On fourth-and-goal, Green ran a fade pattern to the back of the end zone. Collar lofted the ball, and Green made a great one-handed catch but landed just out-of-bounds to end the game.

Even if the catch counted, Holy Cross would have had to execute a two-point conversion to send the game to overtime.

"[Harvard] didn't do anything we didn't expect," Allen said. "We just didn't have any timeouts left. I wish we didn't have to spike the ball."

Harvard was outplayed for much of the first half as the Crusaders stormed the backfield with its pass rush and took advantage of a costly turnover to build a 14-3 lead in a span of 18 seconds.

Down 14-11, Harvard seized control of the game on a drive that began with 2:19 left before halftime. The series, which started at the Crimson 18, looked destined for a three-and-out when a Holy Cross substitution penalty set up an easy first down for Harvard on a quick pass to senior wide receiver Terence Patterson.

On second-and-seven, Wilford hit Patterson with a quick catch-and-run pass that Patterson motored down the sidelines to the Crusader 49. After an eight-yard catch by freshman flanker Kyle Cremarosa, Harvard ran a clear out screen for junior tailback Chuck Nwokocha.

Nwokocha found nothing but daylight until he sidestepped a safety then picked up a block by Patterson at the 10-yard line that allowed him to cut back into the end zone--a stunning 41-yard gain with just 45 seconds remaining in the half.