"I'll be surprised if we play a better team all year," Murphy said.

However, Harvard only trailed 20-14 at the start of the fourth quarter. Linden threw two costly fourth-quarter interceptions. The Crimson was also hampered by the loss of Menick, who broke his left thumb and hurt his ankle in practice the preceding week.

Harvard tried to recover in its home opener against Lehigh, but it suffered one of the most painful losses of the season.

The Crimson blew a 17-0 lead to the Mountain Hawks, who scored 21 unanswered points to win the game.

After getting a 26-yard field goal from junior kicker Jonathan Patton and a three-yard touchdown run by Linden, Harvard appeared to have an impregnable lead when senior safety Derek Yankoff returned an interception 64 yards for a touchdown.

Lehigh scored on its next possession, however, as quarterback Phil Stambaugh threw a 17-yard strike for a touchdown. A rushing touchdown in the third quarter brought the Mountain Hawks within three.

Lehigh won the game with a 16-play, 91-yard fourth quarter march that ended with a five-yard Ron Jean touchdown.

After Harvard's hot start, Lehigh dominated by throwing for 328 yards to Harvard's 113 and gaining an average of 5.8 yards a play.

Menick committed a costly drive-killing personal foul in Lehigh territory late in the game.

At 0-3, Harvard was reeling. But over the next month, the Crimson showed enough character to make itself a legitimate contender for the Ivy championship.

Menick led the way for Harvard's struggling offense with a 39-carry, 176-yard performance against Cornell on a rainy day at The Stadium. He moved into third place on the school's career rushing list with that performance.

Harvard's defense held quarterback Mike Hood to 9-of-22 passing and forced four turnovers. The key was a pickoff by senior corner Glenn Jackson, who caught a pass tipped by junior safety Aron Natale and returned it up the left sideline for a touchdown and 16-6 lead. Harvard went on to win 19-12.

The Crimson tried to run more than usual because of the bad weather, and the benefit may have been psychological as well as strategic.

"In all honesty, the conditions gave us an opportunity to find a little bit of our identity, because we hadn't played as aggressive, as physical and as tough as I would like us to in the first couple of games," Murphy said.

The next week, at home against Holy Cross, Menick's redemption resulted in a 20-14 overtime win.