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Harvard capitalizes on 3 takeaways to beat New Hampshire 31-7 in season opener

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Cite

The Associated Press. (2026, September 19). Harvard capitalizes on 3 takeaways to beat New Hampshire 31-7 in season opener. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/harvard-capitalizes-on-3-takeaways-to-beat-new-hampshire-31-7-in-season-opener/article_ca1257f9-2e49-5947-b466-2d69b5c773af.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-19 · by The Associated Press

Quick Summary

In their season opener, Harvard capitalized on three turnovers to defeat New Hampshire 31-7 in Durham, North Carolina. The game saw Nate Bailey score two late first-half touchdowns, while Xaden Benson intercepted a pass that prevented further scoring by the opponents. With this win, ranked No. 25 in the Stats Perform poll, Harvard starts its season with a decisive victory over New Hampshire, improving to 1-0.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In the season opener on Saturday, Harvard capitalized on three takeaways to defeat New Hampshire 31-7 in Durham, North Carolina. Harvard, ranked No. 25 by Stats Perform, opened with a strong second-half performance, scoring 14 quick points including Nate Bailey's two touchdowns within the last minute of the first half. DJ Thomas intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown setup, while Xaden Benson sealed another takeaway in the third quarter. The Crimson secured their victory with an additional score late in the game. Charlie Smith threw for 71 yards and a touchdown for Harvard (1-0), while New Hampshire's Brooks Bentley was intercepted twice despite throwing for 186 yards and scoring a rushing touchdown himself.

Written for “Harvard Beats New Hampshire” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Harvard Beats New Hampshire
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 11229 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

The Associated Press
1789 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
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Topics

Crimson DURHAM Harvard N.C. New Hampshire

Subjects

Harvard ORG · 6× New Hampshire GPE · 4× Bailey PERSON · 2× Crimson ORG · 2× DJ Thomas PERSON · 1× DURHAM GPE · 1× Ivy League ORG · 1× N.C. GPE · 1× Nate Bailey PERSON · 1× Stats Perform ORG · 1×

Narrative

Then DJ Thomas intercepted a pass along the sideline and returned it 30 yards, leading to Bailey’s 13-yard touchdown grab on the next play to make it 21-7 with 18 seconds left.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20

Claims (11 extracted, 0 hedged)

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Nate Bailey scored two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half and Harvard capitalized on three takeaways to beat New Hampshire 31-7 on Saturday. asserted
Harvard → score → Saturday
Harvard, the three-time defending Ivy League champion, opened its season ranked No. 25 in the Stats Perform poll against fellow 2025 playoff participant New Hampshire. asserted
Harvard → defend → Hampshire
The Crimson pulled away late in the second quarter with 14 quick points. asserted
Crimson → pull → points
Bailey gave Harvard a 14-7 lead with 53 seconds left in the first half on a 23-yard reverse. asserted
Bailey → give → reverse
Then DJ Thomas intercepted a pass along the sideline and returned it 30 yards, leading to Bailey’s 13-yard touchdown grab on the next play to make it 21-7 with 18 seconds left. asserted
Thomas → intercept → seconds
Xaden Benson intercepted a deep pass in the endzone midway through the third quarter to keep Harvard’s two-touchdown lead. asserted
Benson → intercept → lead
The Crimson settled for a short field goal following a 13-play drive and Xaviah Bascon scored on a 1-yard run with 8:48 left in the fourth. asserted
Bascon → settle → fourth
Charlie Smith threw for 71 yards and a touchdown for Harvard (1-0). asserted
Smith → throw → Harvard
Bascon finished with 51 yards rushing. asserted
Bascon → finish → yards
Brooks Bentley was intercepted two times for New Hampshire (1-3). asserted
Bentley → intercept → Hampshire
He finished 18 of 37 for 186 yards and added a 1-yard touchdown run. asserted
He → finish → run
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