It’s hard to stand out on a team with a 16-game winning streak. It’s hard to stand out on a defense that ranked first in the FCS in points allowed last year.

And it’s certainly hard to stand out on a night when six different teammates scored as part of a 53-27 rout against a conference foe.

But last Saturday, senior linebacker Jacob Lindsey did all three.

In the Harvard football team’s Ivy opener against Brown, Lindsey played a pivotal role in shifting the momentum the Crimson’s way.

With 9:05 left in the first quarter, the Brown offense trotted onto the field needing to score after a touchdown by senior running back Paul Stanton, Jr. had given Harvard a 7-0 lead.

At this point, on their second drive of the game, the Bears came out looking for a big play.

Senior quarterback Marcus Fuller fired a pass to junior wide receiver Alex Jette that fell incomplete. On second down, Brown settled for a two-yard run by senior running back Seth Rosenbauer.

Then it happened.

On third and eight, with Fuller dropping back and the Bears pinned deep in their own territory, Crimson senior defensive back Sean Ahern came streaking in on a cornerback blitz and knocked the ball out of Fuller’s hand.

Using what every football player learns on his first day of practice, Lindsey saw the loose ball, scooped it up, and scored. Harvard forced four Brown turnovers on the night.

After the linebacker’s return touchdown, the Crimson was up, 14-0, less than seven minutes into the contest. The pendulum didn’t swing in the Bears’ favor the rest of the night. Harvard forced a three-and-out on the next possession, and the Crimson amassed a 37-0 lead by halftime.

“Sean did a great job coming out the edge,” Lindsey said. “That was something we game-planned for…. It was cool tonight because the gloves were sticky. I was able to hang onto that ball and obviously take it in.”

Along with scoring the first touchdown of his career at Harvard, Lindsey finished the game with a team-leading 10 tackles, twice as many as the next highest player.

His performance Saturday fell just short of his career-high of 12 tackles coming against Cornell last season.

After two games, Lindsey leads the team in tackles for the season with 17.