Led by captain Fitzpatrick and then-sophomore running back Clifton Dawson ’07—who would become the leading rusher in Ivy League history—Harvard scored at least 30 points in eight of its 10 games. Fitzpatrick earned the Bushnell Cup as the Ancient Eight’s most valuable player.

The 2004 team had ample talent on both sides of the ball. While its offense was busy setting school records, the stalwart Crimson defense ensured that all but three games would be decided by at least 15 points, including a 35-3 drubbing of Yale to cap off the year.

“That team was really great offensively,” Murphy said. “We were probably almost as good as we are [now] defensively, but I think we’re [presently] a more balanced team…. But the intangibles are very similar.”

In 2004, Harvard surrendered 13.4 points per game, good enough for first in the Ivy League. This season’s Crimson defense has managed to improve on that mark.

Fueled by a strong defensive line and the leadership of captain Norman Hayes in the secondary, Harvard has allowed an FCS-best 11 points per game through nine contests—roughly half the average of the second-place Ivy team.

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The current Crimson may not have a Fitzpatrick-type talent running the offense. But if the 2004 and 2014 seasons show anything, it’s that strong defensive play can give teams a chance to win every game.

Another obvious lesson is that nothing comes easy. The loss column may be empty, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any close calls. For instance, in 2004, the Crimson escaped with a pair of one-point victories. Perfection cannot depend on the performance of any one individual—it takes a team effort to achieve success week in and week out.

“The consistency of the Harvard football team, especially in the past 15 years…it’s been really impressive to see the consistency [Murphy] has brought to the program,” Fitzpatrick said. “To be able to build around the program rather than certain guys I think is really impressive.”

EARLY SUCCESS

Nowadays, it’s clear that going undefeated means passing a series of difficult tests. But that wasn’t necessarily the case over a century ago.

For many college football programs, saying that a team has two undefeated seasons in the last century would account for the program’s entire existence. Not for Harvard, one of the nation’s oldest college football teams, which began recording results in 1873.

The seasons were far shorter back then. In 1875, Harvard managed to go undefeated—but with a 4-0 record and with rules far different than today’s.

The 1890 team was so superior to its competition that it’s unclear whether going undefeated was even much of an accomplishment. Harvard finished with an 11-0 record and outscored its opponents 555-12. Yes, you read that correctly.

The Crimson had a spurt of extraordinary success early in the 20th century. Harvard ran the table in both 1912 and 1913, shutting out its opponents in more than half of the games en route to a pair of 9-0 records.

Although the team’s strong play continued in 1914, a pair of ties prevented the Crimson from ending three straight seasons without a loss or draw.