After the Tigers settled for a field goal in the second overtime, the Crimson looked to extend the game with one of its own. Disaster seemed imminent after a low snap, but holder Michael Pruneau was able to get the ball down just in time for junior kicker Andrew Flesher to boot it through.
But the third period of overtime would prove to be decisive. Another Harvard field goal opened the door for Princeton, and Epperly made it count by faking the run and finding Wilson in the back right corner of the end zone for the six-yard score that ended the four-hour affair.
“You watch them on film, and with their ability to run the football along with their tempo and play-action stuff, it’s very challenging to defend every zone,” Crimson coach Tim Murphy said. “They certainly did a great job throwing the ball today and keeping it alive.”
LITTLE THINGS BECOME BIG THINGS
Plagued by penalties all game long, Harvard appeared to have trouble up front on both sides of the ball. The Crimson was flagged a total of eleven times; three of those flags came on offsides calls and four on false starts.
Those penalties hurt the most with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Hempel had just completed a 44-yard bomb to Zorn, and the Crimson seemed to be in position to steal a win with the ball on the Princeton 27.
But Harvard was called for two false starts on consecutive plays, pushing the Crimson back to the very edge of reasonable field goal range. Flesher’s 50-yard attempt, despite having the distance, flew wide left.
Along with the defeat came bad news for Harvard injury-wise. Senior center David Leopard suffered a broken ankle at the end of the third quarter and is out for the season. After Leopard’s exit, senior Nick Easton took over but had trouble delivering clean snaps.
Late in the second quarter, after returning a kickoff 44 yards, sophomore receiver Andrew Fischer was pushed out of bounds and came up hobbling. He suffered a torn hamstring on the play and, according to Murphy, is also likely done for the year.
—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@thecrimson.com.