Harvard crushes Brown in Ivy League opener

“I have no explanation to what happened out there . . . I have never been a part of a game like that.”

Harvard put 41 points on the board in last week’s opener at Rhode Island. And the Crimson kept the ball rolling in their Ivy League opener under the lights Saturday night, piling up 37 unanswered points in the first half on the way to a commanding 53-27 victory over Brown.

“Just one of those days where we had a lot of things go right early,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy, “and it all starts with defense.”

A D that stuffed the Bears in the first 15 minutes (5 total yards on 12 plays).

In their 115th meeting, the Crimson piled up their second-most points against the Bears since the very first clash, 58-0, on Oct. 28, 1893. No confirmation if leather-helmeted Harvard also registered a pair of safeties in that inaugural meeting.

In rolling to their 16th straight victory, the longest active run among FCS programs, the 24th-ranked Crimson pocketed a pair of 2-pointers — one in the first quarter courtesy of a Zach Miller punt block and another in the third on a fourth-down snap that sailed over the head of punter Grant Senne.

Donning their new, spiffy black top/crimson pant unis, unveiled on their new, glistening field turf, the Crimson (2-0) struck for two scores 62 seconds apart in the first quarter.

On Harvard’s second series, senior quarterback Scott Hosch directed the Crimson 61 yards on six plays, threading a 25-yard toss over the middle to sophomore tight Jack Stansell, who snared the ball at the 1 and wheeled left into the end zone, completing his first career catch with a touchdown.

Harvard doubled its lead a minute later. Untouched on a blindside blitz, senior cornerback Sean Ahern popped the ball free from quarterback Marcus Fuller and linebacker Jake Lindsey rumbled 11 yards with the scoop-and-score.

“Sean did a great job coming off the edge,” said Lindsey of his first fumble return for a TD since his days at Elder High in Cleves, Ohio. “Just the Cincinnati boys getting after it up front. I was lucky it was cool tonight, the gloves were sticky, and I was able to hang onto the ball.” Ahern is a St. Xavier product out of Cincy.

The Crimson tacked on a safety with 1:57 left in the quarter for a 16-0 edge. Miller charged in to block a punt by Senne inside the 5 and the ball skittered through the back of the zone thanks to a boot from Brown’s Brandon Davenport.

Starting from the 50 after the free kick, Harvard was in the end zone in eight plays for a 23-0 bulge, with senior back Paul Stanton (12 carries, 89 yards) blasting in from the 1 for the 30th rushing TD of his career, second in program history behind Clifton Dawson (60).

Less than a minute later, the runaway margin reached 30.

Senior cornerback Asante Gibson extended his arms fully overhead to pick off Fuller’s short toss at the Brown 33 and scampered inside the 5 with the return. Hosch then lofted a perfect ball to the back of the end zone for Seitu Smith, who toe-touched just inside the back line for the 4-yard score.

Even when presented with a golden opportunity to score, Brown couldn’t. With junior Kyle Moreno taking over for Fuller, the Bears marched from their 22 to the Crimson 3. But back-to-back passes fell incomplete, the second to Troy Doles over the middle.

Hosch then closed out his 12-of-19, 151-yard, 3-TD first half with a 12-yard dart to senior H-back Ben Braunecker for a 37-0 spread.

Mercy.

In the third quarter, Harvard freshman back Noah Reimers burst through the middle of the line for 16- and 27-yard scores.

Brown bounced back with a trio of late scores, thanks to Kyle Moreno (20 of 31, 307 yards), who scrambled in from the 4 and hooked up with Oliver Bucka (5 yards) and Troy Doles (79 yards) for TDs.

Harvard will host Georgetown on Friday night at 7, while Brown welcomes rival Rhode Island on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Craig Larson can be reached at clarson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeLars.