Ladies and gentlemen, meet the real Harvard football team.

The Crimson picked the perfect weekend to unmask the heart that Harvard fans had known was there all along.

By demolishing Dartmouth 63-21 in front of this season's biggest crowd, the Crimson vanquished its second-half demons of the past four weeks and played all four quarters with equal fire and determination. With a dynamic, multifaceted offense and an aggressive, mobile defense, Harvard proved to the league--and to itself--that its bid to win the Ivy crown is no Halloween prank.

After rumbling through a record-shattering shoot-out with the Big Green, Harvard now finds itself planted atop the Ivy League, a feat that seemed unimaginable only a few weeks ago.

Granted, Dartmouth's 1-5 record did not seemingly pose a serious threat, but after watching the Big Green start off the game with a virtually perfect scoring drive that left Dartmouth with a 7-0 lead, Harvard fans might have feared that the Crimson had left its heart on the field against Princeton last week.

Meet a stingy Harvard defense soon emerged, limiting Dartmouth in the second half to 18 total yards and only one first down. After giving up the early touchdown, the Crimson defense buckled down and decimated Dartmouth's passing game, forcing it to the ground in the second half.

Long an unsung hero of the Harvard

defense, senior Chris Nowinski recorded two sacks on the day, both coming during a critical third-quarter series in which Dartmouth threatened to cut Harvard's commanding 42-21 lead. Given the Crimson's performance in the past four games, Nowinski's stellar defensive instincts provided just the right dose of inspiration to jump-start an aggressive defensive attack against the Big Green's offense.