It was The Game in a way Harvard-Yale hadn’t been for some time.

With Harvard and Penn both undefeated in the league for the second consecutive season, the Ivy title was on the line at Franklin Field. And somehow, in some way, the battle had become bigger than the Ivy League, reminiscent of an era when Ivy schools figured into national rankings not published by U.S. News and World Report.

ESPN’s popular three-man traveling pregame show “College Football GameDay” was on the scene, appearing at its first ever Division I-AA site. Penn’s sports information department had credentialed Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The media glare was unprecedented in the modern era, and the hype and hope merged into a singular motivation for the Crimson as it tried to extend its 12-game Ivy winning streak. But instead of a win, Harvard was handed its worst defeat in more than seven years.

The Quakers won 44-9, holding the Crimson offense scoreless until just four minutes remained in the game, when sophomore backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 9-yard TD toss to junior Matt Fratto meant little. All-American receiver Carl Morris was held to just three catches for 16 yards.

“Stating the obvious, Penn dominated us today,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said after the game. “It was a combination of how well they played and how poorly we played. They were as good as advertised.”

A week later—after Harvard capitalized on a phenomenal fill-in performance by Fitzpatrick to beat Yale, 20-13—the Crimson had a 6-1 Ivy record and the Quakers had the Ivy title.

“We set out to win the championship,” Morris said. “We came up a little short, but we ended on a high note. We beat Yale.”

At the opening of the 2002 season, the Harvard football team was faced with one of the harder tasks in life—improving upon perfection. After posting a 9-0 record in 2001—its best mark since 1913—the quest was a 10-0 season.

But after two early, heartbreaking losses to Northeastern and Lehigh, it was clear the team wouldn’t be able to match its win total from the year before. So instead, it surpassed the previous season in other areas, mainly media attention.

Morris was featured by Sports Illustrated, which said of the NFL prospect, “At times it seems Morris simply can’t be stopped by Ivy defenses.”

Captain and quarterback Neil Rose and Fitzpatrick appeared on Fox’s Tom Arnold-hosted “The Best Damn Sports Show, Period” to discuss their quarterback controversy.

And then, of course, there was Lee Corso and “GameDay.”

“Our league has been legitimized as a quality football league,” Murphy said after “GameDay” announced its trip to Philadelphia. “I say, embrace it. All we can do is reap positive benefits from this thing, so enjoy it.”

And the Crimson had on-field success to embrace as well.