Clearly unworried, Harvard's offense drove for a 35-yard field goal by senior kicker Mike Giampaolo with 10:31 left in the third quarter. At the time, no one could have known how horribly the Crimson could play the last 25:31 of the game.

Wilford threw an interception on Harvard's next possession, and Fordham took over at the Crimson 36. Fordham quarterback Matt Georgia found receiver Gerry McDermott from four yards out on a lob pass to make it 37-17. Harvard began a string of five straight three-and-outs on offense, and Fordham continued to chip away at the lead.

The Rams got down to Harvard's 5 on its next possession before Georgia caught a pass batted back to him then threw it again, drawing a penalty that moved Fordham back to the 14, where it settled for a field goal. Two possessions later, Georgia found receiver Kendal Creer being single-covered and hit him for a 31-yard touchdown on a post route.

It was full-blown panic time for Harvard, because 10:15 was left in the game and its sure win wasn't sure any more. The Crimson surrendered another field goal two possessions later to make it 37-30.

"We played our best half of our season in the first half and our worst half of the season in our second half," Murphy said. "Since the Columbia [season-opening] game, we haven't finished teams off or played a consistent 60 minutes. I think we were too relaxed coming out [in the second half], then we started to press and didn't relax enough. We have good personnel, and the scheme is fine."

With the game and pride on the line, Harvard's offense managed to run the clock down some with its only first down of the fourth quarter. With the ball at its 21, no time outs, and 58 seconds left, Fordham finally fell victim to percentages, and senior safety Ben Green intercepted Georgia to secure the "win."

Three weeks ago, Holy Cross hung around long enough to attempt a last-ditch pass into the end zone that was caught out of bounds, preserving a 25-17 Harvard win. Colgate kicked a field goal as time expired to win 24-21 two weeks ago, and Cornell scored 14 points in the last three minutes to win 24-23 last week.