receptions for 850 yards and eight touchdowns.

However, the high school wide receiver had to grown into the position before he really got a chance to shine.

"He was more of a projection," Murphy said. "He came out of a very small school in Indiana and wasn't highly recruited. We felt he was an undervalued kid. When you turned over the rocks to find information, you found out he was almost a 60-foot shot putter as a wide receiver. We put two and two together and thought he would grow into an H-back or tight end, which he did. He went from 215 pounds as a freshman to 250 pounds as a senior and became an explosive, really outstanding H-back.

Braunecker—or "Bronk" as he came to be known—is also a standout in the classroom. He has one more semester to complete to graduate with a degree in molecular and cellular biology with aspirations of one day studying infectious diseases. While this should be applauded, NFL organizations always question a prospect's commitment to the sport if other options are available.

"I get those questions," he admitted, "because the coaches and scouts want to make sure I'm committed to football. I got a feel for that when I was interviewed at the combine. As long as I can assure them I'm here to play in the NFL, be a dedicated player and put my academic career off until after football, they are then all business and know I'm ready to play in the NFL."

Teams such as the Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots are all business, since each organization sent its tight end coach to work out the versatile target.

In what's considered a weak tight end class overall, Braunecker should be counted among the top five prospects at his position and a mid-round possibility. And he might not be the only one from his program selected during the draft's third day.

Cole Toner

The Crimson's front five served as the strength of the offense last season.

"Our offensive line with the three stars we fielded were probably better than most—if not all—Big Ten offensive lines," Braunecker said. "I truly believe that, and I've heard as much from NFL scouts."

Toner is considered the top prospect from the talented front. The Greenwood, Indiana, native became a starter as a freshman when he played both right and left tackle before he secured a spot on the strong side over the next three seasons. The collegiate offensive tackle also worked out as a guard and prepared to play center during the predraft process.

The Patriots, Texans and Indianapolis Colts put the offensive lineman through workouts prior to the draft.

Category	Result
Height	6'5"
Weight	306
Arm length	33 1/8
Bench press	22
40-yard dash	5.32
Broad jump	8'7"
3-cone drill	7.88
20-yard shuttle	4.59

Toner came a long way after not receiving any scholarship offers from top schools in Big Ten country. Harvard benefited by envisioning his potential.

"We thought we had a steal," Murphy said. "He felt he was under-recruited to an extent. He was a relatively lean kid to be considered a Power Five conference lineman.

"But he developed just like we thought he would. He's a tough kid and a very good athlete—a high school basketball player. At 6'6", he became our prototypical offensive tackle."

Toner still isn't a finished product, but he reached the point where he could compete at the Reese's Senior Bowl with some of the best talent this year's draft class has to offer.

"Did I have the best week of anyone there? No," Toner said. "But [my performance] proved to a lot of teams and scouts that I deserved to be there. I proved to myself that as long as I keep working, getting stronger and honing my craft, I'll be a better football player and ready to go."

Some NFL organization will see the same potential in Toner as Murphy once did, and he's not the only Harvard offensive lineman with enough upside to be drafted. 

Anthony Fabiano

Depending on how teams view Fabiano's recent medical history, a third member of the Crimson could be selected on the final day of the draft. 

The guard dealt with severe turf toe during his senior campaign that required offseason surgery, according to DraftInsider.net's Tony Pauline.

"If Fabs didn't get hurt, he would have been a draftable player," Murphy said. "I still think he is. At 305 pounds, he can play multiple positions. If possible, he'll run a sub-five-second 40-yard dash. We think he has tremendous upside."

Fabiano didn't quite break five seconds in the 40-yard dash during Harvard's pro day. He was close, though. The economics major provided a 5.01-second effort, according to NFL.com.

The 6'3", 303-pound offensive lineman posted a 32.5-inch vertical and a 9-foot broad jump. Considering he recently required toe surgery, his performance in the change-of-direction drills is even more impressive. Fabiano registered a 7.41-second three-cone drill and a 4.42-second short shuttle. Both of those times would have finished among the top five combine performances among offensive linemen.

The Massachusetts native also participated in a workout with the Patriots alongside Braunecker, Toner and one more teammate. 

Adam Redmond

Redmond found himself in Foxborough trying to impress the Patriots' staff. It wasn't his only visit. 

The Ohio native discussed predraft obstacles with the Akron Beacon Journal's Nate Ulrich prior to a local workout with the Cleveland Browns:

I'm not getting written about, I'm not on draft blogs or anything like that, which is fine. But I need to take advantage of every opportunity. I think that is what separates those high-ranked guys and guys like me. I might only get one shot, so I need to take advantage of that. ...

