Stuck back in its own zone, the Crimson was eventually forced to punt. But more mistakes by the Big Green offense, including a fumble by Love after a sack by senior defensive end Marc Laborsky, killed Dartmouth’s chances to stage its own comeback. Harvard eventually added an insurance touchdown at the end of the game on a Palazzo run for a 31-21 lead.
The amazing comeback, Harvard’s biggest ever in 1149 games over 128 years, was necessitated by the Crimson’s own poor play in the first half. Big Green tailback Michael Gratch and tight end Casey Cramer combined to rush for 124 yards in the first half and simply bowled over the usually sturdy Harvard rushing defense.
“We just didn’t come ready to play in the first half,” Balestracci said. “They came out with more intensity and really pushed us around the first half.”
Dartmouth scored quickly to start the game, when Love connected with Cramer on a 14-yard touchdown pass 2:30 into the first quarter. Ten minutes later, Love dove in for a score to end a 70-yard drive.
It was a beginning no one expected, even with the injuries to Rose, Staph and the offensive line. Harvard spanked Dartmouth 63-21 in the Big Green’s last trip to the Stadium.
“We came in slightly overconfident,” said Morris, who finished the game with 11 catches for 153 yards. “We felt we were just going to pick up where we left off and the offense was going to keep rolling.”
Instead, senior tailback Rodney Thomas, who started the game, was limited to 24 yards on eight carries, and Fitzpatrick was hard-pressed to find any targets besides Morris. The Crimson was also stopped several times on downs.
Fitzpatrick, who had an excellent second half, also made a critical error late in the second quarter when he threw an interception to Kevin Hogan, who returned the ball to the Harvard 8-yard line. Dartmouth scored again before the half to take a 21-0 lead.
“They completely outplayed and out-coached us in the first half,” Murphy said. “Those guys came ready to play. Conversely, and I take full responsibility for it, we weren’t ready to play.”
But whatever Murphy and the coaching staff told the players at halftime—he said “you couldn’t print it”—certainly worked.
On the other side, Lyons was left to console his Big Green squad, which so far this year has lost to Penn by one point and Columbia by seven.
“I mean, we played our ass off in the first half and we just couldn’t sustain it,” he said. “The guys got overwhelmed in the third quarter.”
Harvard takes the momentum of two straight thrilling victories at home to New York this Saturday, when it faces off against the streaking Columbia Lions in New York.
It is not clear whether Rose or Staph will be back by next weekend.