The Crimson, however, came out of the intermission flat, as Fordham outscored the Crimson 27-3 in the second, falling just short of the incredible come-from-behind victory.

"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.

Although Harvard pulled out the win, it marked the fourth consecutive game that the Crimson allowed its opponent to make second-half charges.

In Week Two, Holy Cross threw incomplete in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal, and the Crimson won, 25-17. Harvard then fell in the two subsequent weeks to Colgate and Cornell, giving up game-winning drives in the closing moments of the contests.

"Since the Columbia [season-opening] game, we haven't finished teams off or played a consistent 60 minutes," Murphy said. "It's a combination of focus and relaxation, a fine balance."

"I think one of the hardest thing to do in football is play with a big lead," Fordham Coach Dave Clawson said. "When you get up 31 points, you start playing very cautiously, you don't want to give up a big play. The mentality of your team changes a little bit, and once you do that, it's hard to turn it back on."

Harvard looked to be in great shape to start the second half. But as the first play from scrimmage indicated, the game was far from over.