NEW YORK--Harvard Coach Tim Murphy didn't look like the winning coach as he shuffled into the press room after the Crimson's 37-30 win at Fordham on Saturday. In a way, he wasn't, although his team ran out of time before it could blow all of a 31-point halftime lead.

If there were style points for football, Harvard (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) would have gotten a 10 out of 10 based on the first half, even from the always-stingy East German judge. The second half was far lower in technical and artistic merit--about a zero on both scales.

The result was a victory that felt like a defeat. Every game is taxing on a head coach, but winning coaches have a certain glow. Murphy had the harried look of a losing coach, a seemingly remote possibility since the Crimson was a heavy favorite over the hapless Rams.

Maybe it was too easy in the first half, as Harvard exploded to an "insurmountable" 34-3 halftime lead. On its first possession, the offense threw on the first four plays, with senior quarterback Brad Wilford completing three attempts for 24 yards. He just overthrew a sure touchdown to sophomore Andy Fried, who caught a 21-yard pass three plays later for Harvard's first quarterback-wide receiver touchdown throw-and-catch since 1997.

That score came 4:56 into the first quarter and was followed 1:11 later by senior Terence Patterson's 55-yard punt return for a touchdown. Wilford then bulldozed his way for a 19-yard touchdown run 3:48 later for a commanding 21-0 lead. Menick was untouched on a four-yard touchdown run, and Patterson caught a five-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in the half.

Harvard was clicking on all cylinders as its offensive line dominated a much smaller Rams front four. It was throwing and running with ease, had scored on special teams and held Fordham (0-6) to only a field goal.

Fordham's defense tackled like nervous kids wearing glasses and looked several steps slower than Harvard's skill position players. Then all hell broke loose.

The Crimson gave back almost all of its lead, beginning with the first offensive play of the second half. Senior running back Chris Menick, who had 101 first-half rushing yards but only 38 in the second half, fumbled on his 20. Fordham recovered and scored to close to 34-10.

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.

This team is like a middleweight boxer who is talented and has all the hunger and desire he needs to be great but lacks a knockout punch. It wouldn't have taken much, just another score in the third quarter or an extended drive to break up the string of three-and-outs.

Instead, Harvard's offense once again failed to put together a drive when it needed to the most. Its offensive line went from great to terrible during halftime, and it coughed up two crucial turnovers. Defensively, Harvard continued to show a lack of big-play ability in the secondary. Losing senior corner Kane Waller to a thigh injury didn't help, but the Crimson looks uncomfortable in nickel situations and tentative when protecting a lead. The defensive backs appear to play tight, which slows them down.

It takes a team-wide collapse to get outscored by 24 in a half, but now the problem has the potential to ruin the team's confidence as it enters the most important part of the season. Harvard has five Ivy games left, with the last three--Brown, Penn and Yale--being the toughest.

Harvard's first half was amazing and showed the team that the Crimson can be when it concentrates. It showed that there's no way the Crimson should have lost to Cornell, which Colgate destroyed 55-16 this weekend. The first half also affirmed that Harvard should have beaten Holy Cross and Fordham by a lot more than it did.

Football's easy when you're on a roll, but Harvard needs to learn to stop its opponent when the other team has the momentum. The only ways to do that are a long, crowd-silencing drive on offense or a takeaway on defense. If this team develops the ability to come up with big plays when it needs them most, it should go into the Yale game 7-2.

Fordham Coach Dave Clawson said there's no such thing as a moral victory in football. Nevertheless, this weekend was clearly a moral loss for Harvard. If Harvard wants to fulfill its potential in the second half of the season, it has to play to its potential in the second half of games.