Smith completes Hail Mary to Bailey on the final play to lead Harvard past Colgate 20-17

Charlie Smith threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns and Harvard stunned Colgate 20-17 on the last play of the game

ByThe Associated Press
October 4, 2026, 12:01 AM

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Charlie Smith threw for 369 yards and two touchdowns and Harvard stunned Colgate 20-17 on the last play of the game on Saturday.

Trailing 17-14 with four seconds left at the Colgate 44-yard line, Smith drifted to his left and heaved a pass that was caught at the 5 by tight end Teigan Pelletier.

As two Raiders defenders attempted to tackle the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Pelletier, he lateraled the ball to freshman Nate Bailey who ran it in from the 8 to end the game.

Bailey finished with 197 yards receiving — the most by a Crimson player since Kyle Juszczyk in 2012 — and a touchdown on 16 receptions.

Harvard (3-0) entered ranked 20th in the Stats Perform poll. Colgate entered 22nd.

Colgate (4-2) appeared to have the win in hand when Jake Stearney led a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended with his 13-yard scoring pass to Matt Fogler to put the Raiders ahead 17-14 with 27 seconds remaining.

Fogler finished with 138 yards receiving and a touchdown on 12 receptions.

Colgate: Hosts Georgetown on Oct. 17.

Harvard: Travels to face Cornell on Saturday.

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