With Penn’s linebackers crowding the line, Dawson took a pitch left, broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and dove forward for a first down. Four plays later, Fitzpatrick hooked up with Brian Edwards to give Harvard a 7-3 lead after cornerback Michael Johns slipped at the 10-yard line.

“It was a double move,” Fitzpatrick said of the Edwards touchdown pass. “It was a slant and up. And he’s the type of athlete that nine times out of 10 he’s going to be open.”

As the first half wound down, Harvard extended its lead. On the second play of the series, Dawson took a handoff from Fitzpatrick and took the ball straight ahead for 11 yards. Two plays later, Fitzpatrick found freshman receiver Joe Murt on the left sideline down to the Penn 15. After four consecutive running plays, Dawson dove over the pile at the goal line to give the Crimson a 14-3 lead with 17 seconds left in the half.

The Crimson added a 43-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Corey Mazza on the opening drive of the second half and freshman kicker Matt Schindel made a 32-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to secure a 24-3 lead. And on its next possession, Harvard’s field-goal trickery put the game out of reach.

Penn added a meaningless touchdown with two minutes left in the game, but it was much too late to have an impact.

“They were due,” Bagnoli concluded following the game. “And they took advantage of it.”

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.