It doesn't matter to me if I'm drafted or signed or offered a minicamp tryout spot. I feel like I can impress once I get there.

Redmond might not be drafted, but his versatility should provide him an opportunity to play in the NFL. The 6'6", 301-pound lineman became a starter at left tackle going into his sophomore campaign. By his senior season, the coaching staff moved him inside to center, where he captured first-team All-Ivy League honors.

Changing of the Guard

Imagine this possibility: Harvard could have more players selected in the 2016 NFL draft than traditional powerhouses such as the Texas Longhorns, Nebraska Cornhuskers and Wisconsin Badgers. Teams will strongly consider two or three members of the Crimson, while those other programs might only see one or two of their products drafted.

Now, this isn't to say Harvard will overtake those schools or any other program as one of the premier football factories in America. However, recruits who value a rich academic tradition and a strong football background no longer need to look beyond the Ivy League to have the best of both worlds.

"One thing we say to our kids all of the time: 'Do something you love in life, because your generation will work a long time. Do something you really enjoy,'" Murphy said. "For a lot of those guys, they have a passion for football. Everyone knows Harvard is a great school, but a lot of people are surprised to find out we have the largest Division I athletic program on the planet. We have 42 Division I varsity sports.

"Even though academics are by far the No. 1 priority, athletics are a really important part of our culture and community."

All quotes and visit information obtained firsthand by Brent Sobleski, who covers the NFL and NFL draft for Bleacher Report, unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.

This season, the Princeton Tigers are playing with a new confidence and appear to have bought into the program laid out by head coach Bob Surace. But, extending back to last season, Harvard has won 14 straight games.

Given the recent history between the two teams, many would mark the upcoming game against Princeton as win No. 15.

In what will be the 105th meeting between the two schools, Princeton currently leads in the series, 52-45-7 historically, but the Tigers have found it difficult to defeat the Crimson in recent years.

Harvard is currently riding a winning streak of five straight against Princeton and have won 14 of the last 16 games against the Tigers.

"We've been on a pretty good run," said Harvard head coach Tim Murphy (as reported by Peter May of the New York Times on NYTimes.com). "As a team, we're focused on what we always do: be successful on and off the field."

Last year's game was a forgettable one for Surace, who saw Harvard throw for more than 400 yards and five touchdowns on their way to a 56-39 win. But this season appears to be different for the Tigers, who are currently riding a three-game winning streak of their own.

Harvard is coming off a 35-7 victory over Bucknell last weekend, while Princeton's home fans delighted in a shutout of Brown, 17-0.

The game will tax the Princeton defense, as Harvard's senior QB Colton Chapple (94-of-141 for 1,371 yards and 13 TDs) is expected to sling the ball around the field this weekend, when he's not busy handing off to dynamic running back Treavor Scales (516 yards and 7 TDs).

Coach Surace calls (as quoted by Jay Greenberg on PrincetonTigersFootball.com)  the senior running back simply, "the best running back I have seen on film."

Princeton has had success this year with a stingy defense and a balanced offensive attack that has gelled with the use of a two-quarterback system. Starter Connor Michelsen has led the aerial attack from the quarterback position, while Quinn Epperly has been more of the runner. Running could be difficult this week against Harvard, which currently ranks No. 1 in rushing defense in the FCS.

"You won't run the ball on us," said DE Zach Hodges (per Peter May of the New York Times). "We won't let that happen."

The league-leading Harvard defense will be without DB Colton Lynch this weekend, due to a rule violation. Lynch was suspended (in accordance with Rule 9, Section 6, Article 2 of the 2011-2012 NCAA Football Rules) for a helmet-to-helmet hit last weekend during the victory over Bucknell.

Game Time: 1pm, Oct. 20, Princeton Stadium, Princeton, N.J. Television:  ESPN3

Cambridge, Mass. – Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti (Reading, Mass.) is this week’s recipient of the New England Football Writer’s Gold Helmet Award, presented Wednesday at the New England Football Writers luncheon at Harvard’s Dillon Fieldhouse.

Pizzotti threw for a career-high 376 yards and four touchdowns – all in the first half – as Harvard topped Columbia on Saturday, 42-28. In the process, Pizzotti moved past former teammate and current Cincinnati Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick into second place on Harvard’s all-time passing yardage list (5,410). Pizzotti completed 25 of 40 passes in the without an interception against the Lions and has thrown just one interception in his last seven games.

