When Harvard needed him in the second half, Menick allowed the Crimson to run down the clock, tire out the Holy Cross defense and put the game away.

"You just cannot put our defense in that position against a very good offensive team," said Holy Cross Coach Dan Allen. "When you play against a team like Harvard and get your defense out there as many plays as they were in the second half, they're going to wear you down."

"Menick's a very good back, he reads his blocks very well. He's a very patient runner and picks his holes well."

After Holy Cross had cut the lead to 31-24, Menick----err, Harvard--started from the 33. Menick showed his speed on the first play, sweeping right for 23 yards. He then showed his ability to run inside on an 11-yard counter.

He ran twice more for 17 yards then ended the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

In case you don't want to do the math, that's five rushes for 66 yards. On Harvard's next possession, which opened up the fourth quarter, Menick ran seven times and scored his second touchdown on a one-yard option left.

Harvard went for two, and guess who caught the conversion pass? Number 39, who lined up at fullback and ran a little hook to the middle.

To cap off a day of hard work, Menick scored on a cutback to his right from 10 yards out.

"I knew I was getting a lot of carries, but I try to take it one carry at a time," Menick said. "It was getting tough there because a couple times I had four or five carries in a row and was getting tired, but if you convince yourself you're not tired, you can make yourself feel better."

That kind of battering-ram mentality has allowed Menick to carry the load after junior co-starter Troy Jones was lost with a sprained ankle.

Menick's efficiency and durability gives Harvard reassurance for all the times the oft-injured Jones is unavailable.

"Chris is a warrior," Murphy said. "The instinctive things and the intangibles in terms of how hard he plays are things that you can't understand until he plays a couple of games.

The longer the game goes, the stronger he gets. He's got outstanding vision, and he's getting better."