By the middle of the fourth quarter, it appeared that Harvard’s luck had run out. Razzano led Cornell from its own 16 to the Crimson five. Razzano looked for his favorite target—wideout Carlos Hill—on first, second and third-and-goal, but could only complete one attempt, which went for a loss of three yards. On fourth-and-goal from the eight, Razzano rolled right but could not evade Harvard sophomore defensive end Erik Grimm, who sacked him for an 11-yard loss.

The sack put the exclamation point on what had been an amazing defensive performance—one that left Pendergast bewildered.

“I felt that there were some times when Harvard was trying to open the door for us and we just didn’t charge through the door,” Pendergast said.

For a simpler philosophy, just turn to the Harvard defense.

“Your goal in every game is to not let their offense score,” Harvard captain and linebacker Dante Balestracci said. “When you see that goose egg on the board, you try to preserve it.”

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.