Those who saw the previous four Capital-Otterbein games, in which the Cardinals pushed the Crusaders up and down and across the field whenever they wanted, had to have the same thought pattern with 3:40 remaining in the annual rivalry.
Surely, Otterbein had done it again, this time on a 43-yard touchdown on a keeper by quarterback Logan Stepp on third-and-one for a 41-34 lead, despite Capital proving that it was new and improved.
But the extra-point attempt by Joe Sanfillipo was wide, and that left hope for victory for a Crusaders team that had been going to two-point conversions all day because of problems with its place-kicking.