Dawson, who rushed for 108 yards on 25 carries for two touchdowns, became the first freshman in Ivy history to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing mark.

But in spite of yet another strong showing from Dawson, Harvard’s possession of the momentum was short-lived.

As in the first half, Penn seized control in the opening moments of the second half and sent the Crimson reeling.

Despite starting on their own nine-yard line with the wind in their faces, the Quakers marched 91 yards downfield in just 1:16 to reclaim a 22-point lead. Mitchell completed three-of-four passes for 70 yards on the drive before Mich Recchiuti completed the drive on a two-yard rush.

“We kinda wanted to make a statement coming out of the gates there,” said Mitchell, who completed 21-of-35 passes for 271 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. “We wanted to get in a little attack and we threw the ball downfield on them.”

After the two squads traded short drives, Harvard took over on the Penn 47 thanks to a short punt straight into the wind. On the strength of Dawson’s legs and three passes from Fitzpatrick to Edwards—the last of which brought the Crimson just inside the five-yard line—Harvard moved into a position to strike back.

With many of his top targets injured, Fitzpatrick looked to Edwards all game long, completing only six passes to him for 102 yards but firing many more his way.

“They sent a linebacker over to double Brian and with Brian’s speed it wasn’t really working out too well,” said Fitzpatrick, who completed 17-of-34 for 250 yards, one score and one interception while rushing for 59 yards on 22 carries. “That’s my go-to guy. That’s the guy I’m going to be looking at and he stepped up huge in the second half.”

But when linebacker Ric San Doval sacked Fitzpatrick two plays later, tweaking his knee and forcing him to the sidelines, hopes for a quick counterstrike quickly dissipated.

Junior backup QB Garrett Schires took the helm, but met with little success. Schires threw behind Edwards on third down and took a sack on fourth, ending the scoring threat.

The Crimson defensive threat, however, did not slacken.

With the ball on the 14-yard line, Mitchell attempted to hand off to Sam Mathews, but with captain Dante Balestracci and junior linebacker Bobby Everett both rushing the center, the line of scrimmage could not hold. Everett reached Mitchell before he managed to complete the handoff, jarring the ball loose. Though the Quakers recovered on their own one-yard line, the stingy Harvard defense allowed no breathing room on either of the next two plays from scrimmage.

Appell fielded the long snap and stepped out of the back of the end zone, ceding the safety rather than risking having his punt blocked. The ploy worked to perfection as the Crimson went three-and-out with Schires still running the offense on its next drive.

But when Fitzpatrick returned, so did the energy.

Fitzpatrick advanced the offense 70 yards downfield, capping the drive with a five-yard third-down pass to Matt Fratto, who was all alone on the right side of the field alongside the goal line. Following the extra point, Harvard was within 13.