Last year, when Penn played at the Stadium, it faced a fourth down-and-forever from midfield with little time remaining. Quarterback Gavin Hoffman, a star transfer from Northwestern, served up a 50-yard Hail Mary that found the hands of a Penn receiver in the end zone, giving the Quakers an improbable 21-17 victory.

On Saturday in Philadelphia, it was Hoffman's fourth-quarter heroics that again led to a Quaker victory.

Trailing 35-30, with 3:31 remaining, Penn had a golden-- and perhaps final--opportunity to win the game when cornerback Fred Plaza intercepted Harvard junior quarterback Neil Rose's errant throw at the Harvard 35. But the Harvard defense, as it had done most of the day, held its ground, and forced Hoffman to a fourth down. The pressure came, and Hoffman had no choice but to throw the ball straight up in the air, which then landed harmlessly on the ground.

Harvard blew the opportunity to put the game away.

Failing to make the first down, the Crimson was forced to punt from its own territory. A good punt by freshman Adam Kingston was almost erased when Harvard's punt coverage team leveled punt returner Plaza, who had called for a fair catch. The ensuing 15-yard penalty put Penn at the Harvard 48 with 1:36 remaining.

Hoffman's magic kicked in. On first down, he threw downfield into double coverage, but underthrew it. His receiver, saw this and came back to make a 32-yard reception. On the very next play, from the 16-yard line, Hoffman tossed up a beauty, which would be either caught by wide receiver Rob Milanese or fall out of bounds. Milanese turned his head, made the grab over the outstretched hands of junior cornerback Andy Fried, and tiptoed into the pylon for the touchdown.

A missed two-point conversion made it 36-35.