“Mistakes” could refer to any number of events—the three picks that Viviano threw, the game-sealing fumble, or the coverage breakdown that led to the Quakers’ second touchdown.

But few errors loomed larger than the Crimson’s red-zone inefficiency. Harvard marched inside the Penn 20 three times and came away with a total of six points.

The first red-zone trip came on the team’s second drive, when Harvard advanced to the four. However, the drive ended with a field goal after Viviano overthrew senior halfback Anthony Firkser on third down.

At the start of the second quarter, the Crimson had a chance to expand on the 3-0 lead when it pushed forward for a first-and-goal from the seven. Then the gaffes began. A holding call. A near-interception. A sack. Ultimately Penn took over when Viviano tossed a third-down pick.

The final red-zone visit occurred at the start of the fourth. In this case, the Crimson earned a first-and-10 at the Quakers 11 but got no further. Freshman kicker Jake McIntyre converted his second short field goal.

“We’re not really hurt when a team moves a ball,” Vecchio said. “We know that in the end, they still have to get into the end zone. We’re not going to let them do it.”

NO RUNNING ALLOWED

On a night of overall misery, Harvard dominated one aspect of play: the ground game. While Crimson rushers rumbled for 136 yards, Penn totaled 21. On 20 rushes.

Quakers running back Tre Solomon entered the night leading all Ancient Eight rushers in yards per game, but against Harvard he finished with 26 yards on 2.2 yards per carry. Senior Alek Torgersen fared even worse. Previously averaging over 40 rushing yards per contest, he ran six times for negative 18 yards.

Early in the night, Penn seemed eager to establish the ground game, rushing on four of its first six plays. However, the Quakers soon abandoned this strategy. In the second quarter, the hosts called nine straight pass plays.

Harvard’s run defense proved instrumental in the second half, when the Crimson faced a 14-3 deficit. Penn tried to milk time by calling run plays, but Harvard refused to give up first downs. Between 6:41 in the third quarter and 11:24 in the fourth, the Crimson defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs, giving the offense a chance to cut into the lead.

“Our defense… played heroically,” Murphy said. “We’re capable of hanging in there defensively with anyone.”

-Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.