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All 10,753 fans in Providence, RI, fixed their eyes on the big yellow goalposts at the end of the field. They thought the game was all but over as Harvard’s kicker prepared to kick the ball through the uprights and extend the Crimson’s lead.

They were wrong.

Instead, a sea of Brown fans rose to their feet and Crimson hearts sank as the crowd watched in disbelief. Freshman kicker Kieran Corr saw the ball sail past him and attempted to throw himself on it, but it slipped out of his arms and right into the hands of a Brown player on the opposite end of the field— giving the Bears around 30 seconds to score.

Now with momentum that had been building the entire second half on his side, quarterback Jake Wilcox lofted the ball from the 27-yard line to the end zone on his first attempt, right into the arms of Brown receiver Mark Mahoney.

Harvard got the ball back with 20 seconds to go, but by then it was too late. Harvard football had lost to Brown for the first time in fifteen years and earned the title of Heartbreak of the Year for the game.

The Build Up

Coming off a dominant 35-0 shutout against Stetson, Harvard headed to Providence ready to fight. Newly minted Head Coach Andrew Aurich was also looking to make an impression in his first Ivy League matchup with the team.

He hoped to use the knowledge gained from years working with Brown Head Coach Jerry Brown to break apart the Bears.

“I worked in that offense, so I kind of know how that offense works,” Aurich said before the game.

Meanwhile, captain Shane McLaughlin wanted to make sure to start the game strong after a weak opening had nearly cost the team in the previous year’s matchup.

“We can play the Patriots or a Pop Warner team, the way we prepare is going to be the same,” he said at the time. “It’s going to be 110 percent each week.”

Indeed, the squad started strong. The Crimson took a commanding 21-3 lead near the end of the first half with the lethal junior duo of quarterback Jaden Craig and wide receiver Cooper Barkate picking up key yardage to nab three touchdowns.

In a sign of things to come, right as the half closed, a pass slipped through the hands of Barkate — allowing Brown to score its first touchdown.

Still, heading into the locker room, Harvard had reason to be optimistic. In the stands, Brown fans milled about, expecting the usual defeat.

The Unraveling

To spark a fire, Aurich lined up senior quarterback Charles DePrima — the former starter — in the slot. DePrima snagged a nifty 52-yard reception, setting the Crimson at Brown’s 17 yard line. Craig capped off the drive with an RPO, where he dove into the end zone to give Harvard a 28-10 lead.

Then, the impossible slowly happened.

Halfway through the third quarter, Brown’s offense came alive. Wilcox launched a 75-yard touchdown strike to a wide open Matt Childs, narrowing the deficit to 28-17.

With 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bears left their offense on the field on a fourth-and-2 from the Crimson’s 3-yard line. While Henderson broke up the near-completion at the last minute, Brown had figured out Harvard’s defense.

As Harvard’s offense remained stagnant, Brown methodically marched down the field and Wilcox threw a bullet pass to the goal line into the arms of Mahoney. After a controversial no-catch call on the two-point conversion, the Crimson remained up 28-23 with just over five minutes left.

When Harvard came up with a fourth down stop with 1:42 left in regulation, the game was all but over. As the Crimson tried to ice the game, its rushing attack was stifled, forcing a field goal attempt.

Still, the field goal would have made a Brown comeback unlikely — making it all the more shocking when the play went sideways.

In a press conference after the game, McLaughlin acknowledged that the second half collapse went beyond just the failed field goal.

“We definitely didn’t execute on our side of the ball in the second half,” he said. “And it’s not just one play that I can think about right now.”

For Brown’s part, the team was ecstatic to have finally bested Harvard in a game Brown students flock to every year. Perry agreed with McLaughlin’s assessment that the stunning comeback came down to more than a fluke play.

“I think you make your own luck sometimes,” he said of his team. “And through their efforts, they certainly made their own luck.”

Aurich, for his part, was left kicking himself for deciding to take the field goal rather than trying to pick up a first on the high-stakes fourth down.

Looking somber in the post game press conference, Aurich refused to place blame on anyone beside himself for the loss.

“I didn’t manage it well,” Aurich said. “There’s plenty of stuff that everyone on the team is gonna have to clean up, but we should have never been in that position if I would’ve never made that in-game call.”

The Redemption

When Harvard got on the bus to head back to Cambridge, the team knew it would now have a high-pressure season ahead.

At the time, Aurich emphasized the importance of not living in the past.

“We got to move on because it’s 10 straight weeks, so you don't have time to reflect too long on that game,” he said the week after the Brown loss. “You got to move on because your goal is to be 1-0 next week.”

Months after the disappointing result, Aurich explained how the loss raised the stakes for the team.

“We put ourselves in a position there where now our back was against the wall, and it was like, ‘Hey, we can’t guarantee that a two loss team could win out of the championship,’” he said. “So it was literally like every game was going to matter moving forward.”

Aurich decided he needed to lean into making aggressive play calls and going for it on fourth down became his signature move. The risks paid off, and Harvard went on a seven game win streak in a ten game season after the matchup with Brown. They only dropped the season-ending game against Yale and ended the season in a three-way tie for the title.

Looking back, Aurich said the team did a good job of regrouping after the game.

“They responded the right way,” he said.

—Staff writer Jo B. Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Jo_Lemann.

– Staff Writer Jude L. Stafford can be reached at jude.stafford@thecrimson.com.