Jake Smith, Harvard rout Brown

Harvard quarterback Jake Smith proved he likes the night life, tossing a career-high four touchdown passes to four different receivers as the Crimson crushed Brown, 42-7, on Friday night at Harvard Stadium.

Smith threw TD passes to B.J. Watson, Adam West, Jack Cook and Cody Chrest. Junior running back Devin Darrington and freshman backup Aidan Bourguet added fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns on runs of 24 and 5 yards, respectively, as Harvard scored 42 straight points after falling behind 7-0.

Harvard (1-1, 1-0 Ivy), now 16-2 all-time in night games, was buoyed by the sideline presence of former Crimson player Ben Abercrombie, who was paralyzed from the neck down while making a tackle in the 2017 season opener.

Harvard coach Tim Murphy said earlier in the week, “He’ll always be part of our team, always be part of our family.”

Murphy had described Brown (1-1, 0-1) as being a “Tiger by the tail,” and his prophecy came true on the Bears’ first drive. Sophomore back Allan Smith took a handoff from quarterback EJ Perry of Andover at the Brown 25 and dashed to the Harvard 22 before being caught from behind by Cooper DeVeau. After an incompletion, Smith cut back against the grain on second down and reached pay dirt with a 22-yard score 34 seconds into the game.

Harvard later had good field position at the Bears 35, and Smith went to work. The elusive junior broke free of pressure in the pocket and fired a 12-yard scoring pass to Chrest, who stepped around the coverage of Bears defender Jason Brown with 57 seconds to go in the opening quarter.

With time running out in the half, Smith found tight end West on a corner pattern behind the coverage of Brown’s BJ Ubani for a 14-yard TD.

Perry then was drilled as he rolled right under pressure. Coach James Perry vented at the sideline official to no avail as replay showed a high hit. The tenacious Harvard defense forced a turnover with 55 seconds on the clock, and Smith went to work. The Crimson used all but five seconds on a quick strike from Smith to Cook on a 34-yard post pattern as the speedy senior receiver got isolated on freshman linebacker Ethan Royer.

Harvard, which had won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, opened with Smith firing his career-high fourth touchdown of the game. Smith spotted running back Watson in the left flat, and the 5-foot-9 junior made a tough catch with the ball on his wrong shoulder. Watson tip-toed along the sidelines before finding space and turning on the jets to go the entire 34 yards to the end zone for a 28-7 bulge. Darrington and Bourguet followed with TD runs. Murphy emptied his bench as several subs saw time.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2nk9r2E