TURNING THE TIDE

If someone was playing Ivy League fantasy football this week and owned the Harvard defense, he or she would have been quite pleased with the unit’s performance against Brown. The Crimson applied pressure to Bears QB Kyle Newhall-Caballero all evening, forcing rushed throws and picking up 10 QB hits and five tackles for loss.

“The guys up front did a great job,” captain Alex Gedeon said. “We didn’t blitz all that much tonight ... but guys came in, stepped up and got pressure.”

That pressure inevitably led to turnovers, as Harvard forced two interceptions and recovered three costly fumbles on the night.

Brown running back Marc Kachmar lost the ball twice, once as Brown was driving towards midfield early in the second quarter and later at the one-yard line when the Bears were on the verge of tying up the game.

“[The turnovers] took away all the momentum we had in the second half,” Brown coach Phil Estes said. “We just squandered too many opportunities ... it’s something we’ve got to fix.”

Junior defensive end John Lyon forced a Newhall-Caballero fumble as the Bears were attempting to get back the contest midway through the fourth quarter, leading to a Crimson field goal. On Brown’s next drive, sophomore end Jake Boy hit Newhall-Caballero while he was in the process of throwing, and junior linebacker Bobby Schneider grabbed the ball out of the air for the interception to all but seal the deal for the Crimson.

It was Newhall-Caballero’s second pick of the game. His first was snagged by senior safety Dan Minamide in the Harvard end zone on a third-and-goal early in the second quarter.

“Our kids just played so hard, and if you play that hard, you can force some turnovers, and you have the chance to be in every single game,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “I’m really proud of our kids.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.