A critical fourth-down catch helped sophomore RODNEY BYRNES (2) atone for his drop one play earlier.

With 39 seconds glowing on the scoreboard of Harvard Stadium, the Crimson’s most recent attempt at a comeback ended in an abrupt and painful way.

Over the course of the previous 1:40, Harvard had marched 81 yards to the Northeastern seven-yard line, twice converting on long fourth-down situations. Trailing 17-14, the Crimson was safely in field goal range and a guaranteed trip to overtime.

But Harvard dropped the ball.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ran right on third down and optioned to senior tailback Rodney Thomas. The ball bounced off Thomas’ fingers and fell to the turf, before being pounced on by Northeastern senior defensive end Steve Anzalone.

“The bottom line is, if we catch [the toss], we win,” said Harvard Coach Tim Murphy.

The same could be said for many of the plays on the Crimson’s final drive, when not catching the ball caught on amongst Harvard’s receivers.

The drive began when senior All-American wide receiver Carl Morris fumbled a punt at the Harvard 10-yard line. Morris recovered but couldn’t advance the ball, leaving the Crimson with 1st-and-10 at its own 12-yard line.

After Fitzpatrick threw the ball away on first down, the usually sure-handed junior Kyle Cremarosa dropped a Fitzpatrick offering. On third down, emerging sophomore star Rodney Byrnes had a pass bounce off his hands.

After two well-run plays and two well-thrown balls, the Crimson faced 4th-and-10. With no other option, the Crimson went for it deep in its own territory and converted on a leaping grab by Byrnes underneath when Morris attracted double-coverage deep.

The Crimson was still alive.

After a short completion to Morris gave the Crimson second-and-5, Fitzpatrick looked to Morris again. Last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year, though, couldn’t deliver. Instead, he slipped to the ground and watched as the pass sailed yards from the nearest Crimson jersey.

“It certainly wasn’t always pretty by us today offensively,” Murphy said.

On third down, Fitzpatrick threw the ball away under pressure, setting up another fourth-down opportunity.

For Morris, it was an opportunity for redemption.

With 1:34 on the clock, Fitzpatrick threaded a pass between two Husky defenders, and Morris safely hauled it in for the first down. A seven-yard completion to Cremarosa and a 23-yard reception for Morris put Harvard deep in Northeastern territory.

But sloppiness once again plagued the Crimson.

Facing first-and-10 on the Northeastern 28, Fitzpatrick was almost wrapped up in his own backfield. But the sophomore dodged a Northeastern defender and lofted a beautiful pass to sophomore James Harvey on the right sideline. A stretched-out Harvey couldn’t come up with the pass, and it bounced to the turf several feet from the endzone.

It was the last of 10 dropped balls by Crimson wide receivers.

“To put it in persective, in the ’97 season, we dropped one ball in 10 games,” Murphy said.

The 1997 season was the first of Murphy’s two Ivy championship years at the helm of Harvard. Both of Murphy’s title teams were characterized by their near-flawless execution and ball control.

Those strengths became weaknesses Saturday.

“We started throwing the ball like we’re used to throwing it, but if you drop eight balls it’s hard to beat a top ten team,” Murphy said.

—Staff writer Lande A. Spottswood can be reached at spottsw@fas.harvard.edu.