Harvard Beats Colgate 20-17 on a Touchdown as Time Expires
Colgate led 17-14 with 27 seconds left. Harvard won 20-17 anyway, on an 8-yard Charlie Smith pass to Nate Bailey that came with the clock at 0:00.
For three quarters this was a low-scoring thing. Harvard scored first, a 6-yard Smith pass to Teigan Pelletier in the first quarter, and Colgate tied it at 7-7 on a 1-yard Naumann run in the second. Nobody scored in the third. Colgate took its first lead with a 24-yard Luke Vogeler field goal at 7:10 of the fourth, 10-7. Then it traded leads three more times in the last seven minutes: Smith to S. Gilmartin from 2 yards for a 14-10 Harvard lead at 2:08, Stearney to Matt Fogler from 13 yards at 0:27 for 17-14 Colgate, and finally the Bailey catch. Four lead changes, and the last one was the only one that counted. Harvard scored 13 of its 20 points in the final 2:08, which is a funny way to spend a ball game.
Harvard's passing game did the work: 369 passing yards on 31 of 45 from Smith, against 188 through the air for Colgate. The rushing game barely existed, 93 yards on 30 carries. Colgate had 139 on the ground. Both teams threw interceptions (Colgate two, Harvard one), so nobody can say the other side gave it away. Harvard had 462 total yards to 327, and it took until the last two minutes for that edge to show up on the scoreboard.
Harvard is 2-0 and Colgate falls to 4-1. Fantasy-wise, this was a receiver game: Bailey made 16 catches (yes, sixteen) and Fogler on the other side made a dozen.