Paradise Almost Lost

NEW YORK--It seems that a 31-point lead is too much for even the Harvard football team to blow.

After losing its last two contests in the games' final minutes, the Crimson (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) managed to withstand a furious second half rally from the lowly Fordham Rams (0-6) on Saturday, escaping the Bronx with a 37-30 victory.

"I can't give enough credit to Fordham," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "The one thing that impressed us is that they played unbelievably hard."

Fordham came back from a 34-3 halftime deficit to make an apparent blowout into a nailbiter. It outscored Harvard 14-3 in the third quarter and 13-0 in the fourth as the Crimson offense and defense collapsed.

Rams junior quarterback Matt Georgia, who was making the first start of his collegiate career, shredded the Harvard defense, completing 36-of-64 passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns.

His main targets on the day were freshman Kendal Creer and senior Gerry McDermott, who made 14 and 11 receptions for 171and 142 yards, respectively, on the day.

Harvard exploded for a 34-3 halftime advantage, led by the senior trio of quarterback Brad Wilford, tailback Chris Menick and receiver Terence Patterson.

At the break, Wilford had completed 13-of-18 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Patterson, meanwhile, had four receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown in addition to a 55-yard punt return for a score at the half. Menick pounded the Rams defense for 101 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown during the first 30 minutes of action.

The Crimson, however, came out of the intermission flat, as Fordham outscored the Crimson 27-3 in the second, falling just short of the incredible come-from-behind victory.

"We played our best half of our season in the first half and our worst half of the season in our second half," Murphy said.

Although Harvard pulled out the win, it marked the fourth consecutive game that the Crimson allowed its opponent to make second-half charges.

In Week Two, Holy Cross threw incomplete in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal, and the Crimson won, 25-17. Harvard then fell in the two subsequent weeks to Colgate and Cornell, giving up game-winning drives in the closing moments of the contests.

"Since the Columbia [season-opening] game, we haven't finished teams off or played a consistent 60 minutes," Murphy said. "It's a combination of focus and relaxation, a fine balance."

"I think one of the hardest thing to do in football is play with a big lead," Fordham Coach Dave Clawson said. "When you get up 31 points, you start playing very cautiously, you don't want to give up a big play. The mentality of your team changes a little bit, and once you do that, it's hard to turn it back on."

Harvard looked to be in great shape to start the second half. But as the first play from scrimmage indicated, the game was far from over.

Menick's fumble at the Harvard 20 gave Fordham a much-needed boost of confidence and adrenaline.

The Rams wasted little time in making Harvard pay for the turnover. Sophomore running back Al Lundy took a toss 11 yards on Fordham's first play. After a run for no gain and a false start by the Rams, Georgia found senior tight end Jim Walls alone in the left corner of the end zone to give Fordham its first touchdown on the day.

The Crimson composed itself on the next drive, using a balanced attack of the running and passing to keep Fordham off balance.

Keyed by a 35-yard completion from Wilford to freshman wide receiver Kyle Cremarosa and runs of eight and five yards by Menick, Harvard drove inside the Fordham 15-yard line. There the drive stalled, however, and the Crimson settled for a 35-yard field goal by senior kicker Mike Giampaolo.

After the Rams' offense punted on their next drive, their defense once again came up with a big play as junior cornerback Ray Reddin picked off a Wilford pass at the Crimson 36.

Fordham took possession and, after gaining only two yards on its first three plays, found itself facing a fourth-and-8. With uncommon poise, however, Georgia stepped up and fired a 15-yard completion to McDermott to the Harvard 19 to keep the drive alive.

Four plays later, Georgia lobbed a ball to the right corner of the end zone that was hauled in by McDermott over sophomore cornerback Willie Alford, cutting the lead to 37-17.

With their increased ability to move the ball, Georgia and the Rams began gaining confidence in the offense as well as the defense.

"We played very crisply [in the second half]," Clawson said. "When the offense played well, it gave the defense hope. When you're young, you need good things to happen to build the momentum for you."

Meanwhile, Harvard's offense began to sputter. The Crimson proceeded to go three-and-out--the first of five consecutive possessions without a first down--on its next possession, giving the ball back to Georgia and the Rams.

"I think we were too relaxed coming out, then we started to press, and we didn't relax enough," Murphy said. "We have good personnel, and the scheme is fine. We just didn't make the same plays and we didn't hit the same throws in the second half."

The Fordham defense, which seemed overmatched and overpowered in the first half, began to have its way with Harvard in the second.

"We went into the half thinking they would expect us to run," Menick said. "We thought we'd be good enough to run. But they played good defense."

After receiving the ball at its own 47, Fordham began to drive once again. The Rams made to Harvard's 5 because of passes of 24 and 23 yards to Creer and McDermott, respectively, but stalled out after a bizarre play on third-and-goal.

