Opening its football season nearly three weeks after most schools, it was clear from the get-go that Harvard was still working off the rust. On a night filled with blunder after blunder, the Crimson was lucky to pull out the narrow victory.

“We were very fortunate,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Obviously, we made too many mistakes against a good team, and the saving grace was that we had great character and found a way to win.”

The Crimson fell behind late in the first frame and trailed nearly the whole game thanks to its four turnovers.

Despite connecting consistently with his sophomore receivers all night, senior hurler Chris Pizzotti drastically underthrew balls in the first and third quarters, which Crusaders Michael Wright and Daryl Brown picked off with ease. The interceptions gave Holy Cross short fields to work with, starting at the Harvard 18 and 29, respectively.

“We had four turnovers tonight that really just were uncalled for,” Pizzotti said. “They weren’t really forcing us to do anything, it was just throwing the ball a little sooner than I should have. That was completely my fault and no one else’s.”

But Pizzotti wasn’t the only one to blame. Senior backup quarterback Liam O’Hagan threw an interception on the goal line, and sophomore wideout Marco Iannuzzi fumbled a punt return at Harvard’s 26 to set up Holy Cross’ third short field of the night.

“We have a whole lot of room for improvement, and we know where we need to improve,” Murphy said. “But once again, we had some kids that played really well. We take away the mistakes, it could have been a much different football game.”

RED HANDED

Improvements can start with the red zone offense. Of the Crimson’s five red zone opportunities, only two ended in touchdowns, and only four in scores.

Twice in the first quarter Harvard found itself inside the Crusader 20, only to be denied a touchdown and forced to settle for short, 29-yard field goals. Although junior kicker Patrick Long put the ball through the uprights with ease, settling for three after a first and goal from the four is hardly a satisfying cap to a lengthy drive.

Trying to mix things up in the third quarter in the red zone, Murphy switched O’Hagan in behind center to try and cap off the eventual 64-yard drive with a touchdown.

After running for eight yards on first down, O’Hagan dropped back and threw an interception right into the hands of Crusader linebacker Andrew Cialino on the goal line.

“Once again, we just didn’t execute, we made a poor decision, and it cost us,” Murphy said. “A couple times we probably should have just eaten the ball and gone on with the next play.”

The Crimson did seem to recover in the fourth quarter, as Pizzotti posted two 1-yard lunges into the endzone to cap off an eight play, 66-yard drive, and the game-winning 11 play, 65-yard drive.

“We feel that we can score on every drive, no matter what the situation is,” Pizzotti said. “It’s just a matter of executing our offense, taking what the defense gives us...Overall, just a great team victory.”

BITS AND PIECES

Crimson football’s second night game in Harvard Stadium history also featured a brand new jumbotron as well as a new sound system...Iannuzzi and classmate Chris Lorditch combined for 20 receptions out of the Crimson’s 30 completions on the night...Pizzotti remains undefeated in games in which he both started and finished...Harvard has now won six of the last seven meetings with the Crusaders and 10 of the last 12 in the series...By allowing only 70 yards on the ground, the Crimson extended its streak to 28 games in which an opposing player has not hit the century mark.

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.