Junior cornerback Mante Dzakuma had an especially rough day, getting badly burnt by Ferguson on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Razzano and then flagged for pass-interference to keep a second quarter Cornell drive alive.

In the third quarter, the Big Red offense mounted an 11-play, 63-yard drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown toss to fullback Nathan Archer to move Cornell within eight.

“The defense is a concern,” Murphy said. “But in the second half the defense got its poise and confidence back.”

Cornell failed to convert the extra-point after Archer’s touchdown, as Harvard junior linebacker Dante Balestracci blocked the attempt. The play marked not only a special teams stop, but a shift in the pace of the game.

The Crimson defense did not allow another score for the remainder of the contest. Balestracci led the way with 11 tackles and a key third quarter interception that snuffed out a Cornell drive deep into Harvard territory.

After the game, Balestracci stressed the defense’s role in the Crimson scheme.

“The biggest thing is making plays,” he said, “to get our offense back on the field and give those guys a chance to score.”

And score they did, and swiftly at that. Fitzpatrick, whose 8-yard TD run capped a seven-play scoring drive that consumed all of 1:57 in the first period, steered Harvard to yet another score in under two minutes at the start of the third quarter.

The sophomore darted a screen pass to Morris, who—thanks to a critical block by Cremarosa—eluded nearly the entire Big Red defense for a 54-yard score.

“It wasn’t me,” Morris said about the catch, which highlighted a characteristically brilliant day. “It wasn’t anything more than an incredible block by Kyle Cremarosa.”

At halftime, Cornell’s time of possession doubled that of Harvard. But on this messy day, time of possession did not dictate on-field dominance—talent did.

“Give a lot of credit to Harvard. They are a program with a lot more skill than we have,” Big Red coach Tim Pendergast said. “They deserve everything they are achieving.”

—Contributing writer Sean W. Coughlin can be reached at coughl@fas.harvard.edu.