“Obviously some aspects of the kicking game were good and some need to be improved,” Murphy said.

Attempting a field goal of his own, Kingston—with plenty of leg—booted a 23-yarder wide right. His final extra point effort of the afternoon soared wide as well.

But the critical special teams error was not one which squandered easy points, but the one that handed over seven.

On a low snap, Holy Cross broke through the line of scrimmage as Kingston prepared to punt the ball away. Senior wide receiver Nick Larsen fully extended his arms and blocked the kick, which was returned to the 15-yard line, setting up another Crusader touchdown.

Mixing It Up

Holy Cross sophomore quarterback John O’Neill entered Saturday’s game against Harvard with a 177.71 efficiency rating.

It wasn’t nearly that high when he was pulled in the second quarter for fellow sophomore Brian Schiller.

With heavy pressure from the Crimson front four and the secondary jamming the receivers, O’Neill was incapable of delivering touch passes with even the slightest accuracy, lofting balls far beyond the reach of his intended targets.

His right knee, hampered by a lingering injury sustained in the season opener against Lehigh, just couldn’t take the pressure.

But Schiller’s entrance into the game breathed new life into the Crusaders. Switching to a four-wide receiver set and operating out of the shotgun, he marched his squad 80 yards down the field in 10 plays in under 90 seconds to pull to within 17 at the half.

His accuracy and mobility in the pocket caused problems for the secondary all afternoon.

Avoiding the pass rush on the first series of the third quarter, Schiller rolled out of the pocket and away from danger to find junior wide receiver LeRoy Knight two steps behind his coverage downfield for a touchdown that narrowed the gap to just 11 points at 27-16.

Down 21 early in the fourth quarter, he struggled to will his team to victory, scrambling left, cutting back across to the right, then all the way across field again to the left before floating a pass 34 yards downfield to Larsen, who leapt high into the air to pull down an improbable reception.

But Schiller’s magical touch would not last.

After Crimson junior linebacker Bobby Everett corralled an interception off a deflected pass midway through the fourth quarter, the air was taken out of Holy Cross’ sails and the Harvard victory was sealed.