Pizzotti, who is 18-2 as a starter in his career, has 15 touchdown passes this season which is the sixth-highest total in school history. He is just one TD pass out of third, two passes from second and three behind Neil Rose ’03, who had 18 passes in 2000.

With his 25 completions against Columbia, Pizzotti moved into second place on Harvard’s single season list with 165, surpassing his old mark of 164 set last season. He stands one completion shy of 400 for his career.

The Gold Helmet award is the third career helmet for Pizzotti. Two weeks ago, teammate Eric Schultz (Alpharetta, Ga.) earned the award. 

No. 19-ranked Harvard is back on the road this weekend, looking for their seventh straight win in a pivotal contest at Penn. The two teams are tied with Brown atop the Ivy League standings – all with 4-1 league records.  

2008 Boston Globe Gold Helmet Weekly Winners

Date                      Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)            Division II/III

Sept. 3                  Tony Nelson, RB, UMass                                          Travis Poole, WR, American Int’l

Sept. 10                Liam Coen, QB, UMass                                             Jeff Mack, RB, Plymouth State

Sept. 17                R.J. Toman, QB, New Hampshire                              DeRon Brown, RB, MIT

Sept. 24                Buddy Farnham, WR, Brown                                      Bruce Rich, QB, Framingham State

Oct. 1                    Nate Thellen, FS, Northeastern                                Jim Bower, RB, Maine Maritime

Oct. 8                    Derek Cassidy, QB, Rhode Island                             J.T. Harold, RB, UMass Dartmouth

Oct. 15                  Dominic Randolph, QB, Holy Cross                           Luke St. Marie, RB, Saint Anselm

Oct. 22                  Buddy Farnham, WR, Brown                                      Will Forde, RB, Tufts

Oct. 29                  Eric Schultz, LB, Harvard                                           Brian Morrissey, RB, Williams

Nov. 3                   Liam Coen, QB, UMass                                             Bruce Burley, RB, Bridgewater State

Nov. 10                 Chris Pizzotti, QB, Harvard                                       Eric McGrath, QB, Trinity

Hello, I'm David Funk, and welcome to this edition of FSD History Flashback for November 13. Today's FSD History Flashback talks about the very first meeting between two schools that has transcended time as well as become one of the best rivalries in the history of sports. "The Game" was first played between Harvard and Yale on November 13, 1875.

The two teams played their first ever game in New Haven, Connecticut at Hamilton Park. Yale had promised Harvard $75 to play the game, and tickets were sold for 50 cents to watch the contest between the two clubs.

The rules for the game were adopted for rugby and soccer. Both Harvard and Yale played the game with 15 players instead of 11 for each on the field. Rules stated that a team scored a point if they successfully scored a touchdown and made the kick after.

Harvard won the game convincingly by scoring four goals (touchdowns) and four tries which gave them a 4-0 win.

Yale would have preferred to play with less to take advantage of their speed, but it was Harvard with their size as well as number of players on the field that helped them prevail.

In 1874, Harvard actually played a rugby-style game against McGill University in Montreal. Harvard was impressed with this style of play, and decided to adopt their rules for the game which was used in the first meeting of "The Game."

According to some sources, this was believed to be the first game in which players used their own uniforms for the first time. However, some list Harvard's first official collegiate game against Tufts University in June 1875 as the game when uniforms were first used.

After the game, seven Harvard students were arrested for what was called "hooting and singing in public streets". They were also fined $5.29 each which would have robbed them from getting a value meal at a fast food restaurant these days.

The very next year, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia organized the Intercollegiate Football Association. The rules were adopted from the Rugby Football Union which made the scoring change of a match being decided by the majority of touchdowns and not goals. The other big change then was going to an egg-shaped ball instead of a soccer ball.

The rules for the new organization constantly changed over the years, and was dissolved by 1894. By then, Yale graduate Walter Camp adopted rules for the American game of football that resemble more of what it's like today. The center to quarterback snap exchange and three downs to get a first down were a couple of the changes. The scoring was different with touchdowns being worth less points than field goals.

By 1905 after the deaths and crippling injuries that prompted then-U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt to get involved, the forerunner to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was formed. Since that time, this committee has established the rules for what is the American game of football.

Even though Harvard won the first meeting between the two schools, Yale would dominate the early history of this rivalry.

Yale would go unbeaten in the next 11 games(10-0-1 record) against Harvard. They didn't play each in 1877, 1885, and 1888. In 1885, Harvard banned the sport for the upcoming fall which caused the two not to play that year.

