The next critical defensive play came right at the end of the first quarter. Up 7-0, Brown had driven deep into Harvard territory and was facing third-and-13 from the Crimson 21. The Bears came close to keeping the drive alive, as Brown quarterback Eric Webber connected with an open Campbell just a few yards shy of the first down marker.

But junior safety Eric LaHaie made the clutch open-field tackle to keep the Bears a yard short. Brown elected to go for the field goal and the 10-0 lead. The second quarter was Harvard's best defensively, despite a 73-yard touchdown run of Brown back Mike Malan. The Crimson limited Brown's offense to 10 plays on its other three drives of the quarter. On the first stop, Balestracci and junior lineman Ryan Fitzgerald teamed up to stop Malan, and then on third down cornerback Willie Alford knocked away a high lob intended for Campbell. The other two stops of the quarter would be much of the same--shutting down the run, then silencing Webber, who was left with negative passing yardage for the quarter.

The defense was at its worst immediately following the first pair of Harvard scores, surrendering quick touchdowns and keeping the deficit at 10. No single play was uglier than the Malan touchdown run, when the Crimson defense allowed him to plod untouched down the sideline.

But credit the Harvard defense for coming up with the first stop of the second half. For the first 10 minutes after the break, it looked as if the two teams would be exchanging scores forever, but Harvard stopped the Bears cold at the Crimson 35 on their second drive.

It was the usual suspects combining for the stop again, as Balestracci took down Malan on first down, then Fitzgerald and LaHaie batted down Webber's passes on second and third down, respectively. On fourth down, the Crimson pass rush forced Webber to make an errant throw.

By far the three most critical plays of the game were sophomore Carl Morris' two long touchdown receptions and sophomore Sean Meeker's 43-yard reverse. But what made the 21-point swing from a 31-21 deficit to a 42-31 lead possible was the defense's ability to quickly stop the Brown offense in between the three scoring drives.

After the first Morris touchdown, the Harvard defense summarily gave up a 40-yard pass to Brown tight end David Brookman. But the Crimson shut down Brown from there, as tackles from junior linebacker Mike Cataldo and junior corner Andy Fried shut down Malan, and Fitzgerald tipped yet another Webber pass on third down to kill the Brown drive.