Harvard wins Ivy football title with rout over Penn

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Harvard running back Zach Boden rushed for 81 yards as the Crimson beat Penn for the Ivy title Saturday.

BOSTON — There were no celebratory cigar puffs filling Harvard Stadium, no fans storming the field, and no trophy presentations after the Crimson secured the Ivy football championship.

That’s the way Harvard coach Tim Murphy wanted it: shake hands with the Quakers and sprint off the field after a 37-20 victory that brought the Ancient Eight title back to Boston for the first time since 2008.

The Crimson ran through Penn’s defense, scoring 37 unanswered points to remain undefeated on the Ivy season. Coupled with Dartmouth’s win over Brown, Harvard sealed its 14th outright championship.

“We had to play perfect here at Harvard and we didn’t,” Penn senior wide receiver Ryan Calvert said.

Penn struck first, as junior quarterback Billy Ragone found Calvert for a 21-yard touchdown pass at the end of the first quarter.

Then Harvard shut it down.

When the Quakers took over at their own 24 early in the second quarter, junior running back Jeff Jack was stood up at the line of scrimmage on the first play, and Harvard defensive tackle Josue Ortiz ripped the ball free for a turnover. Harvard wasted no time, as quarterback Collier Winters hit Cameron Brate for a 24-yard touchdown.

With the first half winding down, Harvard running back Zack Boden, splitting duty with Treavor Scales, took a handoff for 14 yards to give the Crimson a 14-7 lead.

If the momentum was shifting in the Crimson’s favor, it would be solidly in their hands by halftime.

Penn was forced to punt with six seconds remaining in the half. Senior long snapper Ed Kispert — who had trouble locating his snaps all day — sent the ball wide, forcing punter Scott Lopano to fall on it at the Penn 18. Harvard’s kicker David Mothander put in a field goal to take a 17-7 lead at the break.

“We lost a lot of momentum there, and it goes back to turnovers,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. “You can’t go against good teams, especially on the road, and put yourself in a scenario where you’re going to turn the ball over three or four times and make a lot of mistakes.”

The second half was more of the same as Winters and Scales both ran in touchdowns, and Ragone threw a pick-six to junior Alexander Norman, as Penn spun its wheels offensively.

The Red and Blue’s typically-bruising running game was held to 24 total yards. With the rush failing to pull its weight, Bagnoli was forced to pass, but this “one-dimensional” offense was easy for Harvard to defend, he said.

In the second half, the Crimson forced five three-and-outs on Penn’s first seven drives. The other two ended in turnovers.

Bagnoli attributed some of the mistakes to the team’s youth.

“We have 62 kids traveling, 12 kids who are graduating of that 62,” he said. “This is a really young football team that’s been somewhat erratic but … I think the foundation is there.”

The late-season Penn-Harvard matchup has been the de-facto Ivy championship game for three years — one of these two teams has won the last five titles. Looking to next year, Bagnoli doesn’t see that changing, at least on his end.

“The program is not going away.”

But after two years sitting on 33rd Street, the Ivy trophy will be collected this week and taken to New Haven, Conn., where — regardless of whether Harvard beats Yale — the Crimson will take it home.

Comments (8)

As I commented yesterday, during the two decades Penn and Harvard have been the “Class of the Ivy League” and have now won 14 Ivy Championships between them. (Penn – 8; Harvard – 6). The Penn-Harvard game in mid-November has become the unofficial Ivy League Football Championship Game.
From my perspective however, and with deep regret, Penn did not look like a contender for the 2011 Ivy Championship. After taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter it was all down hill for the Quakers. The Crimson scored 37 unanswered points and cruised to a 37-20 victory and its 14th Ivy Championship. With the Dartmouth upset of Brown, the Harvard -Yale Game next week becomes moot point and is only for bragging rights between those two schools. Harvard was the better team on November 12, 2011. Penn made to many mistakes. There were no last minute heroics and late game miracles as in earlier contests this season. The clock had struck mid-night for the Quakers chance at a three-peat. We will have to wait until next year to win our 16th Ivy League Football Championship.
No time to feel sorry for ourselves however,
as Cornell comes to the Frank next Saturday for our final game.

this has been a very erratic team, almost like they’ve been out of synch all season. it’s hard to figure out, but when you think about it, the Princeton game was the only blowout; they’ve pretty much struggled in every other Ivy game – even Yale was sloppy until the 4th quarter.

