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Updated November 9, 2024, at 5:06 p.m.

Harvard’s football team blew out the Columbia Lions 26-6 on Saturday, putting the Crimson in prime position to defend its share of the Ivy League title as it moved into a tie for first place with the Dartmouth Big Green.

No. 24 Harvard (7-1, 4-1 Ivy), powered by a strong defensive performance, held the Lions (5-3, 3-2 Ivy) scoreless for most of the game. The Crimson kept the Lions out of the endzone until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, when Columbia scored a meaningless touchdown to get on the scoreboard.

The defense compensated for junior quarterback Jaden Craig’s worst performance of the season as he struggled to find his targets on a windy day at Harvard Stadium.

Craig finished the game 15-34 for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but he had several throws that were nearly picked off by an aggressive Columbia secondary. Craig’s 44 percent completion rate marked his lowest of the season.

Despite Craig’s struggles on Saturday, Aurich remained upbeat about his star quarterback’s performance, saying that Craig ultimately made the plays needed to win the game.

Still Aurich acknowledged that Columbia’s strategy of having extra defenders in its coverage forced Craig to make several passes that were turnover-worthy — a vulnerability that other teams could try to exploit in the weeks ahead.

“We have to be ready for that to be something we see in the future from teams,” Aurich said. “Because the reality is, it was pretty effective versus us.”

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The unsung heroes of the game lining up in the trenches were the offensive and defensive lines. Both were question marks going into the season, with the offensive line having only one returning starter, but Aurich credited his players for rising to the challenge.

Sophomore defensive back Austin Jake-Guillory was also a valuable asset for the Crimson, picking off two passes in the first half to prevent the Lions from gaining offensive momentum.

In a postgame interview, Jake-Guillory credited the unit’s preparation for the game, citing the emphasis on every player doing their job in order to get off the field on third down.

“The game plan going into this was handling business on first and second down, and then getting off the field on third down,” Jake-Guillory said.

The first quarter had little action until the last two minutes, with both defenses managing to limit the scoring.

Harvard looked like it might get its first signs of life offensively when senior Scott Woods II managed to return a Columbia punt to the 12-yard line, but Columbia’s strong secondary held off three passes from Craig — forcing the Crimson to settle for a field goal.

In the following drive, Columbia’s offense finally made its way down the field after a screen pass and a run by senior running back Malcom Terry II set the Lions up on the 20-yard line. Under pressure for the first time in the game, Harvard’s defense didn’t flinch.

Columbia quarterback Cole Freeman tried to find a receiver in the back of the endzone, instead he only found Jake-Guillory who intercepted the pass to end the Lions’ threat.

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Harvard’s offense immediately capitalized on the turnover as Craig found his roommate, junior wide receiver Cooper Barkate, for a 38-yard throw that took the Crimson into Columbia territory.

Barkate, who entered Saturday ranked 5th in yards per game in the FCS, connected with Craig again just three plays later for a 34-year touchdown that extended the Crimson’s lead to 10-0 with 1:35 left in the first quarter.

On the Lions’ fifth drive of the half, Harvard’s defense caught a huge break when a 50-yard pass to Columbia wide receiver Ethan Hebb was ruled incomplete, following a review that lasted more than two minutes. The call didn’t stop Columbia’s offense from pressing forward, but another interception by Jake-Guillory stymied the Lions and gave Harvard the ball with 8:35 left in the second half.

A 43-yard pass inside the redzone from Craig to senior utilityman Charles DePrima gave Harvard yet another opportunity to score, but another series of incomplete passes from Criag and a missed field goal from freshman kicker Kieran Corr kept the score at 10-0.

Two successive sacks by the Crimson’s offensive line in the next drive allowed Harvard to quickly recover the ball from the Lions.

Facing a two-minute drill, the Crimson finally got its run game going. On the first play of the drive, Craig handed it off to sophomore running back Xaviah Bascon, who slipped past defenders and cut to the outside, resulting in a 31-yard gain to the Lions’ 44-yard line.

After Craig scrambled for five yards on the ensuing first down, he lofted a pass to the end zone intended for senior wide receiver Kaedyn Odermann. The leaping Odermann was unable to come down with the ball, but a pass interference penalty from Columbia advanced Harvard by 15 yards.

The next series, Craig escaped the pocket and threw another dangerous pass down the sideline that nearly ended in a pick. Two more errant throws from Craig left the Crimson staring down fourth-and-10 from the 16-year line with no choice but to kick the field goal.

This time, Corr knocked the 34-yard attempt through the uprights as time expired in the half to put the Crimson up 13-0 heading into the locker rooms.

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At the onset of the second half, Columbia’s defense came out poised, giving up just one first down before the Crimson was forced to punt.

In its first drive of the half, the Lions’ offense appeared ready to start chipping away at the Crimson’s lead. However, after three first downs, the promising drive came to an end following a sack from senior defensive lineman Dominic Young-Smith and two incompletions.

In its next drive, the Crimson was unable to convert on a promising field position. After another characteristic fourth down conversion by DePrima, a near interception by the Lions in the endzone and a sack on Craig forced a 48-yard field goal attempt. For the second time of the day, Corr missed — this time kicking low and far to the left.

Despite the special teams miscue, the defense continued to step up. After allowing Freeman to scramble for 30 yards into Harvard territory, the Crimson opened up the fourth quarter with a big stop.

On fourth-and-2 at the 32-yard line, senior linebacker Mitch Gonser stuffed Columbia’s star running back Joey Giorgi at the line of scrimmage to force another turnover on downs with 14:12 left in the game.

Aiming to take time off the clock, Mickey Fein’s unit orchestrated a 14-play drive that lasted seven minutes and 35 seconds. Featuring Bascon heavily, who ended the game with 113 rushing yards, the drive ended with Craig finding DePrima in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown — his first receiving touchdown this year — to put Harvard up 19-0. A failed two-point conversion limited the Crimson to the 19-point advantage.

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Harvard already had the win all but secured, but this didn’t slow down the Crimson’s offense. DePrima followed up his touchdown catch with a scoring run, slipping through a hole in Columbia’s defense to run 52 yards and bring the score to 26-0 with 3:35 left in the game.

Columbia finally managed to answer on its next drive, staving off a shutout after a pass initially ruled as a catch and fumble was overturned and ruled incomplete. Freeman’s arm proved key for Columbia to pick up its only touchdown of the game, as he threw a 26-yard pass and 37-yard pass during the drive. The Lions went for two, but the attempt failed, leaving the score 26-6.

With the victory, the Crimson continues to control its own destiny as it enters the final two games of the Ivy League season. A win over the University of Pennsylvania and Yale would allow Harvard to clinch a share of the title for the second year in a row.

The Crimson’s chances of winning the title outright are slim, as Harvard must win its remaining games and hope that Dartmouth loses against Cornell and Brown — two teams that have losing records in the Ivy League.

Even though UPenn and Yale have also struggled this year, Aurich said his team will need to clean up its game if it wants to win the championship.

“Overall, I don’t think that was our best effort,” Aurich said. “We can definitely play better than that.”

—Staff writer Jo B. Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Jo_Lemann.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.