Junior running back Paul Stanton dashed for a career-high 180 yards on the ground against Dartmouth, as the Crimson remained undefeated in Ivy play.

Four down, three to go.

In a battle of the two undefeated teams in the Ivy League, Harvard (7-0, 4-0 Ivy) came to Memorial Field and outlasted the Big Green (5-2, 3-1) in a defensive struggle to escape victorious, 23-12.

With the win in Hanover, N.H., the Crimson now holds sole possession of the top spot in the conference for the first time since 2011.  

Crucial to Harvard’s success was its plus-two turnover margin. The Crimson’s defense forced four fumbles—recovering two—and picked off Dartmouth’s backup quarterback, Alex Park.

“On the season, believe it or not, we’re minus on the turnover margin, something that’s very rare for a Harvard team,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “That’s something we needed to turn around, and that’s something that was a key statistic for this game.”

Late in the first half, Dartmouth was down by a score and was looking to even the game when quarterback Dalyn Williams connected with wideout Victor Williams for a first down. But cornerback Chris Evans collided with Williams after the catch, popping the ball out, and senior defensive tackle Ryan Delisle fell on top of it to give Harvard possession deep in Big Green territory.

A few runs by junior running back Paul Stanton later, and the Crimson made the game a two-possession contest.

“You can’t make [mistakes] against a team like that,” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said. “Three turnovers, one kind of late in the game, but the first one hurt us, put us in a real bad situation defensively…. That shakes you a little bit.”

A last-ditch Big Green comeback attempt whilst down nine points ended in a controversial turnover. A pass to receiver Bo Patterson put Dartmouth in the Harvard zone for the first time since its opening drive of the half, but when Patterson hit the turf, the ball popped out, and Harvard captain Norman Hayes emerged from the scuffle with it. After a lengthy discussion, the referees ruled it a turnover, much to Teevens’s dismay.

The Big Green would not put any more points on the board after its first drive of the second half, when it managed to tally a field goal, as the ensuing drive ended with a Park pick by junior cornerback Jordan Becerra.

The Crimson’s defensive front was dominant all game, limiting Dartmouth’s rushing attack to just 94 yards on 28 carries and pressuring both quarterbacks throughout the contest.

“Right now we’re playing a really special kind of defense, a defense we haven’t seen since probably the ’97 team,” Murphy said.

 

TROUBLE UNDER CENTER

After senior quarterback Conner Hempel was sidelined for the majority of the season thus far from a back injury, likely the last thing he wanted to do was watch junior playcaller Scott Hosch take his place in the most important game of the season to date for the Crimson.

But following a quarterback draw play late in the first quarter, Hempel got up and held his shoulder gingerly, and Hosch took over under center for the rest of the half. Other than the field goal that came after a turnover deep in Dartmouth territory, the stalled Crimson offense did not score again before halftime.

Hempel began warming up after halftime, and after the Crimson’s opening second half drive ended in a Hosch interception, the senior returned to finish the game.

“I asked [Hempel], about three times, eyeball-to-eyeball, ‘Are you sure you’re okay? We’re not going to put you in if you’re hurting,’” Murphy said. “I’m not saying that Conner Hempel wouldn’t fib to me, but as long as the doctors said he was fine and he said he was okay that made the decision easy.”

Though the Crimson only managed to tack on another field goal with Hempel’s return, the three points proved key, as the drive made the game a two-possession contest with six minutes left. Hempel’s longest pass came on this drive, when the senior found classmate Ty Hamblin near the sideline for 21 yards.

“[Hempel] just does a great job with his feet,” Teevens said. “He went out for a little bit, [and] I wish he took a little bit more time off. He’s the type of guy that gels an offense.”

Dartmouth had similar struggles when Williams had to leave the game with an eye injury. Park came in at the start of the fourth quarter and closed the game for the Big Green.

A STANT-UP GUY

With the uncertainty at quarterback, Stanton became key in helping the Crimson extend drives. Averaging 7.5 yards per carry, the junior certainly did that.

Stanton tallied 180 yards on the day, a career high for him. His previous record came last year against Dartmouth with 145 yards. Behind a stout offensive line that provided Hempel with time in the pocket and with typical red zone back Andrew Casten out with injury, Stanton also powered into the end zone twice.

“[Stanton is] powerful, he’s explosive, he’ll kind of stand behind those big guys…and he’ll exploit a hole really quickly,” Teevens said. “He’s really powerful. You’ll see him in a pile, and the pile moves, and you’ve got big guys falling off of him.”

—Staff writer Samantha Lin can be reached at samantha.lin@thecrimson.com.