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Nothing is certain, especially not in college football. Just when one team appears to have all the momentum in its favor, a single play can change everything. The Harvard football team’s victory against Princeton (4-2, 2-1 Ivy) on Saturday epitomized this fact.

With less than two and a half minutes to play, the Princeton football team faced a fourth down at the Harvard 12. Down 17-10, senior quarterback Chad Kanoff completed the pass to junior quarterback John Lovett. As Lovett tried to power through the defense, he was stopped by junior linebacker Luke Hutton.

He gained five yards. The Tigers needed six.

A different adage about college football is that, in almost all cases, there are second chances. After Hutton’s stop, the Princeton defense shut out Harvard, and with 1:40 left to play, the hosts started their drive at the Harvard 24 after a long punt return. It took less than a minute for the Tigers to find the endzone, tying the game at 17-17 on a short run by Lovett.

Forty-nine seconds later, this matchup of Ivy League leaders was heading into overtime.

“I don’t think there’s any question that the momentum was going away from us,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Great comeback. We really struggled down the stretch…. We put way too much pressure on our defense.”

While the Crimson had momentum in the first half, Princeton seemed to have gained it all back as the game went into overtime. But the Crimson defense kept the team in the game just as it has done all season, stuffing the Tigers and limiting them to a field goal. On Harvard’s lone overtime possession, senior quarterback Joe Viviano dove into the endzone for the win.

The effort was enough to allow Harvard to escape Princeton, N.J. with a victory. After shooting to a 14-0 advantage early in the second quarter, the Crimson (5-1, 3-0 Ivy) withstood an intense comeback to claim the 23-20 victory and remain atop the Ancient Eight.

The game was a tale of two halves. The first half saw a dominant defensive performance by Harvard. The defense shut out a single-faceted Tigers attack that wasn’t able to get anything going in the passing game and had to rely exclusively on the run.

Harvard knew that the hosts would run the ball. Harvard stopped the run. Princeton didn’t score.

“[The defense was] heroic,” Murphy said. “Just heroic to stake us to a 14-0 lead. [Princeton is] always a challenging offense. They do so many things, so much motion and high-tempo. It’s very challenging, and it takes a little out of the attack mode since you have to be so assignment-oriented.”

However, momentum shifted in the second half. In the first drive of the third quarter, the Tigers opened up the passing game. After being shut out for 30 minutes, they drove 80 yards and narrowed Harvard’s lead by a touchdown.

The opening of the passing attack completely changed the game for Princeton. The Crimson wasn’t able to sit on the run as the team had in the first half. While the Tigers did rely on the run in the second half, the team incorporated more passes into drives and finished the game with 323 total yards, 172 on the ground and 151 through the air.

“I thought we were balanced,” Princeton head coach Bob Surace said. “I thought that’s important for us. When we’re playing well, we’re much more balanced, and the run really helps us.”

On the other hand, if there is one word that describes Harvard’s offense Saturday, it would be fickle. And as Viviano goes, so does the offense.

On the first drive of the game, Viviano did something he hasn’t done all season: He turned the ball over. On the second play of the game, the senior dropped back looking for senior halfback Anthony Firkser deep down the left sideline. But he under-threw the ball for the first pick of his career.

On the next drive, however, Viviano led the team 80 yards down the field, ending the attack with a touchdown to Firkser. The game was up-and-down for the signal caller as well as the offense. While he threw for two touchdowns and 215 yards, Viviano also tossed three interceptions, was sacked four times, and fumbled once.

“We got a little bit greedy at times,” Murphy said. “I think if we’d been a little bit more patient, then we at least could have put a few more points on the board, field goals at least.”

Princeton’s defense planned well for the Crimson. On top of the three interceptions and four sacks, the unit limited Harvard’s offense to 102 yards rushing. Playmakers like Firkser and junior running back Semar Smith ended with 22 and 20 yards, respectively. Sophomore receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley did rack up 82 yards receiving, but he didn’t score.

However, the limiting of key role players opened the door for newer faces to make plays. Sophomore wide receiver Adam Scott hadn’t caught the ball this season. That changed quickly this weekend. His first catch of the year came in the form of a 34 yard catch-and-run. And he day only went up from there.

Late in the second quarter, with the Crimson up 7-0, Scott grabbed a short pass down the left sideline. He flashed his speed as he outpaced a few Princeton defenders to the pylon, putting the Crimson up 14-0. Scott ended the game with 85 yards receiving and 23 yards on the ground.

“[It was a] great college football game,” Murphy said. “Princeton certainly didn’t deserve to lose. Great coaching job by them. Their kids played unbelievably hard. In the end, stating the obvious, we just made one more play than they did.”

—Staff writer Gant Player can be reached at wplayer@college.harvard.edu.