ITHACA, N.Y.--Watching his football team lose a seemingly insurmountable 13-point advantage over Cornell with less than 4:00 remaining in the game was not the way Harvard Coach Tim Murphy wanted to celebrate his birthday Saturday afternoon.

In what has become an alarming trend this season, the Harvard football team (2-2, 1-1 Ivy) allowed another apparent win to slip through its fingers as Cornell (4-0, 3-0) surged back to score two touchdowns to win the game, 24-23.

To make matters worse, the Crimson had the chance to win the game with a 40-yard field goal by senior Mike Giampaolo with three seconds left, but his low kick was blocked by 6'6 Joe Splendorio, giving the Big Red a shocking victory at Schoellkopf Field.

"In my 21 years of coaching, I can't remember something like this happening," Murphy said. "Cornell deserved to win, not necessarily because they were the better team, but when they absolutely had to make the plays, they made the plays."

Cornell's heroics were nearly squelched before they started, when an apparent Crimson takeaway was nullified by a penalty.

With Harvard holding a commanding 23-10 lead over Cornell with 3:56 left in the game, a stunned Big Red crowd of 9,218 watched as Crimson linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski grabbed a wayward pass by quarterback Ricky Rahne at the Harvard 12, seemingly sealing a victory for Harvard.

However, a yellow flag changed the Crimson's fate.

The officials called defensive holding, erasing Kacyvenski's critical