Advertisement

NOTEBOOK: For Once, Ground Game Proves Crucial

The 2011 Harvard football team continues to do things that no Crimson squad has done in a very long time.

For the past few weeks, it was an extraordinary passing game that led Harvard to wins.

Junior Colton Chapple and senior Collier Winters tied the Crimson all-time record, set in 1953, with back-to-back games of five touchdown passes. During that period, Chapple (against Cornell) and Winters (against Princeton) became the third and fourth Crimson quarterbacks to ever throw for over 400 yards in a contest. And last week, Winters’ 34 completions were second-most in Harvard’s history.

Amid heavy snowfall at Harvard Stadium during Saturday night’s game against Dartmouth, the Crimson passing game was limited to just 13 attempts.

But that didn’t matter one bit, as Harvard was still able to put together a dominant offensive performance by taking to the ground, rushing for 395 yards and continuing to break records in the squad’s 41-10 win.

Advertisement

Winters, junior running back Treavor Scales, and freshman running back Zach Boden each gained over 100 yards on the ground against the Big Green, helping the Crimson score at least 40 points in four straight contests for the first time since 1890.

It was the first time Harvard has ever had three players rush for at least 100 yards in a game. Each also scored two touchdowns.

Scales finished with 139 yards, a career high, on just 18 carries. It was he who set the tone early, finding a hole between left guard and left tackle and busting loose on a 42-yard scamper on Harvard’s first possession. That would set up a 13-yard touchdown run by Winters, who stutter-stepped through a big hole up the middle on his way to the end zone.

“Our offensive line did a fantastic job,” Winters said. “We knew coming in with the weather we were going to have to rush the ball, and we were able to do that.”

Later in the opening period, Harvard got great field position at the Dartmouth 44 after a 43-yard kick return by freshman Seitu Smith III. From there, Boden did the rest, breaking off successive carries of 20, 13, and 8 yards, the final for a touchdown.

On the second of those carries, the rookie took a huge hit at the 15 but bounced right off, then broke another tackle on his way to the 10.

“His feet just keep moving,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said of Boden, who finished with 112 yards on 15 carries. “He has great vision, he can make violent cuts, he has very good speed and the combination of those things makes a legitimate running back. We’re very fortunate to have a guy like that in our offense.”

On Harvard’s next drive, the Crimson went 99 yards in 15 plays despite only completing two passes. The rest of the yardage was picked up by the trio of Winters, Boden, and Scales, the latter of whom capped the series with a one-yard score.

In Harvard’s opening possession of the third quarter, the Crimson went up, 27-3, with a 77-yard series that was capped by a 17-yard Boden scamper and a Winters four-yard score. Just minutes later, it was Boden breaking a tackle on his way to a seven-yard touchdown.

Finally, early in the fourth, the Crimson went 95 yards in 15 plays, highlighted by Winters rushes of 15, 29, and 12 yards and capped with a Scales one-yard touchdown. The Harvard quarterback finished with 126 yards on 15 attempts, finding enormous holes in the Dartmouth defense to scramble through all night.

Tags

Recommended Articles

Advertisement