The victory was not as easy as the final score might indicate. When Harvard allowed a 21-0 lead to shrink to seven, there was plenty of reason to be worried, because something similar had happened against Lehigh and Bucknell.

But the offense would not be denied, as theCrimson embarrassed the Crusaders with 623 yardsof total offense, a school record by 51 yards.Harvard's 33 first downs and 97 plays were alsonew records.

"It was certainly the best job of executionoffensively we've had since we've been here,"Murphy said after the game.

For the second week in a row, sophomorequarterback Rich Linden and Menick set personalyardage marks. Linden completed 21 of 37 for 272yards, bettering the previous week's effortagainst Cornell by six.

Menick's rushing yardage total placed himsecond all-time for a Harvard single-gameperformance. Matt Johnson '92 still holds therecord with an amazing 323 yards against Brown.

"Our offensive line has just been doing anoutstanding job this year," Linden said after thegame. "Chris [Menick] is a hell of a tailback, butI think he'll admit he had some nice holes to runbehind, and I felt like I had a lot of time tothrow the ball. They're just getting it done upfront."

Harvard showed its ability to win close games aweek later with a harrowing 14-12 win overPrinceton. The Crimson fell behind 5-0 but cameback with a field goal and safety of its own totie the game at five. Harvard gave up a bomb tofall behind 12-8, but then sophomore kicker MikeGiampaolo became a hero.

He kicked a 21-yarder that was tipped and stillwent through, and he followed it with acareer-long 43-yard field goal to win the game andkeep the hope of a perfect Ivy season alive.

"You could say we're a team of destiny,"Giampaolo said after the game.

That team of destiny rolled into Dartmouth aweek later and destroyed the reigning undefeatedIvy champions, 24-0. Harvard scored thanks to bigplays by Second-Team All-Ivy sophomore receiverTerence Patterson, who scored three touchdowns. Hecaught a short pass and a bomb and scored on areverse and finished the day with 11 catches for121 yards.

The final result meant Harvard's first 4-0start in the Ivy League since 1984 and alsoguaranteed the first winning season in 10 fullyears.

The defense suffocated Dartmouth, allowingminus three yards rushing, a statistic even moreimpressive considering that the Crimson defenserelaxed and allowed a 21-yard run on the last playof the game.

Harvard put Dartmouth quarterback Pete Sellersinto his school's record books. The senior threwfive interceptions, each to a different Harvarddefender. Three of the interceptions were tipped,then caught, which indicates how much pressure theCrimson defensive line was able to put on thequarterback.

"Defensively, we played about as well as we canplay," Murphy said. "It really wouldn't havemattered today how many points we scored, weplayed so well."

The next game, a trip to Brown, was just asimportant. Not only had Harvard been blown out thepast two years by the Bears, but the Crimson hadto prove it possessed a week-to-week standard ofperformance.

Not to worry--Harvard physically dominatedBrown to keep its Ivy record perfect and beat theBears for the first time in four years.