It was also in a game between the two in 1892 that the flying wedge was first used throughout a contest by Harvard although other variations had been used before. Yale still won 6-0.

After the 1894 game, the two schools had seven players carried off the field facing death. Because of this, the two schools didn't play for two seasons.

Since 1897, the two have played every year with the exception of two years off during World War I and World War II.

It was in 1898 that "The Game" reference was first known to be used. It was used when former Harvard captain A.F. Holden had sent a letter to coach Cam Forbes saying, "it also makes the Yale-Harvard game the game of the season."

Columnist Red Smith first capitalized the reference in the 1940s, and was first seen on game programs in 1960.

The most well-known matchup between the two took place at Harvard in 1968. After trailing 29-13 in the final 42 seconds of the game, Harvard tied Yale, who had a 16-game winning streak snapped on that day.

Yale quarterback Brian Dowling had not lost a football game since sixth grade, and the Harvard Crimson paper said, "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" after the contest. One of Harvard's star players in that game was offensive tackle Tommy Lee Jones, who went on to become one of Hollywood's best actors.

Famous pranks have also made for interesting television. In the 2004 game, Yale students handed out postcards to adult Harvard fans and alleged that when they held them up they would spell out "GO HARVARD." Instead, the signs spelled out "WE SUCK." Harvard pounded Yale 35-3 in that game.

Some have not given credit where it's due as to the importance of this rivalry. Not only has it been played since 1875, their games proved instrumental in the development of American football.

Furthermore, Ivy League teams do not participate in post-season games, and The Game has always been the last contest of the year between the two schools (except in 1919). The vast majority of players do not play at the pro level which therefore makes The Game the final contest for seniors on both sides. So with those factors, it's not hard to understand the importance of this game and rivalry.

Yale leads the all-time series 65-51-8. Harvard has won five of the last six meetings. Harvard won last year's meeting 37-6 as both teams entered the contest undefeated.

The 125th meeting between these legendary schools takes place on November 22 in Cambridge, MA at Harvard Stadium.

Thank you to both Harvard and Yale for the impact they have left on the game of American football. The rivalry between these two schools is one of best in sports as well as one of the most influential ever, too.

Photo courtesy of www.the-game.org which shows the program of the first game in 1875.

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed today's FSD History Flashback!

Matt Luft was marching tall.


Harvard 42, Columbia 28

Why Harvard Won

QB Chris Pizzotti had an even better day than usual, throwing for almost 300 yards in the first half alone. Despite pretty good coverage from the Columbia secondary, his throws were so accurate and well-timed that it didn't matter. Of course, it helped to have a 6'6" WR like Matt Luft to throw to as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson weren't dominant, but they grabbed some key interceptions and executed a good pass rush at the end of the game to seal the deal.

Why Columbia Lost

More mistakes at crucial times, but this time it was not a variety of mistakes, just the same thing over and over: interceptions. Rough throws from both QBs not only snuffed out Lion drives, but they also set up a Harvard offense that was already in high gear.

Key Turning Points

1) With Columbia leading 7-6, Harvard's first play from scrimmage after the Columbia TD resulted in a 76-yard TD pass from Pizzotti to Chris Lorditch, and with the two-point conversion the Crimson were back up 14-7. The pass came after what looked like some kind of hard contact on Lion corner Calvin Otis, leaving Lorditch wide open in the middle of the field.

2) With the score still 14-7, the Lions began a promising drive at the Harvard 48 and got a 2nd-and-1 at the Crimson 21 before three straight running plays all yielded no gain. A quick Harvard TD drive and another score after a Shane Kelly interception, and it was 28-7 at the half.

3) After Austin Knowlin broke off a 76-yard punt return for a TD, making it 28-14, Harvard grabbed the momentum right back with a 61-yard TD drive, helped by a pass interference call on Kalasi Huggins on a 3rd-and-7. That made it 35-14, and Harvard didn't really have to worry after that.

For a team going up against a Harvard team that's peaking right now, the Lions still had a number of positives.

- Lou Miller had two more sacks and four-and-a-half tackles for a loss overall. This comes after his late game ejection versus Yale the previous week, proving he can still play with abandon—just not completely reckless abandon.

- Zack Kourouma had something of a breakout game. He grabbed the first QB TD on a well-timed pattern into the end zone for his second score of the year. Later in the game he broke off a nice run on a sweep for 27 yards and wouldn't go down after a reception that helped Columbia convert a 3rd-and-20.

