Just like that, a game that had seemed over for the Crimson was turning into the type of contest everyone had expected.

Harvard’s defense shut down the next Big Green possession when senior strong safety Andy Fried sacked quarterback Joe Kinder on third down. The ensuing punt gave the Crimson excellent field position.

Palazzo, who had missed last week’s contest against Princeton with a hamstring injury, took over the offense, rushing for 18 yards on four carries to set up a 30-yard field goal attempt.

“Palazzo told me in the first half that he was ready to go, but I could tell from his voice he was far from perfect,” Murphy said. “At halftime he said, ‘Coach, I want to go.’”

After play paused for the end of the third quarter, Blewett came on to try to make his first field goal of the season and the biggest of his career. He had taken over field-goal kicking duties from sophomore Robbie Wright earlier in the season.

The snap was steady and the kick perfect. The ball sailed through the uprights and the crowd erupted at the sight of Harvard’s first lead of the game.

“There were a lot of anxious people on the sidelines,” Murphy said. “That field goal was an emotional lift.”

Harvard never looked back after taking the lead. The defense took over, and reminiscent of last week’s 28-26 victory over Princeton, stopped the Big Green attack in the fourth quarter.

“We weren’t sustaining any more offense,” Lyons said. “They pretty much shut us down in the second half.”

But an odd sequence of events in the fourth quarter almost put Harvard’s win in jeopardy.

On Dartmouth’s next possession, freshman quarterback Evan Love threw a pass at midfield that was intercepted by sophomore linebacker Dante Balestracci. Balestracci, who returned two interceptions for touchdowns in last year’s 49-7 win at Dartmouth, ran 61 yards and leapt into the endzone for a touchdown. But a combination of penalty flags on both ends of the field confused both teams and, it seemed, the officials.

After five minutes of discussion, the officials nullified Balestracci’s TD, but gave Harvard the ball at its own 9-yard line. Murphy was livid, as were most of the fans, still unclear as to what the penalties were. Eventually the ruling came down that two personal fouls on Harvard were called—one on the team for “excessive celebration,” and another on senior cornerback Willie Alford, who was engaged in a scuffle with a Dartmouth wide receiver back at the Harvard 33-yard line.

“Their guy took a swing at ours and it’s always the second guy that gets caught,” Murphy said. “I always tell our guys they just can’t do that, especially on the tail end of a play and that will never happen again this season.”

Still, Murphy was unhappy with the call.

“Well, [the referees] made the right call in there. But you know what? I don’t think you make that call 50 yards behind a play you know is going into the endzone,” he said.