In hindsight, this is a young team that did not develop and mature as quickly as I had hoped. Nevertheless the talent is there for another run for an Ivy championship, or two. Hopefully, this season is a learning experience for all the players how hard it is to be #1.

Next year, we will have many combat proven veterans back (including Lyle Marsh). Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale will be young teams that will have to cope with “growing pains”.

@bigkahuna –

I know your antipathy to the NY Times, but were you watching the game I saw yesterday on Versus? Harvard had a couple of Freshman starters, and played many next-year returnees on both sides of the line.

Yes Penn will be in the hunt for next year’s Ivy title, but so will 3 others. Based on the returnees and skill levels, I’d think Harvard will be the strong favorite. Wish it weren’t so.

Hello Ernie: Yes, I watched the same game you did on Versus. Harvard played very well, to their credit, and made less mistakes than Penn did. Some of the top Harvard players mentioned by the announcers, like Josue Ortiz and Alex Gedeon, who played like they were auditionng for the NFL, won’t be back. Neither will the QB and both starting receivers. That said, Harvard has been recruiting well for some time and I am sure there is talent on their bench. I thought Penn can withstand the graduation losses from last year but replacing the lost stars are not that easy. Harvard will have the same challenge next year. I am sure Harvard will be a tough challenge for Penn next year and in most years. However, I am keeping my fingers crossed and being cautiously optimistic about our chances next year…

PS: I do not have any antipathy to the New York Times, I just don’t worship it (just like 99% of my neighbors here on the West Coast). Given its track record in recent years, I am certainly smart enough not to quote it or take anything they say too serously.

I was tremendously disappointed with the offensive play calling yesterday. I don’t get it. The coaches had a few outstanding games this year where they mixed the
pass & the run effectively and had the opposing D on their heels the entire game. This game, they looked like they were playing not to lose, instead of dictating the play. Harvard’s D was the best we played all year (Ortiz is a beast), including Villanova, but the play calls early on, and then in Q4 were terrible in my humble opinion. Calling a designed QB run for Billy on 3rd & 8? Throwing that stupid bubble screen for 3 yards on 3rd & long at least twice? What is wrong with a 10 yard curl or comeback on 3rd & 8? Then with almost 12 minutes left in Q4 when Becker comes in, down 30 (4 TD’s with a couple of deuces away from a tie). Do you put it all out there? Risk everything since you have nothing to lose? No. Two hand offs and a 3rd & 9 throw. Now it is 4th & 1, so do you go for it? No. Punt. Are you kidding me? The coaches quit on their team. However unlikely the comeback is, you never quit. They should have come out 4 wide, 2 minute drill. Throwing it all over the place. Who cares at that point if you throw an interception? Embarrassing. The announcer said Bagnoli told them pre-game he just hoped to keep the game close so they could hopefully pull it out at the end. Penn did that all year, but they didn’t always pull it out at the end. Living on the edge is too dangerous. I just wish the coaches would have learned more from their own successes and would have kept the opposing D guessing all year. Despite the fact that it seems to me the coaches are more conservative than Rush Limbaugh, who am I to argue with the successes they have had? But to quit on your team? That is simply unforgivable.

Harvard has not forgotten tremendous recent defeats inflicted by Penn, including last year’s and the awful beating Harvard took at Franklin Field on national television in 2002. I don’t think you can begrudge Harvard its victory this year. And next year looks very interesting again.

Penn will again compete for the Ivy Championship next year. Harvard will again be a tough opponent. November 10, 2012 will again be the Ivy League Championship Game. Only the venue will change. REMEMBER, the Crimson comes to Franklin Field in 2012. So will ever competitive Brown visit the Frank. That will help the Quakers chances. However, Penn still has to travel to Dartmouth again, Yale, Princeton and Cornell. Winning our 16th Championship will not be an easy task but very attainable.
FYI- Penn travels to Dartmouth again because of a change in Ivy scheduling initiated by both Penn and Dartmouth. Penn will NOT have to make three trips to New England in the same year again. Dartmouth will not have to visit Penn and Princeton in the same year again. This arrangement will be beneficial to both teams. It will lessen bus time, a concern of Coach Bagnoli for many years.
This Saturday is Senior Day against Cornell.
The 2012 season begins with this game.

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