Crimson get the green light
HANOVER, N.H. - The best option, even for a 62 percent passer with a strong right arm and a collection of gifted receivers, was to tuck the ball and run.
Chris Pizzotti stepped back in the pocket, surveyed the landscape, noting the number of green jerseys deep in coverage and the open territory ahead. He charged through the Dartmouth defense for 8 yards. Two plays later, the senior quarterback gathered in the shotgun snap and galloped 11 yards into the end zone untouched.
One series in, and Pizzotti and the Crimson were off and running against the winless Big Green, setting the tone with a punishing ground attack that delivered a season-best effort in a 35-7 Ivy League conquest in front of 4,111 at Memorial Field.
"The offensive line has been a huge strength for us all year, but it's been reflected more in the passing game," said Pizzotti, who was 12 for 18 for 98 yards, his final play an 18-yard scoring pass down the left sideline to tight end Jason Miller on the first series of the second half for a 26-0 lead. "This week they just opened up such huge holes. We knew that we could come in and establish a running game. Dartmouth was dropping seven to eight guys in coverage. I had nothing else to do, so I was just scrambling around."
"He just made some great plays, he's a talented guy, which we all knew," said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens.
In building a 20-0 lead, 23d-ranked Harvard (6-1, 3-1) rushed for more yards (183) in the first 30 minutes than it had in all but one game this season (Lafayette). The Crimson finished their 368-yard rushing effort with 32 straight running plays.
Junior Ben Jenkins churned out a career-high 111 yards and scored Harvard's final TD on a 15-yard run. Pizzotti (now 18-2 as a starter) rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore Gino Gordon picked up 78 yards on six carries. And backup quarterback Liam O'Hagan (66 yards) showed off his nifty running skills in the second half. The only downer was the departure of halfback Cheng Ho with a bruised collarbone.
"They were doing a great job with pass defense and it really only gave us one option," said Harvard coach Tim Murphy. "The guys did a great job up front and the backs ran hard."
Harvard's run defense, meanwhile, limited Dartmouth to minus-2 yards on 19 carries. "Our kids really played with a lot of attitude up front," said Murphy.
Harvard's ferocious play led to a number of hard hits on Big Green quarterback Alex Jenny, who departed early in the third quarter.
The Crimson went ahead, 10-0, on a 34-yard field goal by Patrick Long. Pizzotti then directed Harvard on a 10-play march, with the Reading High product legging out the final 2 yards for the score.
Aided by a 15-yard personal foul on a helmet-to-helmet hit on Pizzotti, the Crimson capped the first half with a 30-yard kick by Long for a 20-0 lead.
In a second half in which the Crimson attempted just three passes and recorded a third-quarter safety on Desmond Bryant's pressure on Big Green freshman quarterback Conner Kempe, Dartmouth (0-7, 0-4) broke through with 44 seconds left, with Kempe connecting with Will Deevy for a 3-yard score.
"The guys are playing hard, but you can always play smarter," said Teevens after the Big Green absorbed their ninth straight loss. "It's a steep learning curve [for a young team]." 