In the opening contest of his final campaign with the Crimson, running back Clifton Dawson picked right up where he left off: by slicing up defenses.

Everyone thought the drama was finally over for the Harvard football team.

Unfortunately for Chris Pizzotti, fate had a different idea.

The junior quarterback, already a replacement for suspended signal-caller Liam O’Hagan, went down with an injured MCL during a 31-14 victory for the Crimson (1-0) on Saturday over Holy Cross (1-2) at Harvard Stadium. Some questioned whether the second quarter hit leading to the injury was late, but Harvard coach Tim Murphy said it was too close to call.

“The last thing we talked about last night was how we knew we’d have to respond to adversity in some way,” Murphy said. “We just didn’t know in which form it would present itself. I’m very proud of our kids’ character. We responded tremendously, kept our poise, and played well enough to be a very solid football team.”

After the Crusaders jumped out to an early lead late in the first quarter, Pizzotti’s seven-yard run immediately prior to the hit put Harvard in field goal range.

And Matt Schindel connected on the 33-yard kick to put the squad on the board at 7-3 with 11:10 left in the second.

With Pizzotti out, Murphy called on sophomore quarterback Jeff Witt to line up behind the center. Despite his inexperience—Witt’s first pass attempt on Saturday was the first of his collegiate career—Witt helped Harvard create an insurmountable lead in the second and third quarters.

“I felt very comfortable coming into the game,” Witt said. “I had a lot of reps in practice, and when my number was called, I went in there and I completed the play that was called. There really wasn’t any particular thought process other than just doing what I was doing.”

Witt completed seven of 13 passes for 105 yards, and Clifton Dawson took care of the rest.

The preseason All-America pick carried the ball 24 times for 170 yards, including a 25-yard rush that set him up for a three-yard touchdown with 8:56 gone in the second.

And Dawson was not done yet.

Two three-and-outs on defense and two drives later, the back added a one-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left in the first half to send the Crimson into the break with a 17-7 lead.

“I’ll give him all the credit in the world,” Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore said. “He’s a very good football player, he’s a great runner, he’s got great vision, he can break tackles. A lot of times you get a kid that’s that skilled, they’re not that tough or they’re not a physical blocker, and in this case he is.”

The second half brought more trouble for the overmatched Crusaders.

Harvard put another seven on the board for a 24-7 lead just 1:39 into the second half, when Witt faked the handoff to Dawson and found an open Matt Farbotko in the endzone.

Farbotko was just one set of hands that exploited a weak Crusader secondary.

The offensive attack was aided by newcomer Matt Luft and senior Corey Mazza, fellow graduates of California’s Thousand Oaks High School. Luft, a 6’5 freshman receiver, posted three catches for 62 yards, while the 6’4 Mazza, finally looking healthy after a year lost to injury, posted 4 catches for 68 yards.

“Harvard’s personnel is very good,” Gilmore said. “You have to be really balanced. And when we tried to go back and hit them inside, they got us a lot more than we got them today.”

On the next drive it was all Dawson again. When the Crimson decided to go for it on fourth and one, the back found a hole and rushed 28 yards into the endzone for a 31-7 lead.

Gilmore conceded that Holy Cross mistakenly fielded only ten players on the play. It was not the only miscue for the disorganized Crusaders.

The squad did break the Harvard defense for a few key strikes, including an 8-yarder to senior wide receiver Matt Fanning with 1:54 left that put Holy Cross back in the endzone at the end of the third quarter. The score was 31-14.

But the fourth quarter saw no such rhythm for the Crusader offense.

The squad rushed for a total of 40 yards on the day, while its last two possessions ended in an interception by Harvard captain Ryan Tully in the red zone and a recovered fumble by Crimson tackle Matt Curtis.

“They are a physical defense,” Gilmore said. “They’re a talented team, but I think they did an excellent job of timing their blitzes. And they did a good job of mixing them up.”

Next week Harvard faces a tougher test in 2005 Ivy League champion Brown, who will miss graduated running back Nick Hartigan, last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year. The Bears will be ready to avenge their double-overtime loss, their only failure in league play last season.

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.