CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 16/22 Harvard got up on Cornell quick, and unlike Colgate a week ago, was able to keep the Big Red at arm's length the rest of the way to remain unbeaten with a 29-13 win on Saturday afternoon at Harvard Stadium. The Crimson improved to 4-0 (2-0 Ivy), while the Big Red suffered its first loss of the year to fall to 3-1 (1-1 Ivy).

The Crimson picked off Big Red sophomore quarterback Dalton Banks on the visitors' first play from scrimmage and scored two plays later and never trailed in extending its win streak over Cornell to 11 games. Three turnovers and seven penalties – including four that extended Harvard drives – were more than Cornell could overcome.



The Big Red defense held a high-octane Harvard offense averaging better than 500 yards to 388 yards on 80 plays and kept the visitors in the game most of the night. Junior Nick Gesualdi had 11 tackles, a sack and an interception in the loss, while classmate Kurt Frimel made six stops, had a forced fumble and broke up a pass. Just Solomon had five stops with a sack and a blocked kick and Ryan Kelley made a pair of tackles for loss.

Offensively, Dalton Banks was 19-of-39 passing for 257 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 29 rushing yards, but was also intercepted three times. Eight different players caught passes, with Ben Rogers hauling in four passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns. The Big Red offense had 337 yards of offense with just 80 of it coming against a Crimson defense that annually ranks among the best in the country against the run.

Harvard cashed in on the short field just 53 seconds into the game after a tough bounce off a receiver was picked off. Crimson quarterback Joe Viviano, whose feet extended plays all day for the home team, was able to find All-America candidate Anthony Firkser for a 3-yard touchdown.

Cornell settled down, stalling out on a nine-play possession for a punt and forcing a Harvard punt on the other end. Late in the first, the Big Red evened the score when Banks went over the top for a 41-yard score to cap an 11-play, 76-yard drive. Freshman Nickolas Null scored his first collegiate point with the PAT kick to knot the score.

The Crimson answered by going 80 yards in the final 4:10 of the quarter, scoring on the final play when Semar Smith went 4 yards to make it 14-7 after 15 minutes. Smith, who ran for touchdowns of 4, 6 and 4 yards on the day, put Harvard into the lead for good with the score.

A 40-yard completion from Banks to James Hubbard got Cornell going, to start the second, but the Big Red's second turnover of the day spoiled that opportunity. The teams traded punts the rest of the half to go into the locker room at 14-7.

Harvard embarked on a 14-play, 80-yard drive that took nearly six minutes and ended with Smith's second score of the day. He ended the night with 19 carries for 71 yards. Justin Solomon blocked the PAT to energize the Big Red sideline.

They'd stay energized through the next possession, with a 30-yard pass from Banks to Collin Shaw and a 14-yard screen to JD PicKell brought Cornell to the Crimson 21 looking to cut into the lead. Banks went to the end zone two plays later, but Tanner Lee picked off his second pass of the game to end the Big Red's drive.

Harvard would go 66 yards on 11 plays, chewing up time and extending the lead to 23-7 on Jake McIntyre's 31-yard field goal. In all, Harvard held the ball for 11:20 in the third quarter.

The Crimson put the game away on its first possession of the fourth, with Smith churning out the final four yards of an 11-play, 60-yard drive. Cornell's defense stopped the two-point conversion.

The Big Red would get on the board with a great pitch-and-catch from Banks to Rogers in the back of the end zone to get within 29-13 with 4:01 left, but Null's extra-point kick hit the uprights and bounced away, and Harvard recovered the on-sides attempt. The Crimson was able to run out the clock to remain unbeaten.

Quotable


Notes
• The last time both Harvard and Cornell met while unbeaten heading into the game was 1973 when the 3-0 Crimson topped the 2-0-1 Big Red 21-15 in Ithaca, N.Y.
• With two punts downed inside the 20, senior All-American Chris Fraser matched Mike Baumgartel for the Big Red school record of 56.
• With his 29-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, senior Ben Rogers became Cornell's 22nd player to reach 1,000 career receiving yards (1,003).
• Junior Nick Gesualdi had his seventh career interception in the game.


Next Up
• Cornell will host Sacred Heart for the first time in program history on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:30 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
• The Pioneers won the first-ever meeting between the programs a season ago, topping the Big Red 31-6 in Fairfield, Conn.