By that point, memories of last year’s collapse at Princeton returned to Murphy’s mind. Harvard led that game by 24 in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers scored 29 straight to upset the then-undefeated Crimson.

“I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t [thinking about that game],” Murphy said.

Just like last year, Murphy was faced with a fourth down late in the game. Once again, he opted to punt the ball away and trust his defense. Whereas Princeton drove the ball 90 yards to take the lead with 13 seconds remaining, Penn came up just short.

“We made it interesting,” Bagnoli said. “We just couldn’t quite finish it.”

Harvard survived thanks to the cushion it gave itself in the first half, when it scored a total of 31 points, including 17 in just over three minutes.

After senior David Mothander’s 19-yard field goal gave the Crimson a 17-0 lead with 3:01 remaining in the opening half, Harvard’s defense held Penn to zero yards on three plays, and junior Norman Hayes blocked the ensuing punt to give the offense the ball at Penn’s 28.

It took the Crimson just four plays to punch it in from there, with Stanton finishing the drive on an eight-yard scamper.

On the first play of the Quakers’ next drive, captain Josh Boyd got his first interception of the season and the Harvard offense got the ball back with 31 seconds remaining. Junior Conner Hempel and co. needed just 13 of those ticks.

Hempel first found senior Ricky Zorn for a 37-yard gain to Penn’s three. Then, freshman Ryan Halvorson hauled in a touchdown pass on the next play to put Harvard up, 31-0, with time to spare.

“We showed what we are made of,” Murphy said. “We got it done.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacob.feldman@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @jacobfeldman4.