With 31 Seconds Left, Yale Overtakes Harvard, 24-21

NEW HAVEN, C.T.-The Harvard defense has had a series of crushing last minute collapses this season, and Yale senior quarterback Joe Walland added one final blow to the Crimson's misery.

Taking over at his own 42-yard line with 2:53 left, and down 21-17, Walland methodically marched his team downfield, ultimately finding junior wideout Eric Johnson in the end zone with 31 seconds left in The Game, to give Yale (9-1, 6-1 Ivy) a 24-21 victory and a share of the Ivy League title in front of a crowd of 52,484.

Johnson made a shoestring catch on the Walland pass-which was tipped at the line of scrimmage-grabbing the ball just an inch off the ground. There was considerable debate after the game whether or not the ball hit the turf first, which Harvard Coach Tim Murphy thought should've been ruled incomplete.

Regardless, the largest crowd at the Yale Bowl since 1989 saw the home team with its first championship since that same year.

Walland and Johnson absolutely crippled the Crimson (5-5, 3-4 Ivy).

Walland went 42-for-67, throwing for 437 yards, the most Harvard has ever given up. Likewise, Johnson caught 21 balls for 244 yards averaging 11.6 yards per-catch.

"Walland is one of those quarterbacks who wills things to happen," Murphy said. "He should have legendary status around [Yale]."

Harvard took its lead on the only sustained drive orchestrated by the offense on the day, early in the fourth quarter. An Eli penalty for a late hit brought the Crimson across midfield.

On first down, Murphy went into his bag of tricks and called a standard play, the tailback pass. This time run by freshman Brent Chalmers instead of injured senior Chris Menick, he underthrew wide-open freshman wideout Kyle Cremarosa. Cremarosa came back to the ball through triple coverage and somehow made the catch at the Yale 18-yard line.

On the next play, senior tailback Troy Jones bounced out to the left sideline for a touchdown and a 21-17 Harvard lead. It looked like that score would stand when senior cornerback Kane Waller intercepted a Walland pass with around four minutes left in the Game, but the offense went three-and-out to give arguably the greatest quarterback in Yale history one final chance.

Brown beat Columbia 23-6 to share the Ivy title with Yale. Harvard last won the championship back in 1997, when it won The Game 17-7. With the loss, Harvard now falls to 46-63-8 all-time against the Bulldogs.