After last month’s win against Cornell, I challenged the Crimson defense—at the risk of life and limb—to step up, make big plays and dominate like the championship-caliber unit that brought home the Ivy hardware last season.

I figured that a defensive unit that was capable of giving up 23 points to a lousy Cornell team (at home, no less) would be unable to keep Harvard in close games against the cream of the Ivy crop. Based on this observation, I wrote that if the defense kept up its inconsistencies, then the prospects of an Ivy title repeat would be “as cloudy as your typical October day in Cambridge.”

Well, on an atypically warm November day in Cambridge, the Crimson defense stepped up against Columbia, played with reckless, punishing abandon and proved itself ready to take on Penn next weekend in another epic battle of unbeatens for the Ivy title.

Put another way, allow me now to humbly eat my words and sing the defense’s deserved praises in between bites.

Though the opponent was a rather crappy Columbia team, winless in five Ivy contests and admirably reprising its annual role as league doormat, the raw energy and execution of the Crimson ‘D’ was eye-catching. And ear-catching, too.

Never before in my three years covering Harvard football have I seen—and heard—so many bone-crunching hits in one game. It was as if the Crimson defense was letting loose a season’s worth of frustration on the hapless Columbia players.

Lions’ quarterback Steve Hunsberger had it particularly bad this Saturday. The poor guy was hit more than a batting-practice pitcher.

“We kept hitting him as hard as we could, and he kept getting up,” junior linebacker Dante Balestracci said. “I give him all the credit for staying in the game that long.”

Though Hunsberger indeed finished the game under center for the Lions, it wasn’t for lack of effort on the Crimson’s part. In all, the Lions’ QB was sacked five times (for a total loss of 41 yards) and, even when gaining yardage, Hunsberger paid the price.

One play, in particular, stands out. On second-and-9 from his own 37, Hunsberger was forced to scramble out of the pocket to his right. Knowing his team was down by two scores and in need of extra yardage, Hunsberger dove in the air hoping to reach the first down marker.

Big mistake.

As his body shot upwards, Hunsberger was surprised to find that his forward progress was suddenly stopped and that his body was hurtling sideways. Sophomore defensive back Bobby Everett laid a halacious hit on Hunsberger in midair, causing the already-sore Lions’ QB to soar out of bounds, a full four yards short of the first down.

Two plays later, Columbia punted yet again and, as was the theme all afternoon, Hunsberger had nothing to show for his bruises.

Though Everett’s blast was perhaps the most highlight-worthy hit, it probably wasn’t the loudest. That honor likely belongs to junior Jeff Reiman, who utterly demolished senior tailback Dan Reed on a kick return.

After the play, which resulted in poor field position for the Lions, the usually understated Harvard PA announcer, Chad Dale, offered a little color to his usual call—“Dan Reed by Jeffrey Reiman. Ouch.”