- After three years of returning punts off and on, it was nice to see Austin Knowlin finally break one for a score. Knowlin simply took it to the corner and beat the Crimson down the sideline with his speed.

- Overall, Columbia recorded five sacks. True, Harvard threw the ball so many times that there were ample chances to get sacks, but the Crimson have been doing that for most of the year and had only allowed 12 sacks over seven weeks coming in to this game. Many of the sacks were the result of good coverage downfield, making them a team effort.

- It was nice to see the strong effort and good results from the special teams. Not only were they error free, but they also helped create two TDs with Knowlin's return and the recovery of the bad Harvard punt snap at the Crimson 4.

The College Sporting News is out with its preseason football picks for the Ivy League.

Here's how it looks:

1. Harvard

2. Yale
3. Brown
4. Penn
5. Dartmouth
6. Cornell
7. Princeton
8. Columbia


Should I be worried that this prediction doesn't look all that bad to me?

 

I'll get to the Lions being picked last in a moment, but I too plan on picking Harvard, Yale, Brown and Penn as my top four when I release my detailed picks later this summer.

Unless something changes, Harvard looks like the team to beat with a great offensive line, experienced QB and overall strong defense.

Yale has a shot, because of star running back Mike McLeod, but the Elis have lost a lot of stars on the offensive and defensive lines.

Brown is everyone's favorite to surprise after last season's offensive explosion.

I am surprised by how low they placed Princeton and how high Dartmouth ended up, but you don’t know how hard these guys work on picking the Ivies after the first 2-3 teams.

As far as Columbia's last place prediction, well, you have to expect that after going 0-7 last year.

 

Any team starting a new QB is always a little suspect and Columbia will need to do that this season.

 

Of course, it's always nice to surprise people and the Lions certainly have the opportunity to do that in 2008.


Game of the Day

November 4, 1951

Columbia 21, Cornell 20


Yesterday, I highlighted Columbia's thrilling one-point upset win over Cornell in 1950. The Lions did it again a year later in Ithaca.

 

This time the final score was 21-20.

Once again, an extra point that wasn't the biggest role in Columbia's victory.

 

Big Red kicker, Bill Kirk, simply missed the PAT after Cornell had stormed back from a 21-7, fourth quarter deficit to make it 21-20.

But Columbia still needed an interception by Ben Mione a few minutes later to truly ice the game in front of 21,000 very cold fans at Schoelkopf Field.

Other of the other Lion stars were Wes Bomm, who broke Bill Swiacki's career receptions record with seven grabs on the day.

The Lions won despite being out gained 383-273 from scrimmage.

 

Columbia also lost two fumbles, but made up for it with three interceptions, including the game-clincher.

And the unsung heroes were the snow removal crews from “gorges” Ithaca.

 

The entire field and most of the stands were covered in heavy snow before the game, but the snow plows quickly made the field playable.

Keith Raffel, author of Dot Dead: A Silicon Valley mystery, takes us back to the days when Ivy league football was for real—and the classic Harvard/Yale showdown of 1968.

Name a team undefeated in the Rose Bowl. 

USC? 

Nope. 

Michigan.  Ohio State? 

Nope.  Nope. 

How about Harvard—which played once and thumped Oregon 7-6 on New Year’s Day, 1920?

Here’s the point: way back, when college programs weren’t merely farms teams for the NFL, Ivy League football counted.  Harvard and Yale have won 25 national championships between them.  The last gasp of terrific national-level football in the Ivy League was 1968, my freshman year at Harvard. 

The two teams were mirror images.  The Yale Bulldogs, nationally ranked in the AP poll, were an offensive juggernaut directed by quarterback Brian Dowling, who had led Yale to 16 straight wins.  (Dowling went on to cultural immortality as the model for B.D. in classmate Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury comic strip.) 

Calvin Hill, who might be better known today as the father of NBA star Grant Hill, starred at running back.  To give you an idea of how good Hill was—the year after graduation he won the NFL’s rookie of the year award over O.J. Simpson. 

Coming into the battle with Harvard, Yale was averaging 36 points a game, which, if memory serves, was tops in the country.

The Harvard Crimson had no big stars and was expected to finish last in the Ivies (Wait:  the team did have a future star in guard Tommy Lee Jones, but he won that Oscar for his exploits on the silver screen, not the gridiron.)  In Harvard’s first game against Holy Cross, the team scratched out a lucky 27-20 win. 

