After Kacyvenski drew a questionable 15-yard penalty for a late hit, he almost single-handedly stopped the Big Red offense. On first down, he stopped tailback Deon Harris after one yard. He held Harris to two yards on the next play, then teamed with senior inside linebacker Scott Larkee to stop a sweep to the left.

On fourth-and-three at the Harvard 23-yard line, Kacyvenski flew up on a pass to running back Justin Bush and knocked the ball down.

"I really didn't think of the mistake, I just let it go," Kacyvenski said. "I knew I was a better player than that, and I just had to get the next couple plays."

With under two minutes to go in the game and Cornell at the Harvard 48-yard line, the defense stiffened once again, sniffing out a screen, stopping a running play and knocking down two passes.

Sure, things looked a lot like last year-even Harvard's shoddy special teams play. Freshman punter Jesse Milligan, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week, averaged only 26.3 yards per punt, including a 25-yarder when Harvard needed to pin Cornell deep on its last possession. Junior placekicker Jonathan Patton missed an extra point and a 25-yard field goal.

But this team appears to have finally come to grips with the fact that last year is gone. If the new generation of leaders can make this year its own, Harvard can go 6-1 in the Ivies. So, as fond as the memories of last year are, it's still way too early to turn back the clock and live in the past.