Harvard Quashed Yale In 1961 for Ivy Crown

The 62,000 fans who filled the Bowl in New Haven for last year's Harvard-Yale game saw the Crimson march to a chaotic but decisive victory. The ball changed hands on fumbles and interceptions eleven times, both teams failed to get off fourth down punts because of bad passes, there was a brawl in the final minutes of the game, and Harvard walked off with a 27-0 win and a share of the Ivy Championship.

The victory was indeed a sweet one for the Crimson, coming after a 39-6 loss the the year before. It was the third win over the Elis in four years and the title, shared with Columbia, was the first since 1919. The famed Harvard line, led by seniors Pete Hart, Bob Boyda, Bill Swinford, and Darwin Wile, held Yale to a meager 91 yards rushing.

The Bulldogs fumbled the first three times they had the ball, and Harvard quickly converted two of the fumbles into a 14-0 lead with Scott Harshbarger and Bill Grana scoring on short drives. Mike Bassett passed nine yards to Bill Taylor for a third period score and Dave Ward kicked his nineteenth consecutive extra point to make the score 21-0.

The final tally came in the period when Dave Nylan covered a wild pass from the Yale center in the end zone. A personal foul on the extra point try set off a brief struggle between players of both teams, after which the Elis tried futilely to score as the game.