Harvard kicked off in the second half, but sloppy play by Penn State enabled it to recover the ball and kick for three points.

“It almost seemed like Penn State had given up at that point,” Harrington said.

Though the Nittany Lions made a push, the match was never closer than 39-17.

Harvard 36, Utah 29

The second-seeded Utes got far more than they bargained for when Harvard took the field.

The Crimson possessed the ball for much of the first half, and surged out to a 17-5 half-time lead.

“ Harvard did a great job of maintaining their own ball and denying the opposition any offensive opportunities,” said co-captain Ben Blaskus in an e-mail. “[We] used aggressive forward play to suck in the opposition’s defenses, then found opportunities to run the ball wide with the backs.”

Indeed, Harvard’s strong back play was too much for Utah to handle, and smart play from the forwards allowed the Crimson to maintain possession even after tackles.

Speedy backs like Naylor, who had two tries in the match, were able to run past the Utes and rack up points.

Thirty minutes into the second half, Harvard had a commanding 36-5 lead and made substitutions.

Utah capitalized on the Harvard change, scoring several tries to narrow Harvard’s lead.

“We might have gotten a little complacent, and let down a bit mentally toward the end of the game,” said senior wing J.C. Harrington. “They made it close, but we were comfortable with our lead throughout the game.”

It’s Gotta Be the Field

One of the most important reasons, according to players, that Harvard was so successful was due to the weather and field conditions.

Compared to the often rocky and muddy fields that the club team uses at Harvard, Stanford’s fields were idyllic.