Columbia-Harvard: Lions Overwhelmed By Crimson Passing Attack

Matt Luft was marching tall.


Harvard 42, Columbia 28

Why Harvard Won

QB Chris Pizzotti had an even better day than usual, throwing for almost 300 yards in the first half alone. Despite pretty good coverage from the Columbia secondary, his throws were so accurate and well-timed that it didn't matter. Of course, it helped to have a 6'6" WR like Matt Luft to throw to as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Crimson weren't dominant, but they grabbed some key interceptions and executed a good pass rush at the end of the game to seal the deal.

Why Columbia Lost

More mistakes at crucial times, but this time it was not a variety of mistakes, just the same thing over and over: interceptions. Rough throws from both QBs not only snuffed out Lion drives, but they also set up a Harvard offense that was already in high gear.

Key Turning Points

1) With Columbia leading 7-6, Harvard's first play from scrimmage after the Columbia TD resulted in a 76-yard TD pass from Pizzotti to Chris Lorditch, and with the two-point conversion the Crimson were back up 14-7. The pass came after what looked like some kind of hard contact on Lion corner Calvin Otis, leaving Lorditch wide open in the middle of the field.

2) With the score still 14-7, the Lions began a promising drive at the Harvard 48 and got a 2nd-and-1 at the Crimson 21 before three straight running plays all yielded no gain. A quick Harvard TD drive and another score after a Shane Kelly interception, and it was 28-7 at the half.

3) After Austin Knowlin broke off a 76-yard punt return for a TD, making it 28-14, Harvard grabbed the momentum right back with a 61-yard TD drive, helped by a pass interference call on Kalasi Huggins on a 3rd-and-7. That made it 35-14, and Harvard didn't really have to worry after that.

For a team going up against a Harvard team that's peaking right now, the Lions still had a number of positives.

- Lou Miller had two more sacks and four-and-a-half tackles for a loss overall. This comes after his late game ejection versus Yale the previous week, proving he can still play with abandon—just not completely reckless abandon.

- Zack Kourouma had something of a breakout game. He grabbed the first QB TD on a well-timed pattern into the end zone for his second score of the year. Later in the game he broke off a nice run on a sweep for 27 yards and wouldn't go down after a reception that helped Columbia convert a 3rd-and-20.

- After three years of returning punts off and on, it was nice to see Austin Knowlin finally break one for a score. Knowlin simply took it to the corner and beat the Crimson down the sideline with his speed.

- Overall, Columbia recorded five sacks. True, Harvard threw the ball so many times that there were ample chances to get sacks, but the Crimson have been doing that for most of the year and had only allowed 12 sacks over seven weeks coming in to this game. Many of the sacks were the result of good coverage downfield, making them a team effort.

- It was nice to see the strong effort and good results from the special teams. Not only were they error free, but they also helped create two TDs with Knowlin's return and the recovery of the bad Harvard punt snap at the Crimson 4.