‘The Game’ turns into ‘The Rout’

Published 10:59 pm Saturday, November 17, 2007

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Harvard coach Tim Murphy challenged his offensive linemen on the eve of their biggest game of the year.

His message was simple: Control the line of scrimmage against Yale. They did and Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti, with plenty of protection, made the rest look easy.

In a battle of Ivy League unbeatens, Pizzotti wasted little time turning the 124th meeting of The Game into The Rout on Saturday as Harvard cruised to a 37-6 win over its archrival.

“We dreamed we’d get this result, we didn’t dream we’d get this kind of dominance,” Murphy said. “The bottom line was a combination of really great emotion, execution and preparation.”

Pizzotti had three of his career-high four touchown passes in the first half to lead the Crimson (8-2, 7-0) to their 12th conference title. Harvard shredded the league’s top defense to spoil Yale’s bid for a perfect season.

The Bulldogs (9-1, 6-1) were looking for their first undefeated season since 1960. Their last three tries at an unblemished record — 1968, 1974 and 1979 — were derailed by Harvard. And it was clear almost from the start this wouldn’t be the Bulldogs’ day either.

The Crimson hobbled Yale’s ground game and pressured quarterback Matt Polhemus all afternoon. Harvard cornerback Steven Williams had two interceptions, setting a school mark for season picks with 16. Polhemus completed just two of 18 attempts and was sacked twice.

Yale’s leading rusher Mike McLeod, who came in averaging 174 yards a game, was held to 50, ending his conference-record streak of 18 straight games with a score..

“That was our number one goal to stop him and make them do things they don’t want to do,” Harvard defensive end Brad Bagdis said.

Pizzotti, who was starting in his first Harvard-Yale game, threw for 316 yards and his 27 attempts were also a career best. He came out throwing and the strategy paid off quickly, setting the tone for the rest of the game. He completed 3 of 4 passes in an opening 69-yard drive, hitting wide-open Matt Luft streaking into the right side of the end zone for a 40-yard score just over 1 minute into the game.

“We knew we could do it but to actually go out and execute on the first drive and have pretty easy success was very important to our confidence,” Pizzotti said.

East

Rutgers 20, Pittsburgh 16: At Piscataway, N.J., Ray Rice rushed for 112 yards and a TD as the Scarlet Knights (7-4, 3-3 Big East) beat the Panthers (4-6, 2-3) and took a major step toward securing a third straight bowl bid.

Wake Forest 38, N.C. State 18: At Winston-Salem, N.C., Riley Skinner threw two TD passes, including a momentum-shifting 62-yarder to Jordan Williams that led the Demon Deacons (7-4, 5-3 ACC) past the Wolfpack (5-6, 3-4).

Navy 35, Northern Illinois 24: At Annapolis, Md., Zerbin Singleton scored three TDs, backup quarterback Jarod Bryant ran for 139 yards and a score, and the Midshipmen (7-4) played uncharacteristicly solid on defense to beat the Huskies (2-9). It was the third straight win for Navy, which already has accepted a bid to plai in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Tusla 49, Army 39: At West Point, N.Y., Paul Smith threw for 390 yards and the Golden Hurricane (8-3) totaled 622 yards of total offense while beating the Black Knights (3-8), who lost their fifth consecutive game and second in a row at home, despite totaling a season-high 491 yards of offense. Tulsa yardage total tied a 34-year-old Michie Stadium record for offensive yards surrendered by Army.

Temple 24, Kent St. 14: At Philadelphia, Dy’Onne Crudup hauled in a 20-yard TD reception with 12:30 remaining in the game to help the Owls (4-7, 4-3 MAC) hand the Golden Flashes (3-8, 1-4) their sixth straight loss. The Owls’ win total is the most since 2002 and their four conference wins are the most since 1967 when Temple was a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference.

Princeton 17, Dartmouth 14 (OT): At Hanover, N.H., Connor Louden kicked a 25-yard field goal the Tigers (4-6, 3-4 Ivy) the win over the Big Green (3-7, 3-4), which drove 85 yards to tie the score as regulation time ended.

Brown 30, Columbus 22: At New York, Bobby Sewall ran for 83 yards, caught 12 passes for 83 yards and scored two TDs to lead the Bears (5-5, 4-3 Ivy) over the Lions (1-9, 0-7), who had rallied from a 21-0 deficit to close to 24-22 early in the fourth quarter.

Penn 45, Cornell 9: At Philadelphia, Bryan Walker scored three TDs and passed for another to lead the Quakers (4-6, 3-4 Ivy League) over the Big Red (5-5, 2-5), which lost its seventh straight Ivy League road game. Despite the win, Penn suffered its first losing season since 1991.

