Harvard Loses for the First Time, 24-14 at Dartmouth, on the Night Xaden Benson Breaks the School Interception Record
Benson picked off three passes to reach nine for the season, most in program history. Harvard threw three interceptions of its own. Dartmouth's Grayson Saunier scored twice, and the Crimson's home finale against Columbia is Nov. 7.
Harvard's unbeaten season ended Friday night in Hanover, New Hampshire, with a 24-14 loss to Dartmouth, but the Crimson's best player still made history. Junior defensive back Xaden Benson intercepted three passes, giving him nine this season and breaking Harvard's single-season record of eight, which had been shared by three players, according to Harvard's game recap.
No. 16/13 Harvard fell to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth improved to 4-3 and 3-1, the recap's scoreboard shows.
The game turned on turnovers, and not the ones Benson was making. A Harvard turnover on its first possession gave Dartmouth the ball at the Harvard 18, and Grayson Saunier ran it in for a 7-0 lead. Harvard then put together a 15-play drive to the Dartmouth 4-yard line, with DJ Gordon touching the ball seven times, and Matthew Boydell intercepted the Crimson to end it.
On fourth down at the Harvard goal line with 10:50 left in the second quarter, Saunier converted a shovel pass from Dylan Elder for a 14-0 lead.
Then Benson went to work. Midway through the second quarter, he intercepted a pass to set Harvard up in plus territory, his nation-leading seventh at the time. Two plays and 35 yards later, quarterback Charlie Smith found Nathan Bailey wide open on a 13-yard wheel route out of the backfield to make it 14-7 with 6:41 left in the half.
Dartmouth answered with a 12-play drive that ended in a touchdown pass to Nick Lemon just after the two-minute timeout, for a 21-7 lead. Harvard answered right back with a four-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 38-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Ryan Tattersall down the left sideline, making it 21-14 at halftime.
At the half, Harvard had outgained Dartmouth 209-164. Smith had 168 passing yards, 73 of them to Tattersall, and linebacker Sean Line had a game-high seven tackles.
The second half is where it got away. Dartmouth intercepted Harvard for the third time, this time by Cameron Best-Alston, on the opening possession at midfield. Four plays later, Benson picked off his second of the night. After a scoreless Harvard drive, with Dartmouth facing second-and-4 at its own 38, Benson grabbed his third interception and his ninth of the season. The record.
Neither offense did much after that, and Dartmouth's late field goal in the fourth quarter set the final at 24-14. Harvard's three interceptions thrown matched Benson's three caught, which is a pretty fair summary of the night.
There was plenty to like in the box score anyway. Harvard allowed a season-best 42 receiving yards. The defense forced multiple turnovers for the sixth time this season, and the passing offense went over 250 yards for the fifth straight game, according to the recap. Tattersall had a career-best 94 receiving yards on six catches. Line finished with a game-high 12 tackles, his second double-digit game. Gordon rushed for a season-high 77 yards and passed 500 for his career.
Let us be honest about what a nine-interception season means. Quarterbacks in the Ivy League know who Benson is by now. They have film. They are presumably trying to throw away from him. And he still keeps ending up with the ball. Being in the right place, as the recap put it, "as he's done all season," is not luck after the ninth time. It is the scouting report.
The flip side is the offense. Harvard's quarterback threw three interceptions, two of them in the first half on drives that had a chance to score, including one at the Dartmouth 4-yard line. Against a team tied with you atop the standings, that is the game. The Crimson defense gave up 24 points on a night it gave Dartmouth a short field to start.
Benson now has three interceptions in a game for the second time this season and six interceptions in Friday night games. The record belongs to a junior from Atlanta, which means it could get pushed even higher next fall.
The loss leaves Harvard and Dartmouth tied in the Ivy loss column with games left. Harvard returns to Cambridge for its home finale against Columbia at Harvard Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m., on ESPN+.
What we still don't know: how many more chances Benson gets to add to the record, and whether the three interceptions Harvard threw were a one-night problem or something Columbia will try to exploit.
