CAMBRIDGE – Facing a similar situation to the one it faced against Brown last weekend on Friday night, Harvard wasn’t going to let history repeat itself.

The Crimson led 28-23 with a 4th-&-1 at the UNH 32 with 1:15 left in their Friday night showdown. Instead of trying a field goal to make it an eight-point game, Harvard went for it. Xaviah Bascon scooted up the middle, broke free for 17 yards and then slid down right around the 10 yard line.

A few kneel downs later and Harvard had a five-point upset win over the 16th ranked Wildcats.

“I was talking to both sides of the ball and communicating – especially at the end of the game there – about what we were thinking. I let (defensive coordinator) Coach Larkee know ‘hey, the offense is going for it,’ so, make sure the defense is ready to go,” Harvard head coach Andrew Aurich said of the final few moments.

“The defensive coaches were very excited we were going for it because they wanted to go win the game on that play too.”

That decision and the decision to go for it on fourth down multiple times Friday night (Harvard was 3-4 on 4th down) not only stemmed from learning from last weekend’s heartbreaking loss, but also a conversation Aurich had with his wife pregame.

“We kind of exercised some demons there from the previous week and kind of learned how to finish a game,” he added. “I told my wife when we were walking out to the field, I told her that I kept telling myself ‘go win the game. Go win the game.’ So, when we were on the headsets, I told (offensive coordinator) Coach Fein every time ‘we’re going for it’ because I want to go win the game. To me, I was 100% confident in the offense every time we got in one of those fourth down situations that they were going to execute.

“The ones that really mattered in the end, we executed and that was the difference between this week and last week.”

This was the first time that Harvard and UNH met on the gridiron since 1939 and the 8,676 in attendance got their money’s worth.

The Wildcats (3-2) came off their bye week and started nearly perfectly. UNH forced a punt on the opening possession of the game then marched 82 yards in 11 plays and went up 7-0 on a 14 yard touchdown catch for Caleb Burke from Seth Morgan (34/47, 267, 2 TD). Nick Mazzie added the PAT, just getting his big night started.

UNH took the 7-0 lead to the second quarter and Mazzie buried a 52 yard field goal early on to cap another lengthy drive and make it 10-0. The Harvard offense finally woke up just two plays later when Jaden Craig (10/23, 204, 1 TD) hit Scott Woods II (4/93/1 TD) on a deep post for a 65 yard touchdown. Dylan Fingersh added the PAT to cut it to three.

“It was amazing,” Woods II said. “It was just a fake screen and go. The O-line did an amazing job blocking like they did all good. No. 1 (Craig) ‘Big Uno,’ he threw an amazing ball. I was able to run underneath it and then when the ball was in my hands you’ve got to have a nose for the end zone and go score that thing.

“It was nice to get the drive started because we needed it. We needed a big spark and Coach always talks about we need explosives and setting the tone early. I just wanted to make sure I did my part today.”

Another Mazzie field goal from 29 yards out made it 13-7 Wildcats with 8:11 remaining in the half. Both teams traded punts before Harvard’s offense came back out at its own 46. A deep ball from Craig to Cooper Barkate for 52 yards a couple snaps later set up a two yard diving TD run for Bascon, giving the Crimson a 14-13 lead with 4:00 left.

Both teams traded punts again, but UNH was able to put together a late field goal drive – thanks in large part to a 46 yard pass down the right sideline from Morgan to Logan Tomlinson (10/105/1 TD). Mazzie drilled a 43 yarder as time expired, sending the teams to the locker rooms with the Wildcats up 16-14.

Holding a potent UNH offense to that many field goals during the first half was a huge momentum boost for the Crimson defense.

“That’s huge,” said linebacker Eric Little. “As a defense, we don’t believe in momentum. Every play is its own individual event. Nothing changes that. Nothing sways that. So, every time we have them lined up, make them line up again. That’s all we have to do. Focus on this play and this play only. Forget about the last play. Take what you can, learn from it and focus in on this single play and we’ll make them line up again every single time.”

On the very first snap of the third quarter after the kickoff, a trick play backfired and the Wildcats fumbled with Harvard recovering at UNH’s 13. Four plays later, the Wildcat defense came up with a big turnover on downs, stuffing the Crimson on 4th-&-1 from the four yard line.

A quick three-and-out for UNH ensued and Harvard responded with a 10-play drive that included a big 4th-&-2 catch for tight end Ryan Osborne. Eventually, another big Barkate grab for 22 yards set the Crimson up at the two yard line and Bascon punched it in to make it 21-16.

After a few punts, Harvard had a chance to really put the screws to UNH when the offense took over at its own 42 in the final minute of the third quarter. Eight plays later with Charles DePrima in at QB – something Harvard has tinkered with early this season, particularly down in the red zone – took off for a 16 yard touchdown one play after a 4th-&-1 conversion that required a measurement, giving the Crimson a 28-16 lead with 11:23 to go.

Morgan and the Wildcats refused to go quietly, putting together an impressive 15-play march that ended with a great individual effort from Tomlinson to fight off a tackler and get in for a two yard TD catch, cutting it to five with 5:54 left.

It appeared as if UNH was going to get one last crack at a game-winning drive when they forced Harvard into a 3rd-&-14 at the Crimson 44, but Craig hit Seamus Gilmartin for a stunning first down. That eventually set up Bascon’s 17 yard run on 4th-&-1 with 1:47 left to ice the game.

Aurich knew that his team was going to perform the way it did on Friday earlier in the week, when he asked coaches like Larkee and Fein how they thought the team would respond.

“We had a staff meeting and a lot of coaches on the staff have been here previously and I just asked them ‘how do you think they’re going to respond?’ And they said ‘Coach, it won’t be a problem.’ We went out there on Monday and guys were locked in ready to work and learn from the mistakes made in that game,” said Aurich.

“It was business as usual…they’re a resilient group. Obviously, we’ll see how it goes moving forward, but every week is a one-week season. Every week, we’re trying to go 1-0. So, you’ve got to learn from it and move on to the next one. We can’t spend a lot of time thinking about how good of a game this was because we’ve got Cornell on Friday.”