When something goes wrong, it is as if theCrimson have learned something--that they don'treally think they can win every game.
The Mountain Hawks, on the other hand, werefull of the requisite swagger.
"As ugly as we had looked [in the first half],our coaches and players believed in themselves,"Lehigh Coach Kevin Higgins said. "We knew we couldfind a way to make the big plays."
Forgetting its significance to the game, juniortailback Chris Menick's 15-yard personal foul inthe fourth quarter was indicative of the team'sattitude as well.
Menick lost his composure because he was notable to deal with being beaten on the gridiron,and he lashed out at the opposition.
Last week at Colgate, Harvard was beaten badlyin the trenches. Without Menick in the lineup andwithout sufficient time for Linden to release theball, the offense was doomed from the get-go.
Against Lehigh, the offensive line stepped upand markedly improved its play. It allowed only onesack during the second-half meltdown, and Lindenrarely found himself on his back after he releasedthe ball.
"Our men played hard today," Murphy said. "Ithink our offensive line was solid."
Instead, it was largely the veterans, the starsof the Crimson squad, that shot the offense in thefoot. Besides Menick's personal foul, Linden went6-of-18 for 47 yards in the second half, includinga fourth-quarter interception deep in MountainHawk territory on which he overthrew the intendedreceiver by fully 10 yards.
Heller is the lone senior in the wide-out corpswith playing experience and the team's number-tworeturning pass-catcher, yet it was he whocommitted the costly fumble late in the secondquarter that sparked Lehigh.
The players who have the most to gain from thisteam seem the ones who struggled most on Saturday.Menick already holds Harvard's single-seasonrushing record with two seasons left in hiscollegiate career, and barring injury, Linden willsurely become the top passer in Crimson history.
But rather than playing with the confidence,leadership and bravado of players who know theyare the best, Harvard's skill positions playedfrustrated, scared, and afraid.
Nothing has gone right for this team, but therecomes a point when you make your own luck. Harvardneeds to find a way to relish and revel in what itcan do well, and to stick to that bluster throughthick and thin.