WORCESTER — The streak is over.
Down its starting quarterback, running back, and top wide receiver, No. 15 Harvard couldn’t find any offensive momentum and turned the ball over three times at Fitton Field on Saturday in a 27-17 loss to Holy Cross.
It’s the Crimson’s first road loss to a nonconference opponent since 2011, when a team with an entirely different roster also fell to the Crusaders. The loss also halts a 16-game win streak on the road, both a program and Ivy League record, and is just the second Crimson defeat of the last three seasons.
“These guys aren’t used to losing, and we’ve got to fight,’’ Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve just got to fight. We’ve got to be more physical, we’ve got to be more aggressive, and we’ve got to respond to what I’m sure they would look at as adversity.’’
Making his first career start in place of senior Joe Viviano, sophomore quarterback Tom Stewart spent most of the afternoon in duress. He didn’t handle it well, taking six sacks and fumbling three times, two of which Harvard recovered (4-1). The one that got away, though, was picked up in the end zone by linebacker Brett Laurie for a Holy Cross touchdown.
Stewart also threw an interception on a deep pass with five minutes left in the game that effectively sealed the game for the Crusaders.
“I thought Tom did a good job,’’ Murphy said. “I thought he hung in there, we just didn’t give him enough help.’’
Harvard’s offense is predicated on picking up yards on the ground, and Stewart didn’t get much help from the running attack. Without junior Semar Smith, Harvard, which has averaged close to 200 rushing yards per game this season, picked up just 26 yards on 29 attempts against a defensive line that Murphy characterized as the best his team has played against this season.
As a result, a Harvard team that came into the game leading the country in third-down conversion percentage converted just 4 of 15 third-down attempts.
Holy Cross (3-4) was also not at full strength, a fact that coach Tom Gilmore made well known. He entered his postgame press conference red in the face and husky in the throat, then sat down next to sophomore quarterback Geoff Wade. Now the starter, Wade started the season as the fourth-string quarterback and is still inconspicuous enough that his identifying placard, normally printed, was still handwritten.
Gilmore then talked about freshman Domenic Cozier, who played running back in high school but has spent his first year at Holy Cross as a wide receiver. After a slew of injuries at the position, though, Cozier practiced this week at running back.
On Saturday, he ran for 112 yards and averaged 7 yards per carry to gut a strong Harvard defensive line. Wade threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over despite a stream of pressure. And even though his team missed two field goals and kept Harvard in the game, Gilmore said without a doubt, it was his team’s best defensive effort this season.
“Do you want me to start counting how many starters we have out on defense?’’ Gilmore said when asked about his team’s preparation for an offense missing three starters. “No sympathy for the other team there. We have a lot more starters and players out right now than they did, so that just doesn’t hold water with me. We had a lot of guys really step up and make plays.’’
Down just 4 points at halftime, Harvard opened the third quarter with three straight three-and-outs. Holy Cross continued to run the ball, staying on the field for more than 20 minutes in the second half, but the Harvard defense held strong and kept the Crusaders out of the end zone.
Harvard’s offense gained just 1 total yard of offense in the fourth quarter, though, which negated the defensive effort.
“We weren’t consistently moving the ball and put much too much pressure on our defense,’’ Murphy said. “I thought our defense played at times heroically in the second half, we just put them on the field too much.’’
Everett Cook can be reached at evcook4@gmail.com.
