Last season's stunning 9-7 loss of The Game must have really scarred Harvard Coach Tim Murphy.
"I could coach for 40 or 50 years, yet this one will stand out as one of the toughest defeats of my career," he said after that debacle.
Saturday, in an eventual 13-6 Harvard (4-2, 2-1 Ivy) win over Princeton (2-4, 0-3 Ivy), Murphy sent senior placekicker Mike Giampaolo out to kick a potential game winning 18-yard field goal.
With :07 remaining in the game, no timeouts and the score tied 6-6, the call seemed like a no-brainer--kick the chip shot and win the game. There would not be time for another play before overtime.
But Murphy was not that confident, and when Princeton called a timeout to freeze Giampaolo, the coach used the break to reconsider his decision.
And he thought of The Game.
Midway through the third quarter, leading 7-0 against Yale, Giampaolo lined up for a 19-yard field goal attempt. To the surprise of almost everyone in the crowd of 26,787, the kick sailed wide left.
Those lost three points proved decisive when the Elis mounted a fourth quarter comeback. Harvard had utterly dominated for most of The Game until the heartbreaking final minutes.
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