Harvard dominated the hapless Leopards despite missing Staph, sophomore linebacker Dante Balestracci and senior defensive end Phil Scherrer because of injuries.

The offense didn’t miss its starting tailback though as Rose racked up 261 passing yards to go along with his two scoring strikes, and Morris hauled in nine aerials for 123 yards to lead the Crimson. Junior Nick Palazzo filled in for Staph and rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown to keep the ground attack in step.

Senior defensive end Marc Laborsky stepped up for the defense and picked up a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception as the defense forced five Lafayette turnovers, despite missing its leading tackler.

Morris became just the second junior, and only the fourth Crimson player, to have 100 career receptions.

Harvard 35, Northeastern 20

The Crimson defense scored 14 points on two fumble returns for touchdowns as Harvard took advantage of a myriad of Northeastern miscues to beat the Huskies 35-20 in its final non-conference matchup.

With the Crimson holding a 21-7 lead late in the second quarter and the Huskies driving, Fried forced a fumble deep in Harvard territory that junior linebacker John Perry scooped up and took 85 yards for the score to give Harvard a commanding 28-7 halftime advantage.

Perry’s return was the longest in Harvard history and the first fumble return for a touchdown by a Crimson player since 1980.

The Huskies rallied in the third quarter behind running back L.J. McKanas , who shredded the Harvard defense for 220 yards rushing on the day, and pulled within a touchdown. But Fried sacked quarterback Logan Galli and forced another fumble which sophomore defensive lineman Brendan McCafferty took 19 yards for a score to put the game out of reach.

Harvard 26, Cornell 6

The Harvard defense rebounded from its shaky outing against Northeastern to hold Cornell to -3 yards rushing on the day as the Crimson steamrolled the Big Red, 26-6, in Ithaca.

Balestracci returned from an ankle injury to lead the team with 10 tackles and block a field goal to spearhead a defensive effort that kept Cornell off the scoreboard for most of the day.

The offense had an easy time with the Big Red as well on its way to racking up 512 total yards. Rose picked apart the Cornell secondary and finished with 292 yards on 15-of-24 passing and a touchdown. Morris caught seven balls for 157 yards and sophomore tight end Matt Fratto hauled in a scoring strike to lead the Crimson receiving corps.

Staph also returned from an injury to pick up 101 yards and a touchdown rushing, and Palazzo scored twice and managed 66 yards on only 11 carries.

Much-maligned sophomore kicker Robbie Wright missed two field goals and an extra point and lost his placekicking duties to junior Anders Blewett.