ITHACA, N.Y.--They say great defense beats great offense. Either they're wrong, or Harvard's defense isn't as good as I think it is.

For 53 minutes on Saturday, the Crimson defense dominated. Cornell (4-0, 3-0 Ivy) had scored only three points on offense and gained only 250 yards up to that point. But for the second week in a row, Harvard (2-2, 1-1) lost because it could not stop a hurry-up offense run by a good quarterback.

Against Colgate last week, quarterback Ryan Vena, perhaps the best player in I-AA, took his team 69 yards with 1:18 left and set up a game-winning 33-yard field goal for a 24-21 win. Prior to that drive, Harvard's defense had been amazing despite Colgate's great field position and had intercepted Vena three times.

Big Red quarterback Ricky Rahne, two-time Ivy Offensive Player of the Week this year, did his Vena impersonation on Saturday and led Cornell to two touchdowns in the final three minutes to shock Harvard, 24-23.

At least the Colgate loss had positives. Harvard's offense played well in the fourth quarter, and the Crimson tied the game after being down 21-7.

Losing to Cornell doesn't leave the same good taste in the Crimson's mouth.

"I've never been involved in a game like that," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "I'm not going to underplay it. It's somewhat devastating from an emotional standpoint."

Simply put, the game was won--in journalistic terms, the story was written--and the defense somehow let the Big Red squirm back into it.