Saturday reinforced the image that Harvard is a team of destiny.
Whenever things could have gone either way, fate clearly smiled on the Crimson. With the score 24-0, Big Green cornerback Brad Jefferson dropped a pass at the Harvard 40-yard line which slipped from Linden's hand. Earlier in the game, Patterson made the first of many good plays by knocking a potential interception away from linebacker Zach Walz.
And late in the first half, senior safety Jeff Compas appeared to get away with a pass interference penalty. Dartmouth receiver Zach Ellis was by Compas, who fell and appeared to knock Ellis's feet out from under him but was not flagged.
"It just seemed like there were opportunities there for us to make some plays, but we didn't make them," Dartmouth Coach John Lyons said. "We had a chance to catch it [on offense]; we didn't catch it. We had the interception there that would have given us really good field position, possibly even scored, and dropped it."
These breaks only made the win more decisive, however. It was apparent early on that the defense would not let Dartmouth get the quick scores it needed. The secondary played as well as it has all season, allowing just 16 of 40 attempts to be completed. The defensive line added three sacks and several batted balls.
Harvard's last two possessions of the half died in Dartmouth territory.
But the damage was done, as both defenses instituted a second-half lock-down. In the fourth quarter, there were two first downs on the first 10 possessions combined.
Constant blitzing by Dartmouth, especially Walz, prevented Harvard from moving the ball effectively. To Dartmouth's credit, the Big Green did not quit even when it was apparent that its anemic offense would not lend any support.
After a 309-yard first half with 16 first downs, Harvard only gained 72 second-half yards and four first downs. Sophomore running back Chris Menick ran 13 times for only nine yards in the second half, as the Big Green brought relentless pressure. The game marked Harvard's first win without a 100-yard rusher since 1994.
But Harvard's defense more than met the challenge. Dartmouth's starters combined for 12 rushes and minus 30 yards.
Sophomore linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski led the team with nine tackles, with three tackles for loss. He and the senior defensive line of Chris Schaefer, Jason Hughes, Chris Smith and Fleiszer were stopping runners in the Big Green backfield all afternoon.
"Everybody played well today, just coming off the ball and trying to get into the backfield," Hughes said. "It wasn't just the defensive line at all, it was a total team effort on defense. I'm really happy to be able to shut out a team the quality of Dartmouth."
The return of sophomore safety Aron Natale from a hamstring injury seemed to ignite the defense even more. Natale caught an interception and came flying out of the secondary to provide run support on several wide runs as well as a reverse.
In four Ivy games this year, the defense has allowed just two touchdowns. Any questions which arose after earlier problems against Patriot League opponents Lehigh and Bucknell have been summarily dismissed.
Beating Dartmouth, which had gone undefeated in its last 15 league games, puts Harvard in the driver's seat for the league title. Therefore, the euphoria surrounding the win is understandable, even more so because the shutout was Harvard's first of Dartmouth since 1941.
Three difficult games still lie between Harvard's first Ivy title since 1987. Brown and Penn are both good teams which have given Harvard trouble recently. And the season finale against Yale is always unpredictable.
But by crashing Dartmouth's Home-coming party, the Crimson has already leaped the biggest hurdle.