{shortcode-fa5c928ab3319f55e8313b1b0c3acb161680b09c}“We ran into a legitimate offensive buzz saw.”

That was how Tim Murphy, Harvard football coach, described last Friday’s drubbing at the hands of Princeton. The Tigers carved up the Crimson for 423 passing yards, including over 300 before halftime, en route to an 52-17 victory.

Now, holding a 3-3 record for the first time since 2005, Harvard must find some way to piece together the splinters.

The reckoning process began on Sunday, when the team held an aberrant practice. Next came film study, meaning the merciless watching and re-watching of game-day mistakes.

“[It was] quiet,” Murphy said. “Anytime you lose against a rival in general, and lose in the fashion that we lost the game, there’s that much more focus on, ‘Wow, how did this happen?’”

As Murphy emphasized, though, the Crimson can fixate on Princeton for only so long. This week, Harvard faces a similarly staunch test against a new opponent—Dartmouth (5-1, 3-1 Ivy), which has already topped Yale and Penn.

The Big Green will visit Cambridge for the first time since Oct. 30, 2015, when Harvard and Dartmouth slugged out one of the most epic fights in recent memory.

That Friday night, both teams entered with a 6-0 record. Preseason pundits had picked the Crimson and the Big Green to finish one-two. Effectively, the matchup loomed as the Ancient Eight championship.

Dartmouth took a 13-0 lead into the final seven minutes of play, but Harvard responded with a wild sequence of plays—a school-yard touchdown on fourth-and-12, a forced fumble with under three minutes left, and a go-ahead score two minutes later.

The madness didn’t end until the last second, when Crimson linemen Richie Ryan and Stone Hart blocked a Big Green field goal. Harvard 14, Dartmouth 13.

“That [Crimson] team had an amazing amount of grit,” Murphy said. “It was a game we’ll always remember. I think it’ll be considered as one of the best games in Harvard history.”

Murphy made a comparison to the 2015 Crimson when previewing the 2017 Big Green. This year, Dartmouth has demonstrated a knack for the dramatic. Two of the Big Green’s last four wins came on the last play—an overtime stop against Holy Cross and a fourth-quarter score against Penn. Another victory came when Dartmouth erased the largest deficit in program history (21 points) to shock the Bulldogs.

Even the Big Green’s lone loss came in exciting fashion. Facing undefeated Columbia, Dartmouth marched back from a 22-7 third-quarter deficit to get within five. Twice in the last five minutes, the Big Green earned a first-and-goal. Twice, the Lions repelled the attack.

This was what Murphy meant when he said that only one play separated Dartmouth from a 6-0 record.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Murphy said. “They don’t get rattled when they’re behind. They seem to believe that they’re a team of destiny, the way they’ve played.”

The Crimson defense will hope to prevent another dramatic moment for Dartmouth. That unit, however, is reeling from the Princeton rout.

“We looked at the film, and we were playing tentative,” senior safety Tim Haehl said. “That’s not how we should play. DBs have never played that way here.”

Harvard needs a turnaround to happen quickly because the team faces a stacked schedule over the final weeks. After Dartmouth, the Crimson still must play the unbeaten Lions, the defending-champion Quakers, and the high-scoring Bulldogs.

Still, Crimson players have reason for slight hope. If Harvard wins out, Yale beats Columbia, and a few other matchups fall into place, the Crimson can still claim a share of the championship. The path is unlikely, especially given the success of the Lions, but still possible.

“You start looking down the road, and it’s easy to lose focus,” Murphy said. “All that matters right now is Dartmouth.”

The 2017 season is at a real crossroads. Look down one path, and you can see a Harvard team with a 1-6 Ivy record. Look down another, and you can envision an Ancient Eight title.

Historic defeat or historic comeback—either road starts this Saturday at Harvard Stadium. Given the stakes, can fans expect a rerun of the 2015 classic?

Offensive lineman Tim O’Brien chuckled when asked that question.

“I would not like it to be so close,” the junior said. “I’d like to win by more, obviously. But it’s going to be a battle.”

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