After missing the last two games with an injury, senior Cam Brate caught a touchdown in the Harvard football team's win over Penn.

Harvard football coach Tim Murphy thought his Crimson had put Penn away.

Up 38-0 midway through the third quarter, Murphy pulled several of his starters, thinking ahead to The Game next week.

The Quakers proceeded to tally 30 points in 15 minutes, turning what looked like a blowout into a one-possession game with 4:30 left.

Penn came close to coming all the way back after Harvard went three-and-out for a fifth straight time, but the Crimson defense stiffened up at the last possible moment after giving up four consecutive touchdowns.

The Quakers converted two fourth downs on their final drive, getting all the way to Harvard’s 20 with 30 seconds remaining, but its luck ran out on 4th and nine. A pass over the middle was tipped up in the air and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Junior quarterback Conner Hempel, who was pulled in the third quarter after a dominant first half, came out for one kneeldown to give the Crimson a 38-30 victory, keeping its Ivy title hopes alive.

“If we weren’t so banged up, we wouldn’t have pulled so many guys, but obviously we pulled them too soon. We lost momentum, and it obviously became a very precarious situation,” Murphy said. “I was really proud of us getting the big stop at the end.”

After throwing for 220 yards in the first half, Hempel started the second the same way, marching Harvard down the field. Sophomore Paul Stanton finished the 12-play, 76-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run that put the Crimson (8-1, 6-1 Ivy) up, 38-0.

Murphy pulled Hempel, Stanton, and others at that point, and the Harvard offense subsequently stagnated. It did not get another first down for the rest of the game.

Hempel and the starters returned with 8:24 left, but they couldn’t find their first-half form, failing to convert a 3rd-and-one and a 3rd-and-three on their final two drives.

Meanwhile, the Penn (4-5, 3-3 Ivy) offense came alive. The Quakers managed just 56 yards in the first half, but quarterback Ryan Becker found his groove as his team compiled 262 yards in a wild second half.

First, Penn ended Harvard’s seven-quarter shutout streak late in the third quarter. After Becker converted a fourth-and-five, freshman Adam Strouss replaced him and ran in from one yard out.

Penn got a short field on its next possession after a 33-yard punt, and took advantage with another one-yard touchdown run by Strouss.

The Quakers scored twice more, and converted two-point conversions each time. Becker was 9-for-11 on those two drives, and converted the first two-point try despite an illegal substitution penalty pushing the team back five yards.

“It was almost like we flipped a switch,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. “In the second half, we executed great and they didn’t execute great. It’s a funny game when these two teams play. Fortunately for us, these kids did not give up.”