Harvard Ekes Out Win Over Indians

By Edmund Finnerty | Monday, October 29, 2001

One would think with a twenty-one-point lead, the Dartmouth football team would be comfortably ahead of Harvard for the second half; they were not. Dartmouth controlled the entire first half but returned in the second half to find a spirited Crimson team. Harvard scored thirty-one unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Indians.

Dartmouth's first touchdown came early in the game. Starting on the Harvard 47-yard line, Mike Gratch carried the ball seven yards before he was brought to the ground. On second down, Gratch ran to the right and broke free of his defenders. Making a twenty-five yard run, Gratch had a first down on the Harvard 15-yard line. Again Gratch tried his power up the middle, but he was stopped dead in his tracks. On the fourth play of the drive, quarterback Evan Love floated an end zone pass to a wide-open Casey Cramer: touchdown.

Spirits were high and the Dartmouth side cheered and sang in celebration of our early lead. Harvard received Dartmouth's kick on their own 2-yard line and returned only to the 14-yard line before the Big Green halted the advance. Harvard started their drive with a short pass and a quick run before Dartmouth defenders Rob Hensel and Matt Mercer blocked Harvard's Rodney Burns from a first down. Mercer proceeded to sack Harvard's freshman quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, on the next play. Moving quickly, a short pass and a run to the right brought Harvard to a first down. Out of their red zone, Harvard aired the football downfield 20 yards. Breaking free from cover, Harvard advanced to the Dartmouth 30 yard line. Harvard's offense enjoyed the last of their advance on this set of downs. Harvard attempted to go for a fourth down and feet, but the Big Green defense did not let them budge.

Taking over on downs, Love and the offense returned to the field with eight minutes left in the first quarter. Gratch ran two similar plays, advancing him five yards each play. The officials measured for a first down, but Dartmouth fell just short. Love then ran a QB sneak for a first down. Dartmouth proceeded to slowly pick apart the Harvard defense. On the Harvard 36-yard line, Gratch made a great 9 yard rush that was just shy of a first down. Going for another fourth and inches, Gratch drove through the Harvard defense for the first down. Enthused with yet another fourth down conversion, the Big Green moved quickly. Surprising the defense, Love tossed a 15 yard completion to sophomore TE Casey Cramer. Just short of the end zone, Love ran the play for a touchdown. Dartmouth led 14-0.

Having the third kick-off in the first quarter, junior Alex Ware launched a 55 yard kick deep into Harvard territory. Harvard returned the ball 15 yards before being stopped by the rushing Dartmouth defenders. On their first play, Harvard faked a run and then threw a 25 yard pass to Carl Morris who was tackled by senior Trevor Nealon. Advancing another seven yards, Morris caught the next play for another Harvard first down. With second down and six to go on the Dartmouth 39-yard line, Fitzpatrick threw a screen pass to Morris, and Morris advanced 15 yards for the first down. The first quarter ended.

Changing sides, Harvard posed their first serious threat to scoring against Dartmouth. Fitzpatrick mishandled a bad snap and lost three yards before he completed his next 10 yard throw. Harvard's Rodney Thomas tried for the first down up the middle, but only advanced two yards. On a fourth and inches, Fitzpatrick avoided tackles to reach a first down on the Dartmouth 9-yard line. Again Thomas ran the ball, but Dartmouth senior Gannon Sungar stopped him just short of the endzone. Thomas tried again, but only advanced one yard. With only a yard to the end zone, Fitzpatrick went for the quarterback sneak on third down, and only made it one yard. The Dartmouth fans stood on their feet and the defense responded by stuffing another attempted quarterback sneak for the touchdown. Dartmouth offense took over on downs on their own 1-yard line.

Running the ball, Gratch hit resistance in his first two downs. On third and seven, Gratch broke free for a 12 yard run. With junior Bill Draznik clearing a trail, freshman Pat Risha rushed for five yards to reach the Dartmouth 22-yard line. Running six yards on his next attempt, Risha got the first down. There was a delay of game while setting up for first and ten. Penalized five yards, Dartmouth did not advance on first down and had an incomplete pass on second down. Attempting another throw, Harvard's Niall Murphy picked-off Love's 25 yard toss.

The Crimson offense returned to the field. Finding heavy opposition from the Dartmouth defense, Harvard made no progress and punted on fourth down. Recovering the short punt on the Dartmouth 19-yard line, Dartmouth faced similar competition from the Harvard defense. Gratch and Cramer advanced five yards in three plays, and Dartmouth was forced to punt on fourth down. With a great punt, Harvard recaptured their field on their own 24-yard line.

With 3:30 until half time, Harvard took their time. Running up the middle on first down, Harvard threw on second down. It was a mistake for freshman QB Fitzpatrick as Dartmouth sophomore Kevin Hogan intercepted the throw and preceded to run 25 yards closer to the end zone.

With first and goal, Love tried to run down the clock with three plays from Gratch: he advanced four yards, two yards, and then two feet. Love ran down the clock to 44 seconds before calling a timeout. Coming back into huddle, the play clock started to run down for Dartmouth. When they broke from huddle, the offense thinned out the defense with a creative strategy. Placing five players to Love's right, the Harvard defense didn't have enough time to counter the Big Green. On the snap, Love ran an easy rush to the right and into the end zone for the third touchdown. The kick split the uprights, and the kicking team took the field. With a line drive below-the-wind kick, Harvard recovered possession on their own 27-yard line.

