In the waning hours of a presidential campaign in which each side has been feverishly trading clichs, the Harvard football team decided on Saturday to switch an old clich for a new one.

With the dominating defensive effort that led to a 34-0 shutout win over the Columbia Lions, it appears as though the Crimson is no longer relying on "the best defense being a good offense." Instead, with the elevated play of Harvard's defensive cadre of players, it seems that the team now feels that "defense wins championships."

It wasn't always pretty or by the book, but the defense performed well-- especially under pressure. Columbia penetrated the red zone four times and twice had the ball within Harvard's 10-yard line. Yet the Lions came away empty-handed as the Crimson played its best with its back against the wall.

"We felt like we had something to prove, because we struggled early in the year," said junior defensive end Marc Laborsky. "I think a lot of our young players matured a lot out there."

Although the younger members of Harvard's defense contributed a great deal to the shutout effort, it was the upperclassmen who had the standout plays.

On Columbia's first drive of the game, the Lions went for it on fourth-and-inches. As soon as running back Johnathan Reese accepted the hand-off, senior linebacker Michael Green burst into the backfield and tackled him for a loss of five yards. The turnover on downs allowed the Harvard offense to march down the field and put the game out of reach with its second straight touchdown.

Later in the game, after a seemingly costly Crimson turnover left the Lions at Harvard's 11 yard-line, the defense firmly held its ground. On the third play of that drive, junior defensive end Phil Scherrer intercepted an errant Columbia pass to end the Lions scoring threat.

The rest of the game provided examples of not only individuals stepping up and having major impacts on specific plays, but rather a cohesive unit coming together and resiliently resisting any attacks by the Lions. In short, it was tenacious "D."