Senior Matt Simpson—a backup QB last season who had been converted to a wide receiver—took snaps in the fourth quarter, completing his first career pass to freshman Scott Miller. All told, five rookies saw action.

In garbage time late in the game, Lafayette got into a groove. Leopard rookie Jet Kollie looked to have a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown following Zajeski’s score, but the play was called back on an illegal block penalty—one that drew the ire of Tavani, who rushed the field to express his displeasure.

Lafayette backup quarterback Andrew Shoop found Greg Kessel in the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown with five minutes to play in the fourth, making the final score 35-10.

With the win, Harvard moves to 2-0 on the season against Patriot League opponents, a year after going 1-2 against those same nonconference foes. The Crimson has a chance to make a clean Patriot sweep when it hosts Lehigh in two weeks.

“We know [Lafayette’s] struggling, btu we were kind of struggling coming in,” Murphy said. “They’ve got a really outstanding program...You go 3-0 against the Patriot League, you know you’re a very good football team.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.