WORCESTER--Football coaches and players don't always make the best interviews. They hammer away at the same themes and use the same vocabulary: character, intensity, determination, toughness, blah, blah, blah.

But after the Harvard football team's 25-17 win at Holy Cross on Saturday, I'm willing to play along for a week. The Crimson has a mental toughness and resiliency that allowed it to recover from the Crusaders' scoring 14 points in 18 seconds.

Harvard (2-0, 1-0 Ivy) showed flashes of its doggedness last week, when it trailed Columbia 7-0 after the Lions marched down the field in impressive fashion on their first series. On its next possession, the Crimson came away without points after first-and-goal at the Columbia one, throwing an interception in the end zone. Instead of letting the game get out of hand as it did in '98, when Harvard lost 24-0, the Crimson got an interception the next play, scored, and ran away, 24-7.

This week might have been even more traumatic. Up 3-0, Harvard took over at its own 13-yard line then gave the ball away when senior quarterback Brad Wilford fumbled the snap from junior center John Kadzielski.

On the next play, junior safety Mike Brooks nailed Holy Cross running back Joe Chambers behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a fumble that senior end Mike Sands recovered. The back-to-back fumbles resembled the back-to-back interceptions against Columbia and showed the defense's ability to make up for the offense's mistakes.

The defense couldn't hold forever, however, and after Holy Cross (1-2, 1-0 Patriot) got the ball at the Harvard 40, it struck quickly, with quarterback Ryan Collar rushing 21 yards on an option keep to the left for the score.

On the ensuing kickoff, senior running back Chris Menick took the kickoff at the 7 and ran for 10 yards before Holy Cross linebacker John Aloisi made a terrific hit, forcing a fumble recovered at the 21-yard line. It was a lucky number for the Crusaders again, as they immediately threw into the end zone. Wideout Kendy Hall made the grab against the endline, and Harvard was stunned and down, 14-3.

The story of the afternoon is what happened next. Two possessions later, Harvard started a drive at the Holy Cross 42 thanks to senior Terence Patterson's 19-yard punt return. Wilford found tight end captain Chris Eitzmann for 14 yards and a first down, and a play later, he found Eitzmann again on the right sideline. Eitzmann was able to turn upfield and get to the four-yard line, then Wilford found junior fullback Grady Smalling for a four-yard touchdown.

After being ineffective throwing the ball, Harvard suddenly became brilliantly efficient, going 3-for-3 on the drive. Wilford threw to Eitzmann for the two-point conversion, and the Crimson trailed, 14-11.

On its next possession, Harvard scored on a lightning strike by junior running back Chuck Nwokocha, who missed the opener with a hamstring injury. Nwokocha caught the ball in the right flat after a clearout by the receivers, burst up the sideline, cut back to beat Troy Larose, and picked up a Patterson block for a 42-yard touchdown catch and a 18-14 lead.

Wilford showed his toughness in hanging in despite repeated knockdowns and sacks, the offensive line managed to shake off its struggles and play hard, and even Harvard Coach Tim Murphy showed some resiliency as well.

"I kept trying to find something that worked on offense," Murphy said. "I just kept trying to get match-ups, and we were able to get Eitzmann and the backs against their linebackers."

In fact, everyone was throwing the toughness praise around after the game.

"Brad's tough," Murphy said.

"We did a good job hanging tough," Wilford said.

"We kept our poise despite putting the defense in some holes," Murphy said.

The biggest comeback story of the day was probably Menick's, however. He ended up with 21 carries for 112 yards, but it wasn't as simple as that. His fumble on the kickoff return put Holy Cross in position to score its second touchdown. His ability to bounce back from the mistake let Harvard get back in the game.

It wasn't the first time Menick has fumbled in a crucial situation against Holy Cross. Last year, he fumbled at the Crusaders' 11 with Harvard up 14-7. Holy Cross recovered and returned the ball to Harvard's 11 and scored to force overtime. Menick put his mistake behind him, to say the least. Although he said after the game that he "felt like punching himself in the face" after the fumble, Menick ran up the gut for the game-winning touchdown on Harvard's first possession of overtime.

He atoned again this year, transforming himself into the battering ram who terrorized the Crusaders for 261 yards and three touchdowns in '97. Harvard dominated time of possession, 35:19 to 24:41.

"I was thinking about last year when I fumbled," Menick said. "It was weird, but I remembered coming back. I just tried to forget it."

At halftime, Menick had six carries for 28 yards. In the third quarter, he carried six times for 43 yards. In the fourth quarter, he carried nine times for 51 yards. For the game, Harvard beat up the Crusaders 53 times for 214 rushing yards.

Up 25-17, Harvard began at its own 12 with 10:07 left in the game. Menick ran for three, five, two, 15, seven, one, and one yard in the span of nine plays. Holy Cross's defense looked tired thanks to the combination of the offensive line and Menick.

"The line was outstanding again, I'm happy with the way the line blocked," Menick said. "I was detecting Holy Cross may have been getting tired, but although they wore down a little in the last drive, they didn't quit."

Wilford converted a fourth-and-one on a quarterback sneak. Holy Cross was keying on Menick, so Murphy had him hand to Patterson on a reverse that went for 15 yards. By the time senior kicker Mike Giampaolo missed a 45-yard field goal attempt, only 2:16 was left on the clock.

Harvard didn't score, but it made sure the Crusaders would only have once chance to tie. Holy Cross almost came back, but its pass into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the Harvard 16 was caught beyond the endline by Steve Green.

Against Columbia last week, Harvard made few mistakes. Yesterday, it committed seven penalties, lost two fumbles and gave up six sacks.

"It was not exactly our prettiest win, but I'll take it," Murphy said. "We were sloppy and made it more of a game than it should have been."

Harvard showed it has the mental make-up to be a great team. It won at less than its best and despite as traumatizing an 18-second period as can be.

This team has seniors who have won before, going 9-1 as sophomores. That winning experience and the ability to dig itself out of holes were just what Harvard needed on Saturday.