And his impact was felt on his third touchdown of the day, a confident three-yard beeline between blockers that put Harvard up 27-20 and made it abundantly clear that Dawson was not about to allow a loss to mar the Crimson’s sparkling record.

“Clifton got the hot hand,” Murphy said simply.

Newcomer though he may be, Dawson seems right at home on the Crimson turf—his 275 total yards are the second-most ever by a Harvard player at Harvard Stadium.

After giving tantalizing samples of his potential in the previous four games—collecting 170 rushing yards and one TD—he now seems to be completely in his groove. Saturday’s explosion gives him the team lead in rushing yards.

“I knew that, given our quarterback situation, there was going to be a great opportunity to run the football successfully,” Dawson said.

He capped his day with the 71-yard cruise-control touchdown run, his fourth score of the day. It gave the Crimson a 34-20 advantage and effectively crushed Lafayette’s spirit. The challenge had been met. The victory was secured.

“They came out and dared us to run the football basically the whole game,” Murphy said.

Dawson took that dare. And he ran with it.

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.