Holy Cross 27, Colgate 20: At Worcester, Mass., Dominic Randolph threw a pair of fourth quarter TD passes as the Crusaders (7-4, 4-2) rallied to beat the Raiders (7-4, 4-2) and deny them a share of Patriot League crown.

Midwest

Michigan St. 35, Penn St. 31: At East Lansing, Mich. Jehuu Caulcrick’s 1-yard TD plunge with just more than 4 minutes remaining capped the Spartans’ (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten) comeback over the Nittany Lions (8-4, 4-4), which lost a 17-point second-half lead.

Indiana 27, Purdue 24: At Bloomington, Ind., Austin Starr made a 49-yard field goal with 30 seconds to play as the Hoosiers (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten) held off a frantic rally by the Boilermakers (7-5, 3-5), who trailed 24-3 early in the second half.

Western Michigan 28, Iowa 19: At Iowa City, Iowa, Tim Hiller threw for 367 yards and three TDs as the Broncos (4-7) stunned Iowa (6-6), putting the Hawkeyes’ bowl hopes in jeopardy. Iowa, one of 10 bowl-eligible Big Ten teams, must now wait and see if it can back into a bid. The Hawkeyes had won three straight to end conference play, but they tied a season-high by allowing 489 yards of total offense to the Broncos.

South

Georgia Tech 27, North Carolina 25: At Atlanta, Travis Bell atoned for an earlier miss by kicking a 27-yard field goal with 15 seconds to play as the Yellow Jackets (7-4, 4-4 ACC) overcame four lost fumbles to beat the Tar Heels (3-8, 2-5), who had taken advantage of quarterback Taylor Bennett’s second fumble to go ahead 25-24 with 5:50 remaining. The Tar Heels still haven’t won outside the state of North Carolina since beating Arizona State in 2002.

Louisiana-Monroe 21, Alabama 14: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Quintez Secka had two interceptions and the WarHawks (5-6), 241/2-point underdogs, turned the Crimson Tide (6-5) away three times on promising scoring drives in the fourth quarter to pull off the upset and hand Alabama its third consecutive defeat.

Florida St. 24, Maryland 16: At Tallahassee, Fla., Bobby Bowden won his 300th game coaching the Seminoles (7-4, 4-4 ACC), getting 133 yards rushing and a TD from Preston Parker in the victory over the Terrapins (5-6, 2-5). Florida State clinched a 31st consecutive winning season.

Arkansas 45, Mississippi St. 31: At Little Rock, Ark., Casey Dick threw a career-high four TD passes as the Razorbacks (7-4, 3-4 SEC) beat the Bulldogs (6-5, 3-4).

Memphis 25, Ala.-Birmingham 9: At Memphis, Tenn., Joseph Doss rushed for 168 yards and a TD and Matt Reagan kicked a career-high four field goals as the Tigers (6-5, 5-2 C-USA) beat the Blazers (2-9, 1-5).

Southwest

Oklahoma St. 45, Baylor 14: At Waco, Texas, Zac Robinson threw for 202 yards and two TDs and ran 17 times for 144 yards and two more scores to lead the Cowboys (6-5, 4-3 Big 12) over the Bears (3-9, 0-8 Big 12), who likely played their last game under coach Guy Morriss.

Tulane 45, Rice 31: At Houston, Matt Forte rushed for 194 yards to eclipse 2,000 for the season, and he scored five TDs to lead the Green Wave (4-7, 3-4 C-USA) over the Owls (3-8, 3-4). Forte, the nation’s leading rusher with 2,007 yards, is the first back in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) with 2,000 in a season since California’s J.J. Arrington in 2004. He broke the Conference USA rushing record of 1,964 yards set by DeAngelo Williams of Memphis in 2005.

Central Florida 49, SMU 20: At Dallas, Kevin Smith rushed for 177 yards and two TDs as the Golden Knights (8-3, 6-1 C-USA) handed it the Mustangs (1-10, 0-7) their ninth straight loss. Central Florida clinched at least a share of the East Division with the win.

Utah St. 35, New Mexico St. 17: At Las Cruces, N.M., Rob Myers caught two touchdown passes as the Aggies (1-10, 1-6 WAC) beat NMSU (4-8, 1-6).

West

BYU 35, Wyoming 10: At Laramie, Wyo., Max Hall passed for 331 yards and three TDs to lead the Cougars (8-2, 6-0) over the the Cowboys (5-6, 2-5), their seventh straight win. BYU clinched at least a share of its fourth Mountain West Conference title.

Portland St. 31, Northern Colorado 21: At Greeley, Colo., Tremayne Kirkland caught two TD passes as the Vikings (3-8, 3-5 Big Sky) beat the Bears (1-11, 1-7) to break a five-game losing streak.