PROVIDENCE — Ninety-seven yards from the end zone and trailing by a point in the fourth quarter of its Ivy League opener on a balmy Saturday night at Brown Stadium, Harvard was leaning heavily on Scott Hosch.
A week ago, the 6-foot-3-inch junior from Sugar Hill, Ga., was third on the depth chart, behind senior Conner Hempel and highly touted sophomore Joe Viviano. In the opener, he stepped in for Hempel (back spasms) in the first half against Holy Cross and took a keeper 7 yards for his first varsity touchdown.
With Hempel unable to go against Brown, Hosch played with poise from start to finish, particularly at the finish as Harvard rallied in the fourth quarter for a hard-earned 22-14 victory, spoiling the host university’s 250-year anniversary celebration and putting a damper on a postgame fireworks display.
Starting from his 3, he marched the Crimson to set up a line-drive 22-yard field goal by Andrew Flesher for a 16-14 lead. Then he capped a clinching 87-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run with two minutes left.
“I had no doubt in our offense, I knew that we were going to move the ball upfield,” said Hosch, who finished his first career start completing 24 of 34 attempts for 234 yards, with no turnovers. He received extra reps in practice all week, but when Hempel’s back tightened up in practice Thursday, Hosch was elevated to the No. 1 spot.
He earned the position, according to Crimson coach Tim Murphy, because of his firm grasp of the offense, his strong arm, and a developing chemistry with the offensive unit.
“Under the circumstances, against a tough, aggressive, attack-blitz team, he played very well,” said the coach, taking note of how it seemed the Crimson had to play uphill, both ways, most of the night against a determined and physical Brown squad.
“He has improved in every aspect.”
His 34-yard toss to emerging sophomore tight end Andrew Firkser on a crossing route set up Flesher’s boot.
Harvard had closed within 14-13 with 2:39 left in the third quarter on a 43-yard burst, on third and 8, down the middle of the field by junior tailback Paul Stanton (21 carries, 120 yards), making his first start after missing Week 1 with an ankle injury.
“A huge momentum boost,” said junior flanker Andrew Fischer of Stanton’s TD run.
“We had the right defense called, that run should have been for a loss,” said Brown coach Phil Estes. “But it was blown up at the point of attack.”
And he was not pleased with a targeting call (helmet-to-helmet hit) against outside linebacker Michael Walsh on Harvard’s final scoring drive, on a 10-yard toss over the middle, on third and 12, from Hosch to Fischer (career-high 12 catches, 115 yards, 1 touchdown).
“I thought it was a good play, the receiver was ducking his head,” said Estes. “We teach our guys to hit with their shoulders. That was a big penalty on third down.”
On its first possession of the second half, Brown surged ahead, 14-8, capitalizing on a pair of costly penalties by the Crimson. A holding call on third and 1, from the Brown 24, gave the Bears life. Senior Marcus Fuller (16 of 29, 238 yards) then hooked up with a leaping Alex Jette, a sophomore from North Attleboro, Mass., for 36 yards to the Harvard 30. Four plays later, aided by a roughing the passer call, junior back Andrew Coke (18 rushes, 56 yards) of Andover, Mass., bulled in from the 1.
Brown also lost two starters, linebacker Dan Giovacchini, a senior captain out of Acton-Boxboro Regional and senior corner Patrick O’Neill, to injury in the first half.
Hosch put Harvard on the board first with 2:11 left in the first quarter, lofting a 9-yard ball to Fischer in the right corner of the end zone. The snap on the point-after, however, was mishandled. Viviano, the holder, rolled left into the end zone after scooping up the ball, but officials ruled that his knee was down on the snap.
Brown responded by marching 75 yards on eight plays for a 7-6 lead, with Fuller connecting with classmate Reiley Higgins on an 18-yard strike.
Fuller nearly had the Bears back in the end zone in the final 10 seconds before the break. His deep ball from the Brown 35 to a collection of players near the goal line was hauled in by a leaping Stian Romberg at the 2 as the clock hit zeroes.
The Crimson defense clamped down in the final 30 minutes, yielding just 103 total yards, with junior corner Chris Evans locking up win No. 2 with a pick at the Harvard 48 with 1:53 left.
“A tough loss, it was tough to come up short,” said Fuller.
There is room for improvement for Harvard, “but I thought that the grit factor was very high,” said Murphy. “I am really proud of the kids, they hung in there, and battled.”
His resilient squad hits the road for Georgetown next Saturday. Brown battles Rhode Island for the Governor’s Cup in Kingston.
Craig Larson can be reached at clarson@globe.com.