All week, Harvard worried about protecting Adam Lazarre-White. The Crimson quarterback was dumped 12 times last week against Holy Cross.

But today, it would be Cornell that put the Ivy League lead in the bag, as Tim Cronin's last-minute sack clinched the Big Red's 20-17 win at The Stadium this afternoon.

With Harvard facing a third and goal at the Big Red 10-yard line, Cronin dumped Lazarre-White way back at the 27. And Scott Johnson's almost impossible 45-yard field goal into the wind fell far short at the buzzer.

Cornell (2-2 overall, 2-0 Ivy) takes over the Ivy League lead, while Harvard (2-2, 1-1) fell into a fourth-place tie with Princeton, which beat Brown 27-23.

Big Kick

The Big Red took the lead with five minutes remaining on Matthew Hepfer's career-best 41 yard field goal.

Midway through the fourth quarter, John McNiff and Scott Oliaro combined to move the ball from Cornell's 35 yard line to Harvard's 30-yard line for a Cornell first down to set up the winning score.

On the day, McRiff had a career-high 191 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

"We wanted to keep control of the line of scrimmage and keep their defense off the field. we've got a great offensive line, and they came through all day long," said McRiff.

On its last drive, Harvard took over at its own 33-yard line. A Colby Maher reverse on third and ten gave the Crimson a first down at the 43. Andy Bell's four carries helped Harvard pick up three more first downs, and bring the ball down to Cornell's 23.

On second down, Bell broke through a hole in the left side for a 15-yard gain, and a first and goal at the Cornell 9 with 55 seconds left in the game.

But an incomplete pass to Rodney Taylor in the end zone, and a one-yard loss by Bell, set up Cronin's late game heroics.

"We were all on the sidelines praying and the D came up big," McNiff said. "It was a bit lucky, but well take anything we can get."

The Crimson self-destructed in the first five minutes of the second half. It took Cornell only three minutes to tie the game after halftime, with McNiff breaking through a big hole in the right side and glided down the sideline for a 66-yard scoring run.

Jay Rideout and Colby Maher collided on the ensuing kickoff and the ball bounced off Rideout's shoulder pads and was recovered by Cornell's Robb Levin at the Harvard 21-yard-line. Scott Oliero rushed the ball on five carries down to the Harvard one-yard line, and McRiff's second touchdown run put the Big Red ahead 17-10, just five minuets into the third quarter.