Senior captain Erik Grimm, who said Friday that “[the defense’s] first goal is to be the number one scoring defense in the league,” described his unit as “flat in the first half.”

Overall, though, he was “pretty happy” with the performance.

“In the second half we came out with more enthusiasm,” Grimm said.

While Dawson finished with 56 yards on eight carries, the Crimson was led on the ground by sophomore Charles Baakel, who had 65 yards on 10 carries.

Dawson, who also caught five passes for 55 yards, said he was happy to work on other facets of his game.

“Pass blocking is high on my priority list, and the team’s list,” Dawson said.

He added that although it took the Crimson “a while to adjust to the speed of the game,” he was happy with the performance of the offense.

Junior James Cobb led the Lions in rushing with 48 yards, while senior Brandon Bowser, who led his team last year with 583 receiving yards, had five grabs for 33 yards. Columbia must entirely replace its ground attack from last season after graduating three senior running backs.

O’Hagan’s final touchdown pass came on a three-play drive that started near midfield and was caught by junior tight end Dan Lane, who also had the drive’s first catch.

Harvard won last year’s regular season meeting in Cambridge 38-0. The Crimson visits New York Nov. 5.

–Staff writer Gregory B. Michnikov can be reached at michik@fas.harvard.edu.