Thanks to his late touchdown pass, Hempel’s slow start Saturday will be forgiven if not forgotten. He underthrew Fischer on the first play of the game and finished the first quarter with just one passing yard.

Hempel attributed the slow start to cold weather and a slick ball, but Murphy said it was a sign of how hurt Hempel still was after missing two games.

“From my standpoint, Conner’s performance was inspirational,” Murphy said. “He was not 100 percent; he was nowhere near 100 percent…. [It was] just a tremendously gutty performance.”

The offense as a whole struggled early. Harvard had to settle for a field goal in the first quarter even though a blocked punt by senior Ryan Jones gave the Crimson the ball inside Yale’s 10.

After Harvard got back into the red zone thanks to a 58-yard reverse run by Fischer, junior running back Paul Stanton fumbled the ball.

The Bulldogs struggled offensively early on too, but they still led 7-3 at halftime. That lead did not last long though.

Harvard scored on three of its first four second half possessions, with the only scoreless drive coming when a field goal kick was blocked. Its last score came when senior linebacker Connor Sheehan took the ball from a Bulldog wideout and ran it back 90 yards for a touchdown, setting the career and single-season records for interceptions returned for scores.

Yale responded with three straight scoring drives of its own, but it was ultimately the Crimson seniors that got their storybook ending.

“Honestly, this game makes my career,” Hempel said. “I couldn’t have drawn it up any better.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacob.feldman@thecrimson.com.