For complete coverage of The Game, visit the News’ Harvard-Yale 2014 landing page.

 

Harvard vs. Holy Cross

The Crimson opened their season by beating the Crusaders 41–18. The game opened with Harvard forcing the Crusaders into a three-and-out but still ending the first quarter with a relatively small lead of 7–6. At halftime, the Cantabs headed to the locker room with a 14–12 lead. Though Holy Cross established a lead of 18–14, once senior play caller Connor Hempel came back after suffering back spasms, Harvard eventually took the game back by the time the final buzzer sounded. Senior running back, Andrew Casten, who was filling in for injured junior Paul Stanton, surpassed his career total by rushing 153 yards and scored three touchdowns.

 

Harvard vs. Brown

Despite entering the third quarter behind in their first Ivy League game of the season, junior quarterback Scott Hosch led the Crimson to a 22–14 victory against Brown. Hosch filled in for starter Connor Hempel, who was injured. Harvard started the game with a 6–0 lead but did not get the conversion point, ending the first quarter behind the Bears 7–6. By the end of the third, the Crimson were within one, but were still behind 14–13. With 4:33 left in the game, Paul Stanton, who had not played against Holy Cross, ran 43 yards and brought the Crimson a two-point lead of 16–14. Hosch connected with wide receiver Andrew Fischer 12 times to gain 115 total passing yards.

 

Harvard vs. Georgetown

Harvard played Georgetown without injured starting quarterback Connor Hempel or starting running back Paul Stanton, but crushed the Hoyas 34–3 in their third game of the season. Despite starting for the second time in his college career, senior running back Andrew Casten had 139 yards on 19 carries and scored four times, three of which were in the first half. The Crimson started the game with a 7–0 lead and finished the half up 20–3. Harvard finished the third quarter with a 73-yard drive, including a 43-yard catch by Casten — a play that ended with Casten scoring his fourth touchdown.

 

Harvard vs. Cornell

Despite entering the second half with no points on the scoreboard for either team, Harvard reigned victorious over Cornell 24–7. Harvard’s defense blocked the Big Red from scoring, despite three turnovers in the first quarter. In that same amount of time, the Crimson defense prevented Cornell from earning a single first down, and in the second quarter, Cornell was only able to drive for two first downs. Early on in the third quarter, Anthony Firsker caught junior quarterback Scott Hosch’s pass for a 24-yard completion. Harvard scored 10 more points, and the Big Red went into the fourth quarter scoreless. The Big Red scored its only touchdown of the game with three minutes to spare, putting the score at 24–7.

 

Harvard vs. Lafayette

Though the Cantabs converted only three of its 16 attempts on third down, junior wide receiver Andrew Fischer helped carry the team to a 24–14 win over Lafayette by accumulating 237 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. The Crimson came out of the first quarter 3-0 with a 24-yard field goal kicked by Andrew Flesher. A 78-yard catch and run put the Crimson at 10-0 halfway through the second quarter. Harvard came out of the second quarter with a 17–0 lead, which then quickly became 24–0 at the beginning of the third quarter. The Leopards scored once in the third quarter and again in the fourth, but Harvard came out of the game with its spotless record intact.

 

Harvard vs. Princeton

Harvard pummeled Princeton 49–7 in their sixth game of the season. Led by senior quarterback Connor Hempel, who had been unable to play because of a back injury, Harvard came out of the first half leading 28–0. After being out for a month, Hempel came back with a career-high of 382 yards and complete 25–31 passes. Harvard held Princeton off into the fourth quarter, and ultimately, Princeton only scored one touchdown. Harvard’s win against Princeton marked many milestones, including the largest win margin ever between Harvard and Princeton as well as coach Tim Murphy’s 100th Ivy victory. This victory was the first time Harvard has beat Princeton since 2012.

 

Harvard vs. Dartmouth 

Harvard continued undefeated, winning 23–12 against Dartmouth. In the first four minutes of the game, Harvard took the lead 7–0 and kept it when following Dartmouth’s first touchdown, senior defensive tackle Ryan Delisle swatted the PAT out of the air, keeping the Big Green at bay 7–6. Harvard’s lead was maintained for the rest of the game. In their next possession, the Crimson pulled a pitch play that gained them another touchdown, and this time Harvard’s PAT was blocked. Despite Dartmouth making a 30-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the first half, Harvard maintained a 20–9 lead over the Big Green. The second half featured a 33-yard conversion by Harvard senior kicker Andrew Flesher and a forced fumble by Harvard junior defensive back Chris Evans.

 

Harvard vs. Columbia

Harvard shut Columbia out for the third year in a row — this time with a final score of 45–0. Three of six turnovers ended with Harvard scoring. Linebacker Connor Sheehan ran back an interception for 48 yards in the first quarter, the senior’s first collegiate touchdown. Sheehan snagged another pass out of the air, which resulted in a 60-yard sprint to the end zone in the third quarter. Junior linebacker Matt Koran also returned an interception for a touchdown. Harvard came out of the first half with a 28–0 lead. The Crimson chose to switch a number of starters out for the second half, allowing freshman S–24. Harvard gained an early lead of 7–0 12 seconds into the game, which was followed by the Quakers leading 10–7. Finally the Crimson came out of the first half with a 17–10 lead, but struggled in the third quarter. The Cantabs came into the fourth behind 24–20, but gained the advantage 27-24 five minutes into the final frame. Junior running back Paul Stanton, who totaled a career high of 235 yards on the ground and three touchdowns, brought the score to 34–24 with his final touchdown of the day. Harvard is going into The Game with an undefeated record of 9–0 for the first time since 2004.

SARA SEYMOUR