On the first play from scrimmage from its 23-yard line, Rose threw a quick, 7-yard slant to Morris. Morris beat his man on one step and then used his long legs to motor down the next 70 yards for the touchdown.

The Crimson didn't even wait to get on offense to score again. On the next Penn possession, the Quakers moved to the Harvard 48. Hoffman, pressured in the pocket, threw a strike which freshman cornerback Benny Butler had been waiting on. Butler intercepted the ball in stride and outran the Quakers for 50 yards before reaching the end zone.

Both defenses stepped it up a notch the rest of the game. The Quakers worked the field with their front four, while the Crimson used its speed to fly to the ball and make tackles. Penn picked up an easy score after Harvard turned the ball over on a Rose fumble, and then took a 21-14 lead on a long drive set up by Hoffman's passing.

After several series of three-and-outs, the Crimson once again hit the jackpot with four minutes left in the second quarter. On the second play from scrimmage on the drive, Palazzo, only 190 pounds, broke three tackles before turning on the Energizer battery and getting a 66-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 21-21.

"I've got to give credit to our run game," Murphy said. "Penn is number one in the league in defending the run."

Before the fatal mistakes of the late fourth quarter, the rest of the game was marked by Harvard's defense bailing out the mistakes of the offense by coming up big in the red zone.

At the end of the first half, the Crimson twice stuffed Penn at the one-yard line, forcing them to settle for a field goal and a 24-21 halftime lead.