CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Columbia got a pair of blocked field goals and a stroke of luck against Harvard to come up with a landmark win.
Caden Bell was 16-of-33 for 190 yards and two touchdowns and Bryson Canty had five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown as Columbia picked up its first Ivy League win of the season with a 21-20 comeback win at Harvard.
Columbia would capitalize on a 49-yard field goal block early in the fourth quarter with an eight-play 61-yard touchdown drive. Bell connected with Luke Painton for a 25-yard touchdown grab, and after an offsides penalty on the extra point try, the Lions opted to go for two. Despite Harvard snuffing out the play design, Bell found running back Ryan Young, who pushed through the goal line to give Columbia the 21-20 lead with 9:11 left in the game. The Lions' first lead of the day.
The win is the first time Columbia has won at Harvard since 1995 after Harvard's 42-yard field goal clanged off the left upright with 1:17 remaining.
"Even when I was at Penn this was always really hard place to play," Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football Al Bagnoli said. "They usually draw well and it's really pretty raucous place. And they've always historically played very well here, so I can see people having trouble. So, that was good to kind of get out of the record books, but it speaks volumes to our kids. You know, because again, things have not been easy this entire year to come in here and do it under these circumstances… Kudos to the kids and the way they compete and the culture that we have and the kind of team that we're capable of them."
After trading turnovers in the third quarter, Alex Felkins edged Columbia (4-4, 1-4 Ivy) closer with a 37-yard field goal to trail Harvard 17-13 midway through the third quarter. A 34-yard field goal by Harvard (5-3, 3-2 Ivy) would extend the lead back to 20-13 with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lions defense set the tone early.
The defensive line tipped a pass on Harvard's third play from scrimmage and it was intercepted by linebacker Scott Valentas. The turnover set up Columbia at midfield for its first offensive possession early in the first quarter. The Lions were unable to capitalize as a 41-yard field goal sailed wide right with 10:08 left in the first half.
A couple of drives later, Harvard would cap off an 80-yard drive with an eight-yard pitch and catch to go up 7-0 with 1:38 left in the first quarter.
A 43-yard catch by Canty set up a 37-yard field goal for Felkins to cut Harvard's lead to 7-3 early in the second quarter. Columbia took a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter after a 55-yard drive when Canty hauled in his fifth touchdown catch of the year for a six-yard back-shoulder catch.
Harvard would answer with a long drive of its own that ended in a 1-yard touchdown drive and retake the lead at 14-10 with 3:48 left in the first half. A fumble by Columbia on the first place from scrimmage gave the ball right back to Harvard. The Lions would hold Harvard to a 30-yard field goal to keep it a one-score game at 17-10 before heading into the break.
Columbia is on the road again next week when they travel to Providence, Rhode Island, to take on Brown. Kickoff is set for noon and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
Matt Sugam '23 SPS has been covering sports in the NYC Metropolitan area for over a decade. He has spent the last eight years covering college and professional sports as a stringer for the Associated Press and contributing to The New York Times, USA Today Network, NJ.com, and SNY.tv. He's been covering Lions Athletics for gocolumbialions.com while pursuing an M.S. in Strategic Communication at Columbia's School of Professional Studies. Follow him on Twitter @MattSugam or visit his website at www.mattsugam.com
