Conner Hempel returned to the lineup and enjoyed a career-day in the victory (Gil Talbot).

PRINCETON, N.J. – Conner Hempel had a career-high 382 yards on 25-of-31 passing to help the No. 21/21 Harvard football team earn a key Ivy League win by a score of 49-7 at Princeton Saturday afternoon. With the victory, Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Head Coach for Harvard Football, picked up the 100th Ivy win of his career, becoming the fourth Ancient Eight coach to earn that distinction.

The Crimson amassed a school record 698 yards of offense, while holding the Tigers to 244 yards and forcing Princeton to punt 12 times.  The previous Crimson record was 640 yards of offense against Dartmouth in 1999. Harvard improves to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League, while Princeton slips to 3-3 and 2-1.

Harvard will remain on the road next week and will visit Dartmouth (5-1, 3-0) in another pivotal Ivy League game Saturday, Nov. 1. The game, which will be aired on NBC Sports Regional networks, is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Hempel finished with three touchdowns passing and another two on the ground, while Semar Smith had 12 carries for 124 yards, and Paul Stanton, Jr. rushed 18 times for 105 yards and a score. Chris Evans paced Harvard's defense with eight tackles, while Eric Medes finished with 2.0 tackles for a loss and Asante Gibson forced and recovered a fumble.

The Crimson finished with 306 yards on the ground on 47 carries overall. Harvard's margin of victory (42) marked the largest in the history of its series with Princeton (107 meetings), dating back to 1877.

Firkser led Harvard with seven receptions for 86 yards, while Andrew Fischer had four grabs for 84 yards and had five punt returns for 75 yards for a total of 159 all-purpose yards.

With 5:05 left in the first, the Crimson started a drive at its own 26-yard line, and Hempel completed a pass down the left side to Fischer for 16 yards on first down. After Harvard moved into Princeton territory on back-to-back runs by Stanton, Jr., Hempel, who had 107 yards passing in the first quarter, rolled left and found Joseph Foster down the middle. Foster weaved his way through the Princeton defense and scampered into the endzone for a 39-yard TD play, as the Crimson went up, 7-0, at the 3:10 mark.

Early in the second, the Crimson tacked on another score on a long play, as Hempel found Seith Smith III down the right sideline for a 49-yard TD reception, helping Harvard go up, 14-0. Later in the second, Hempel completed three straight passes to advance the ball to the Princeton 32. On the next play, Hempel was sacked, but Princeton was called for a facemask penalty, getting Harvard to the 17-yard line. After Stanton advanced the ball to the 1 on a rush, Hempel followed a blocker for a 1-yard score, as the Crimson grew its lead to 21-0.

Just before the end of the half, Harvard's defense forced Princeton to punt from its own 1-yard line, and Fischer returned the kick back to the Princeton 31. On first down, Hempel connected with Smith III for a 17-yard gain. On the next play, Hempel ran for a 14-yard TD, as Harvard continued to pull away, 28-0. In the first half, Hempel was 20-of-22 for 264 yards and two TDs passing, while also having two scores on the ground. It also marked the third straight game that the Crimson held its opponent scoreless in the first half of action.  

On Harvard's first possession in the third, Stanton rushed the ball twice, helping the Crimson move the chains to the Princeton 33. Stanton then took a handoff from Hempel and ran for a 33-yard score, pushing the lead to 35-0.

Hempel threw his third TD of the game with 12:17 left in the fourth, as he found Firkser for a 42-yard score across the middle, as the Crimson continued to control the game, 42-0. Harvard added another score to 7:47 to play, as Scott Hosch passed the ball to Matt Brown in the left corner of the end zone for a 10-yard TD, 49-0.