The Crimson line almost single-handedly stalled one Harvard drive with it porous nature and penalty-prone tendencies.
On first down the aforementioned Curry abused Warner on his way to sacking Linden. Unfortunately for Curry, the Crimson line was whistled for holding and his lone sack was negated in the record books. On the subsequent first-and-twenty play, Linden dropped back and under severe pressure threw the ball across the sideline to avoid another sack. This play too was called back for holding, leaving Harvard facing a daunting first-and-forty.
Needless to say, three plays later Harvard punted.
By design the eight man front is supposed to stuff the run. However, the Lions' tailbacks Norman Hayes and Johnathan Reese had no trouble finding holes as Columbia racked up 196 rushing yards.
Harvard's defense never had the penetration of Columbia, only bringing down Lions quarterback Paris Childress once, while seldom forcing an errant pass.
This combination allowed Columbia to control the ball for most of the game. The Lions doubled the Crimson in time of possession for the first half.
The Crimson was also cursed by sloppy tackling. After bursting through the line of scrimmage, the Lions' backs--especially Reese--were often able to slip through the tackles of Crimson linebackers and cornerbacks.
"They hit the holes really hard," senior linebacker Scott Larkee said. "They made it difficult to get a good handle on them."
This game was supposed to be the triumphal return of senior captain Brendan Bibro. Instead, Bibro joined the front line in time for a thrashing.
"Physically we just controlled things up front," Columbia Head Coach Ray Tellier said. "I can't remember the last time we dominated a team like that."
The road only gets harder from here. Harvard's next opponents, starting with Colgate, will be bigger, stronger, and faster than Columbia. If the Crimson do not get tougher up front in a hurry, the results will be even uglier than last Saturday.
"We step out of the frying fan and into the proverbial fire," Murphy said. "[Colgate] has outstanding players and we better be ready to strap it on."
Hopefully, Harvard will have learned some lessons from Columbia.