Georgia dropped back to pass, fired and had his pass deflected at the line by Harvard. Rather than let the ball drop, however, Georgia caught the ball and threw once again into the end zone. The ball fell incomplete, and he was called for an illegal forward pass.

Fordham still managed to get points on the board as sophomore placekicker Brian Colsant nailed a 31-yard field goal to cut the lead to 37-20 with 13:58 left in the fourth quarter.

After punting on its next possession, Fordham took control of the ball at its 36. And with Georgia at the controls, the Rams only needed four plays to light the scoreboard up once again.

Creer caught a ball for a six-yard gain, and Lundy followed with an 11-yard carry up the middle. Georgia then completed a lob down the right sideline over Alford to McDermott. Next, Georgia found Creer behind sophomore cornerback Dan Miree for a 31-yard touchdown and a 37-27 game.

After yet another Harvard punt, senior linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski and the Crimson defense came up huge.

After a completion of 13 yards to Creer and a 16-yard carry by Lundy, Fordham found itself at Harvard's 34. But Kacyvenski picked off Georgia at the 27. Kacyvenski's fourth pick of the season seemed to ice the game for Harvard, but once again the Crimson offense could not finish the job.

On first down, Patterson took a reverse from Menick as Harvard tried to make something happen with a trick play. The Rams would not be fooled, however, as they forced Patterson out-of-bounds at the 24 for an eight-yard loss.

Two plays later, the Crimson punted the ball back to Fordham. Starting at their 45, the Rams got to the Harvard 15 in just 1:31. Fordham could not punch it in and settled for another Colsant field goal to make it 37-30.

With 3:59 left, up only seven points and having failed to get a first down in five consecutive possessions, Harvard desperately sought to keep the ball out of Georgia's hands.

With only one receiver in the game and the offense aligned in a short-yardage set, Menick carried twice for nine yards. Wilford then ran a quarterback sneak for three yards to give Harvard its crucial first down.

"I walked over to the offensive line before last series," Murphy said. "I told them that Fordham knows we're going to run, and we have to do it anyway. It was a good effort by the o-line"

Needing only one more first down to clinch the game, the Crimson once again put the ball in Menick's hands. But after a seven-yard carry on first down, Menick was stopped for a three-yard loss, putting Harvard in a third-and-6 situation. Fordham used its final timeout to stop the clock at 1:55.

Wilford then took the snap and, surprisingly, dropped back to pass. Under pressure, Wilford rolled right and threw a dangerous pass across his body to tight end captain Chris Eitzman. Eitzman made the grab but was stopped just shy of the first down.

Georgia had one last chance to tie the game with 1:05 left at Fordham's 21. Georgia found McDermott 14 yards downfield to move the chains. McDermott then made a diving 19-yard catch at the Harvard 46. Senior receiver Robert Davis then made a five-yard grab but stayed in bounds, forcing Georgia to spike the ball with 17 seconds left on the clock.

But on the next play, Georgia overshot his intended receiver, and senior safety Ben Green raced under the ball to intercept it at the 18. Wilford took a knee to end the game--finally.

The second half starkly contrasted the first, when Harvard could do no wrong. It moved the ball up and down the field with ease, overpowering a much less talented Fordham squad and scoring on its first three possessions.

After forcing the Rams to punt on the game's opening drive, the Crimson offense looked sharp, marching 68 yards down the field in seven plays.

Wilford spread the ball around efficiently, completing 4-of-5 passes to three different receivers on the drive. Menick, meanwhile, simply overpowered the Rams defense.

After a six-yard carry on a second down and ten, Menick ran over a Fordham defender on a 17-yard gain to the Fordham 21. On the next play Wilford made a strong throw to sophomore receiver Andy Fried, who ran down the right sideline untouched, putting the Crimson on the board.

Harvard wasted no time in increasing its lead. On the ensuing drive, the Rams went three-and-out. Senior wideout Terence Patterson gathered the punt at the Crimson 45. After bobbling the ball, Patterson sprinted up field, cut left and dashed down the sideline, running over punter Matt Fordyce at the 2-yard line before falling in the end zone to make it 14-0.

Next, Wilford lumbered into the end zone from 19 yards out, breaking four tackles along the way for a 21-0 lead.

Two drives later, Fordham drove 69 yards to the Crimson one-yard line for a first-and-goal but threw incomplete three times and settled for an 18-yard field goal.

Harvard--led on the drive by Menick's 51yards rushing--drove 85 yards to increase the lead to 28-3 on a Menick four-yard run.

Patterson finished the first half scoring by hauling in a Wilford bullet from five yards out for a touchdown. Patterson's score completed Harvard's 99 second, 52-yard drive. Giampaolo misses the extra point, as Harvard went into the intermission leading 34-3.

At the time, the missed kicked seemed irrelevant with the game well in hand, but 30 minutes later the Crimson found itself breathing a sigh of relief, having just dodged a bullet.