A big punt return by senior Scott Miller set up one of the Harvard football team's three first half touchdowns.

The score was far from last year’s 69-0 victory, but it was still all Harvard in 2013.

Facing Columbia in New York, the Crimson football team jumped out to an early lead and rode the momentum to a 34-0 victory. For the second straight year, the defense kept the Lions off the scoreboard.

Continuing a recent trend, a large portion of the Crimson’s offensive output came on the ground. The Crimson amassed 202 rushing yards over the course of the game with contributions from several different backs, and all four of Harvard’s touchdowns came on run plays.

“It was a very solid win over Columbia,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “I said to our guys coming in, this is a team that has struggled a bit but they continue to play very hard…. That’s the Columbia team we saw today. I thought the game was closer than the score indicated."

Despite the victory, things did not exactly stick to the script for Harvard after it came out firing on all cylinders to start the game, scoring three touchdowns on its first five drives.

More points were much more difficult to come by after that, as Harvard struggled to move the ball offensively for much of the contest. The Crimson offense failed to pick up a first down three times in the middle two quarters and went five consecutive possessions without registering any points.

Following a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ended early in the fourth quarter with a field goal, Harvard coach Tim Murphy replaced starting junior quarterback Conner Hempel with senior quarterback Michael Pruneau. Murphy said Hempel is not injured, and the junior finished with 185 passing yards and one interception.

“I think we got a little too complacent as an offense,” Hempel said. “We lost our intensity a little bit, and that’s obviously good for us because we hadn’t been out in front with a big lead like that early in a game until today…. I think we need to do a better job of applying the pressure even if we’re up 21-0.”

On the other side of the ball, the Lions struggled to gain yards for much of the first half, as the Crimson defense forced four straight three-and-outs to begin the game. Finally, with just over 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Columbia quarterback Trevor McDonagh completed a 28-yard pass to move the chains for the first time.

But the Lions would pick up the pace in the latter stages of the game and finished with 216 total yards. Harvard racked up 438 throughout the contest.

The Crimson suffered a big loss offensively when sophomore running back Paul Stanton exited the game in the first quarter. According to Murphy, Stanton is also not hurt and he hoped to give him some additional rest.

But when Stanton was in the game, he certainly had a big effect, totaling 78 yards on just three carries. Other running backs stepped up in Stanton’s absence, as freshman Bo Ellis finished with 53 yards of his own, and junior Andrew Casten contributed an additional 39.

The Crimson consistently turned to the ground game when it needed to make plays. That trend began when Harvard scored its first touchdown of the day on its second drive of the game.

On a second down in Crimson territory, Stanton bounced around the Columbia defensive line and broke free on the right sideline, taking the ball 54 yards all the way to the one-yard line. Hempel took the ball up the gut the very next play for the score to complete the five-play drive.

After the Harvard defense forced a quick punt, Stanton came up big for the second drive in a row. Just one play after a sizable punt return from senior receiver Scott Miller, the sophomore took the handoff, looked up the middle, cut around the Columbia line and streaked 22 yards untouched for the score.

Holding a 14-0 lead, the Crimson would tack on more points just one drive later. Less than a minute into the second quarter, Hempel capped off a methodical, 11-play drive with a one-yard sneak up the middle for his second touchdown of the game.

But Harvard would not tally any additional points until a rushing touchdown from senior Tyler Caveness in the fourth quarter.

With less than a minute remaining in the first half, Harvard failed to convert a fourth down deep in Columbia territory. Instead of running out the clock, McDonagh completed five passes to move the ball all the way to the Crimson 19-yard line. But the Harvard defense ultimately held up, as a fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete.

“[The Lions] gave us a great game today,” captain Joshua Boyd said. “They came out and had some success, and hats off to them. We focused this week on improving our technique, and obviously we’ll take a shutout.”

--Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@thecrimson.com.