Harvard beats Colgate 20-17 on a game-winning Hail Mary that included a lateral for the touchdown

If you’re going to catch a Hail Mary short of the end zone and have no way of making it across the goal line, you might as well lateral it to someone who has a chance of scoring.

That’s what Harvard tight end Teigan Pelletier did on Saturday night as the Crimson beat Colgate 20-17 on a touchdown with four seconds to go.

Pelletier caught Charlie Smith’s long pass short of the end zone and in the grasp of a Colgate defender. As it was obvious he wasn’t going to get into the end zone, he pitched the ball back to wide receiver Nate Bailey, who sprinted to the left corner of the end zone.

It was a play similar to the one that Randy Moss pulled off at the end of the first half in a game against the Denver Broncos in 2003. Moss caught a Hail Mary from Daunte Culpepper well short of the end zone and was not going to score. But he flipped the ball over his head to a streaking Williams, who raced untouched into the end zone.

The win pushed Harvard to 3-0 on the season and dropped Colgate to 4-2. The Crimson are looking to get back to the FCS playoffs for a second straight season after the Ivy League rescinded its postseason ban ahead of the 2025 season. Harvard made the playoffs despite losing its season finale to Yale, but lost 52-7 to Villanova in the first round of the postseason.