pickoff and giving the Big Red an automatic first down at the Harvard 9. Although college officials do not call numbers, the call was probably against senior cornerback Kane Waller for holding Splendorio in the back of the end zone.
Two plays and two completed passes later, Rahne found Splendorio in the end zone for a touchdown. Cornell then trailed 23-17 with 2:53 remaining.
"I felt disbelief at first," Kacyvenski said. "I just knew that we had to go on and refocus. But there was nothing that we could do about [the penalty]."
Harvard got a first down on its next play but then punted, and Cornell took over at its 42. Rahne completed 3-of-5 passes before finding Keith Ferguson for an 18-yard touchdown along the left sideline, giving Cornell a 24-23 advantage with only :26 remaining.
On Harvard's last-gasp drive, senior quarterback Brad Wilford, who completed 17 of 30 passes on the day for 183 yards, completed a 19-yard pass to senior split end Terence Patterson, who ran out of bounds with 11 seconds remaining. Wilford again connected, this time for 21 yards to freshman Carl Morris, who was tackled at the Cornell 23.
Although Giampaolo had hit a 39-yarder earlier, a low snap and a low kick allowed the Big Red to block the field goal attempt. Holder Mike Madden recovered the ball but was promptly tackled.
"We had a chance to put it away but didn't," Murphy said. "I'm not going to underplay it. It's somewhat devastating from an emotional standpoint."
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