“[Without the penalty,] you're going up 14-zip and feeling pretty good,” Teevens said. “Maybe we'll come away with three points or something. [Instead,] they go down and score. It could have been a great situation for us, and it turned into a wonderful situation for them and made it a much closer ballgame.”

From there, Harvard exploded. The offense took advantage of the fumble, as freshman quarterback Jake Smith tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Ryan Antonellis. Now down only eight, the Crimson went into the half with a more manageable deficit.

“There were a couple plays at the end of the first half that were maybe questionable, but whatever—you've got to live with that [and] keep fighting,” Traynor said. “It's impossible to put into words the frustration that we have right now.”

Coming out of the locker room, it was evident something had changed. Harvard received the ball and drove to the end zone on 12 plays for 76 yards. The possession ended when sophomore running back Lavance Northington took a snap from the four. Essentially everyone believed that the Crimson would run on the ensuing play, as the team had with Northington all year. Instead, after gathering the snap, Northington took two steps left and and fired a bullet to Antonellis. The score went down as Northington’s first college completion.

“[Northington] was a hell of a high school quarterback,” Murphy said. “He’s just a great athlete, a great decision-maker, and a great leader. You have to find multiple ways to use him. You have to defend the spin-motion plays on the perimeter. He’s just one of those kids that’s a unique fit.”

—Staff writer Cade Palmer can be reached at cade.palmer@thecrimson.com.