NEW YORK—Luke Emge threw for three touchdown passes and 227 yards and Aaron Shampklin rushed for two more as Harvard won a 49-21 ivy League football contest over Columbia Saturday at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The decision drops Columbia to 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Ivy League.
The Lions have two more games to play this year: vs. Brown (Nov. 13) and at Cornell (Nov. 20). Harvard improves to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Ivy League. The two teams entered the contest in a tie for fourth place in the Ivy League standings.
Columbia was led by quarterback
Joe Green, who threw for 213 yards and a touchdown while completing 18 passes and ran for another,
Mike Roussos finished with 101 all-purpose yards,
Jordan Colbert made a career and game-high 13 tackles and his first career interception,
Scott Valentas made eight tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss,
Marcus Libman caught five passes for 53 yards, and
Dante Miller ran for 65 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown run.
Harvard built a 35-0 halftime lead as it outgained Columbia 331-144 in total yards, threw for 210 yards on 14 of 19 completions and registered 18 first downs in the first half alone. Columbia was 0-3 on fourth down after coming into the game with a No. 5 national ranking in the same category (11-14, 78 percent).
"We had very little energy and passion and it was noticeable today," Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football
Al Bagnoli said. "We didn't play well in any capacity and we weren't ready to play. Couple that with some medical issues we're dealing with and it turns into the perfect storm. I like to think it's not representative of our program, but we have to live with the results. That falls me. It starts with me, it's not a day I'm very proud of and hopefully, our team is not proud of because we've worked way too hard to put that kind of product out there."
"You're playing good teams and if you are not ready to play, you run the risk of being embarrassed. We did not appear ready to play and as emotionally invested as we have been. I'm disappointed to say the least. We've got to get back to work tomorrow. I promise you, we will be more inspired next week."
The Crimson took a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game when Shampklin scored on a 5-yard run following a six-play, 76-yard game-opening drive. Following back-to-back runs by Shampklin (11-yards) and BJ Watson (14 yards), the scoring play was set up when Emge hit Wimberly for a 35-yard pass which put the visitors at the Columbia 5-yard line.
On the ensuing possession, Columbia got the ball back on a roughing the kicker call and quarterback
Joe Green promptly found
Emerson Kabus down the middle of the field for a 44-yard pass. The Lions had a first down-and-10 from the 6-yard line, but ended up missing a 23-yard field goal attempt.
Later in the first quarter, Harvard went up 14-0 when Shampklin scored his second touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run up the middle. The Crimson drove 80 yards on five plays as Emge completed a pass across the middle of the field for Wimberly for 25 yards. Then the Crimson used a flea-flicker play from Emge to James Batch for a 48-yard gain down to Columbia's 1-yard line.
Emge completed a 2-yard fade pass to Adam West for a 21-0 Harvard lead with 9:40 to play in the second quarter. The pass culminated a 60-yard, 11-play drive which featured an Emge 12-yard run in which he avoided a sack, along with three straight Aidan Borguet runs of 7, 13, and 8 yards.
Harvard extended its lead to 28-0 when Emge connected with Adam Shepherd for a 15-yard touchdown pass in the end zone. After Columbia failed to convert a fourth down, the touchdown was setup by a 39-yard pass from Gavin Sharkey to James Batch that put the Crimson in the red zone. Emge connected with Wimberly for an 11-yard touchdown pass and Harvard held a 35-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Crimson went up 42-0 on a 22-yard touchdown run by Borguet in the third quarter.
Columbia then scored 21 unanswered points. Columbia finally got on the board when Green rushed for a 6-yard score with 4:44 left in the third quarter. The score was setup when defensive tackle
Ben Corniello sacked Emge for a nine-yard loss and backed the Crimson to its own 1-yard line. On the ensuing punt,
Mike Roussos returned the ball 31 yards to the Harvard 9-yard line. After a 3-yard completion, Green took it in for the score.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions drove 42 yards in 14 plays and scored on an 11-yard pass to
Luke Painton from Green. The drive featured a 29-yard pass from Green to
Jack Ertz and a 20-yard reception by
Broderick Taylor from Green. The Lions also took advantage of a targeting call on Harvard.
Columbia then scored on a 40-yard touchdown run by
Dante Miller with 10:24 to play to cut the deficit to 42-21. Miller took the handoff from Green, raced to his right around the line, and down the Columbia sideline untouched for his third touchdown of the year. Miller's run was setup by Colbert, who intercepted his first career pass.
"In the second half, we were able to generate some positive plays on both sides," Bagnoli said. "That was good to see. The message at halftime was to try to win the second half. You've got to take it play-by-play and series-by-series, and you've got to try to run your offense and try to parlay that into some positive things you can carry forth into the next game. We challenged them that we are certainly better than this, we're more capable than this, and our expectations are much higher than this. We've just got to perform better. They came out, took ownership of it, did a good job and put some points up on the board and made some stops."
For Harvard, Emge finished with 227 yards passing while completing 17 of 25 attempts, Borguet ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns, Shampklin rushed for 75 yards and two touchdowns, Wimberly caught eight passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Columbia hosts Brown (2-6, 1-4 Ivy League) for Columbia Football Players Club Senior Day on Saturday in New York City. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.
