ITHACA, N.Y.--They say great defense beats great offense. Either they're wrong, or Harvard's defense isn't as good as I think it is.

For 53 minutes on Saturday, the Crimson defense dominated. Cornell (4-0, 3-0 Ivy) had scored only three points on offense and gained only 250 yards up to that point. But for the second week in a row, Harvard (2-2, 1-1) lost because it could not stop a hurry-up offense run by a good quarterback.

Against Colgate last week, quarterback Ryan Vena, perhaps the best player in I-AA, took his team 69 yards with 1:18 left and set up a game-winning 33-yard field goal for a 24-21 win. Prior to that drive, Harvard's defense had been amazing despite Colgate's great field position and had intercepted Vena three times.

Big Red quarterback Ricky Rahne, two-time Ivy Offensive Player of the Week this year, did his Vena impersonation on Saturday and led Cornell to two touchdowns in the final three minutes to shock Harvard, 24-23.

At least the Colgate loss had positives. Harvard's offense played well in the fourth quarter, and the Crimson tied the game after being down 21-7.

Losing to Cornell doesn't leave the same good taste in the Crimson's mouth.

"I've never been involved in a game like that," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "I'm not going to underplay it. It's somewhat devastating from an emotional standpoint."

Simply put, the game was won--in journalistic terms, the story was written--and the defense somehow let the Big Red squirm back into it.

Up 23-10 and having allowed only a first-quarter field goal, Harvard didn't need much to sew the game up. However, it let the Big Red march 72 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown.

The Crimson made its stand at the Harvard 18, where it sacked Rahne and forced two incompletions to set up fourth-and-11. Senior end Mike Sands crushed Rahne, forcing a pop-up pass that senior linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski grabbed for what would have been his second pick of the day. However, a defensive holding penalty gave Cornell 10 yards and an automatic first down.

In retrospect, the call was devastating. It was Harvard's ninth penalty of the day and by far the most costly.

With new life, Cornell got to the 2 on two plays then threw a lob to 6'6 Joe Splendorio over 5'9 Kane Waller. It was a play everyone saw coming, but Harvard still had a six-point lead with 2:53 to go in the game.

The Crimson punted on its next possession and got only a 32-yard effort from senior punter Mike Giampaolo. Cornell's Vincent Bates returned the ball 10 yards to set up his team's offense at the Cornell 42. With no time outs left, 1:14 to go, and needing a touchdown, the Big Red looked like toast, but it showed the same resilience that helped it score 26 unanswered points to beat Brown, 33-28.

Rahne hit three big passes then found Keith Ferguson from 18 yards out for the score. Ferguson was running toward the sideline on the left side, and he somehow managed to wriggle between senior Ben Green and junior Mike Brooks, the starting safeties. The extra point completed the comeback for the 24-23 final.

It wasn't all the defense's fault, of course. After the Crimson picked off Rahne on two straight possessions, giving the offense the ball at the Cornell 37 and the Harvard 46, Harvard came away with only two field goals.

Then, with a 40-yard field goal for the win as time expired, Giampaolo kicked the ball low, and Splendorio knocked it down. Giampaolo had just made a 39-yarder, but his attempt never had a chance, partly because of a low snap.

But it's mostly the defense's fault, especially since there are eight seniors starting on the unit. It's the most talented and, theoretically at least, the most dependable part of the team. There's no reason why the defense should play well for so long then be unable to finish the game off.

Murphy and Kacyvenski were unable to explain the problem in the postgame press conference. In fact, both seemed shell-shocked.

They had to revert to the standard excuse, which is that the other team made plays and they didn't. That excuse only works once, however, and Harvard used up its quota a week before.

That leaves a couple of different excuses to address. Both Murphy and Kacyvenski claimed that Rahne simply made great passes, that people weren't that open. Nevertheless, Harvard's scheme has to come into question because on some occasions there were huge gaps in the zone, and Rahne was able to pick the defense apart. Harvard also didn't put much pressure on Rahne in the final drives, which is puzzling because the Crimson's defensive line played well leading up to the last two series.

Murphy also has to wonder about whether his defense has a killer instinct. This year's seniors were on the '97 championship team that gave up only 12.3 points per game and didn't allow a rushing touchdown in league play. But they were sophomores then, following the lead of an extremely talented senior class. Now, they have the responsibility for closing out games, and they're finding it isn't as easy as it used to be.

Harvard needs to find the solution soon. Even in its 25-17 Week Two win at Holy Cross, the Crusaders drove 63 yards before a Harvard sack pushed them back to the Crimson's 16. On fourth-and-goal, the Holy Cross receiver made an acrobatic catch but was ruled out of bounds, so Harvard has struggled in two-minute situations three weeks in a row.

If football games were a little shorter, Harvard would be 4-0. Game length isn't one of the rule changes under consideration, however, so if the Crimson wants to keep its now-wounded Ivy hopes alive, it had better learn to play the last three minutes the way it plays the first 57. It's not too late, but Harvard's running out of time. And as the past two weeks have shown, that's when it's had the most trouble of all.