Under heavy pressure from Dartmouth defense and little time, Fitzpatrick did an excellent job advancing the ball, but he didn't make it far enough. With eight seconds left on the clock, Harvard had more than half of the field to cover. On the snap, the Crimson colors bled into the Dartmouth red zone. Taking his time to throw, Fitzpatrick broke free of two tackles and found space. He launched a Hail Mary. Almost landing in the hands of a Dartmouth defender, the ball skipped to the ground, and the half ended.

Dartmouth left the field with a 21-0 lead over Harvard. No one would ever imagine that Dartmouth was in jeopardy of losing the game, but the third quarter brought some difficulty to the Dartmouth offense.

Dartmouth received on the kick-off, and freshman Steve Jensen returned the ball to wonderful field position on the Dartmouth 35-yard line. However, in four downs Dartmouth punted. Harvard recovered the punt on their own 20-yard line. On third and six, Fitzpatrick found a clearing and scrambled for 14 yards and a first down. In a volley of penalties, Harvard took the first hit. On first and ten, Harvard was penalized for an illegal block in the backfield. On first and twenty, Dartmouth was charged with holding and put Harvard back to first and ten. Return yet another penalty, Harvard had illegal procedure and lined up for the fourth first down play. With two running plays, Harvard advances to third and five. Catching a ten-yard throw, Harvard penetrated Dartmouth territory. With finesse and much surprise, Fitzpatrick pitched the football to wide receiver Carl Morris who then lofted a pass to a wide-open Harvard receiver. He proceeded to waltz into the end zone for Harvard's first touchdown. The extra point was good, and Dartmouth led Harvard 21-7.

On the kick-off return, Jensen fumbled the ball after a hard hit. Harvard recovered the fumble, and took the field on the Dartmouth 32-yard line. On the first play, Fitzpatrick lobbed a pass over Dartmouth's defense to Carl Morris for another touchdown.

In a matter of 20 seconds, the entire game shifted hands, and the Dartmouth players appeared defeated already. From the kick-off, Dartmouth again went out in four downs with a punt. The punt was returned to the Dartmouth 45-yard line. Fitzpatrick fired a 30 yard pass into the hands of Morris. On the Dartmouth 15-yard line, the next two plays did not gain much ground. Running back, Nick Palazzo, broke free for the touchdown. With the extra point through the uprights, Harvard had suddenly tied the score, 21-21.

Dartmouth returned the kick-off to their own 25-yard line but proceeded to punt in another four downs. Harvard ran the punt to the Harvard 44-yard line. Through some running plays and some passes, Harvard pushed their way back towards the Dartmouth end zone again. Dartmouth defense held the Crimson team to only a field goal after Fitzpatrick was sacked on third down. Waiting for the quarter to end, Harvard kicked with the wind to gain three points on Dartmouth and take the lead for the first time.

Dartmouth recovered the kick-off on their own 20-yard line. An advance from Gratch and a short pass to Cramer set up third and two. With a running play, Dartmouth got their first down for the first time in the second half. The following plays perplexed the majority of the crowd. On third and two, a Harvard defender—who returned the ball to the Dartmouth end zone for a touchdown—picked off Love, but two flags were down during the play. As the play ended, another flag was thrown. After much deliberation, the officials stated that there were two personal fouls and one unsportsmanlike conduct foul. The personal fouls were shared between Dartmouth and Harvard, but the unsportsman-like conduct was charged to the Harvard player with the interception. After running into the end zone, he gloated and cheered a touchdown that didn't happen.

The combination of penalties removed the touchdown from Harvard's score and moved the ball to the Harvard 9-yard line. From third and two on the Dartmouth 40 yard line, Harvard assumed possession of the ball on their own 9 yard line after the penalties.

Harvard slowly advanced and was forced to punt after two first downs. With an excellent Dartmouth return, sophomore Jay Banard gave the Dartmouth offense great field position on the Harvard 47-yard line. On second and twelve, Cramer caught a first down pass from Love. Sacked in the pocket on the next down, Love set up another second and twelve. Freshman Bob Murphy caught a seven yard pass between two defenders. The Dartmouth fans cheered thinking that they would answer Harvard's last 24 points. Under pressure, Love dropped the football before throwing, and Harvard recovered the fumble.

At this point, Harvard hammered the nail into the coffin. Harvard took its time and marched back downfield towards the Dartmouth end zone. Harvard was forced to punt, and Dartmouth recovered the ball on their own three yard line with two minutes to go. With two incomplete passes to Cramer, Love found senior Matt DeLellis for a three yard gain. On fourth and seven, Dartmouth went for it, but Harvard deflected the ball.

Taking over with only a couple yards to the Dartmouth end zone, Harvard's Fitzpatrick rushed for two yards before the crimson scored their fourth touchdown. The kick split the uprights, and Harvard led Dartmouth 31-21.

The victory was Harvard's largest comeback in the128 years of Harvard football. Fitzpatrick completed 20 of 31 passes for 262 yards while Morris caught 11 passes for 153 yards; Love completed 6 of 15 passes for 60 yards while Cramer had 72 yards on five receptions, and Michael Gratch had 22 carries for 91 yards.

Harvard Ekes Out Win Over Indians

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