The team vastly improved—especially defensively—as the season rolled along.  If memory serves, Harvard had the first or second stingiest defense in the country, giving up only seven points a game coming into the showdown with Yale.

So on November 23, 1968 at Harvard Stadium, what did we have?  The country’s top offense against a top defense.  The irresistible force against the immovable object. 

Coming into what was known as “The Game,” both Harvard and Yale were undefeated for the first time since 1931.  Legend has it that in 1908, the Harvard coach strangled a bulldog with his bare hands to inspire his team.  (It’s not true.)  Yale Coach Tad Jones once told his players, without any irony, “Gentlemen, you are about to meet Harvard in a game of football. Never again in your lives will you do anything as important.” 

The stadium held 57,750 and tickets to the game were going for hundred of dollars.  (Not on StubHub, people.  This was a little before the days of the Internet!) 

One couldn’t really go to The Game without a date.  I’d only been on campus two months.  The women I attended classes with lived a mile away and were outnumbered by us guys 4-1.  I had no one to ask, but my friend Howie stepped in and fixed me up with a friend of his date. 

I don’t remember her name, but I do remember that she was blond, beautiful, and rich.  Where did we sit?  I remember that, too—we didn’t sit at all.  We were lowly freshmen and as such consigned to stand up on the rim of the stadium while the freezing November wind tried to send us into suspended animation. 

Things went from bad to worse.  First Dowling ran for a touchdown, then he threw to Hill for a second TD.  And then another Dowling scoring pass.  The second quarter wasn’t half over and Yale had scored 22 points, more than any other team had scored against Harvard in a full 60 minutes. 

And the icing on the cake—my discovery that my beautiful date was a first-class spoiled bitch. 

Harvard did score before halftime, and the mighty Yale team marched into the locker rooms ahead 22-6. 

Harvard received the opening kickoff in the second quarter.  Three downs and out.  But Yale fumbled the punt and Harvard managed to get the ball into the Yale end zone. 

22-13. 

Was there hope?  No. 

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Dowling marched his team down the field and ran into the end zone himself for his fourth touchdown. 

29-13.

Looking across the stadium, I saw hundreds if not thousands of white handkerchiefs waving as the poor-sport Yalies taunted us.  Dowling and his minions were unwilling to settle for a thumping.  They wanted a humiliation. 

Yale started marching down the field.  Again.  Some fans adjourned at this point for local bars—the Yalies for raucous celebration, the home team supporters to cry in their beer.

Only 14 yards away from a fifth touchdown, the Yale fullback fumbled.  So down by 16 with 3:34 remaining, Harvard had the ball. 

By this time, Harvard’s backup quarterback, Frank Champi, had taken over.  With a third and 18 on the Yale 38, he was sacked, but the ball dribbled out of his arms on the way down and a Harvard lineman—the immortal Fritz Reed—picked up the lonely spheroid and thundered to the Yale 15. 

Two more Champi passes and Harvard scored with 42 seconds left in the game.  The two point conversion failed. Okay. 

So now Harvard would lose, but would not be humiliated.  But wait—a flag. 

Yale was called for pass interference.  On the replay, Harvard fullback Gus Crim rumbled in for a score.

Everyone in the stadium knew that an onside kick was coming, but that did not stop Harvard from recovering it.  No one was leaving now.  The white hankies had disappeared. 

Champi marched the team down to the Yale eight yard line. 

Three seconds left. 

Hike.  Scramble. 

As he was hit, Champi threw off the wrong foot.  Vic Gatto, the first 2000 yard rusher in Harvard history, gathered it in.

No time left.  Yale led 29-27.  Champi, the backup, recalled, “I thought, ‘We’ve come this far.’  I was very confident.  It was inevitable.”

And so it proved.  After the field was cleared of fans, Champi hit burly tight end Pete Varney, later a major league catcher.  Game over. 

Harvard had scored 16 points in 42 seconds.  Brian Dowling failed to come off the field with a victory for the first time since sixth grade.

I don’t remember a whole lot after that.  And I don’t remember my date’s name.  But I think I learned more in that game than I did in my freshman year classes. 

What was the lesson?  Keep trying no matter what the odds.  Never give up.  Never.

Yale Coach Carmen Cozza later said, “That tie was the worst loss of my career.”  But it was the banner headline across the front page of the Crimson—the Harvard student newspaper—that best captured what we had witnessed:  “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.” 

Keith Raffel is the author of Dot Dead: A Silicon Valley Mystery
Website: www.keithraffel.com
Blog: www.keithraffel.typepad.com