The secondary was just as dominant. The Lions did not complete a 20-yard pass until there were fewer than 30 seconds left in the game, and Harvard defenders knocked down seven passes and held Columbia’s two quarterbacks to a combined 15-for-37 passing.

“We got great pressure from eight different guys on the front four,” Murphy said. “But all of those guys, whether it was [junior] Chris Splinter, whether it was [junior] Jaron Wilson—all those guys just did a great job on the back end.”

SHORT AND SWEET

Though he didn’t have much time to show it Saturday, Chapple operated with the same efficiency he has demonstrated for most of the season. After an early fumble that was recovered by Harvard, the senior rarely made a mistake, with several of his incompletions coming on yard-saving throwaways when chased out of the pocket.

On the day, Chapple went 13-for-18 passing with 195 yards and three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.

“We’ve had guys that look better in uniform, guys that can bench press more, whatever,” Murphy said. “But boy you put him in a game and, wow, it’s just amazing how he can just get everything to play in slow motion and just seemingly do all of the right things almost all of the time.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacobfeldman@college.harvard.edu.

—Follow him on Twitter @jacobfeldman4.