Give Me Five

NEW HAVEN—It was a game of firsts, and a game of lasts.

The first time Harvard has ever beaten Yale five times in a row.

The first time The Game has ever gone to extra frames.

The first triple-overtime contest in the history of the Ivy League.

And, the last time the class of 2006 Harvard football players will ever suit up in their Crimson uniforms.

Boy, what a way to go out.

A performance that hinged on turnovers, momentum swings, and a stellar defensive effort helped propel the Harvard football team (7-3, 5-2 Ivy) to its fifth straight win over Yale (4-6, 4-3) in a memorable 30-24 triple-overtime victory in New Haven, Conn.

The nearly four-hour record-setter proved to be one of the most exciting editions of The Game in recent memory—even though it should have ended many times before it finally did.

On the first play of the first extra frame, the Bulldogs fumbled and defensive back Steve Williams recovered, and a conservative drive saw Harvard line up for what looked to be the game-winning field goal by kicker Matt Schindel.

But the kick was wide right.

“Schindel is usually automatic,” Williams said. “I actually made the mistake of running out on the field, because it looked good from where I was.”

That mistake was almost made again by Bulldog players during the second overtime. Quarterback Liam O’Hagan’s would-be touchdown pass fell short of his intended receiver—just short enough for a Yale defender to intercept it in the endzone. Two plays later, though, a strip by defensive end Brad Bagdis and the ensuing recovery by linebacker Matt Thomas kept Yale on the sidelines for the time being.

The first Bulldog play of the third overtime saw another turnover, this one the interception by defensive tackle Michael Berg off a tipped pass—the first pick of his entire football career.

It was the fourth giveaway by either team in five overtime possessions. It also gave Harvard coach Tim Murphy a difficult decision.

“As a team, if you don’t have to end it with a field goal, you don’t want to,” he said.

The Crimson didn’t want to, and a determined offensive line and the school’s all-time leading rusher made sure they didn’t have to.

“I just followed them into the endzone,” said tailback Clifton Dawson, referring to his two-yard touchdown run to end the contest on third-and-goal in the third overtime. Dawson finished the day with 128 yards on 33 carries as well as 10 catches for 85 yards and a touchdown.

It wasn’t the first time this year Harvard squeaked by with a win in a multiple-overtime thriller. The team’s second game of the season, a 38-35 double-overtime victory over Ivy champion Brown, helped the Crimson in Saturday’s contest.

“[Overtime] is not something you work on in practice,” Williams said. “The Brown game really helped us.”

“I’m extremely proud of our kids, especially our seniors,” Murphy said. “We fight hard and we play extremely hard. Some of the things we saw down the stretch were very hard to believe.”

Those unbelievable moments included a valiant Crimson effort just to get the game into overtime in the first place.

The second half began with a Yale scoring drive that put the Bulldogs up 21-3, and left The Game looking more a lot like a blowout.

“We came out from halftime, and they just drove the field on us,” Berg said. “It was a tough situation, but as soon as the offense got rolling again, we were back on the board.”

The Crimson did get back on the board quickly, following the Bulldog score with a 16-yard touchdown catch from O’Hagan to Dawson. A Yale punt pinned Harvard deep, but a balanced drive—and a crucial Bulldog pass interference penalty on a third-and-20—helped the Crimson march down the field as the third quarter came to a close.

Still driving and down 21-10 early in the fourth quarter, Harvard got all the way down to Yale’s 12-yard-line before a fumble by O’Hagan—the Crimson’s second of the day in the red zone—halted the drive that began at Harvard’s own four-yard-line.

With less than 15 minutes to go and 11 points to make up, the Crimson needed a spark, and Williams provided it.

“It’s hard to describe,” Williams said of his emotions after returning an interception 18 yards for a touchdown three plays after O’Hagan’s fumble. “It was exactly what we needed to turn around the game. It’s about the highest I’ve been all season.”

“If we don’t force that takeaway and make that play, there’s not a lot of gas left in the tank,” Murphy added.

Following a missed Harvard two-point conversion and a terrible 18-yard punt by Yale, the Crimson was in position for another scoring drive.

But, with the score 21-16 and good field position at the Bulldog 43-yard-line, an option play saw O’Hagan lose another fumble at a crucial juncture of the game. The up-and-down play had Murphy questioning whether the team could overcome its mistakes and come out with a victory.

“I wondered, how many more breaks can we catch, and how many more breaks can we make?” Murphy said.

Following a Yale field goal that made the score 24-16, Harvard again turned to Dawson. Six straight runs by the junior tailback set up the play action for O’Hagan to find senior wideout Ryan Tyler at the 22-yard line, and a play later, O’Hagan hit freshman receiver Alex Breaux in the endzone for the tying score.

Though the sophomore quarterback had four turnovers—two interceptions and two fumbles—he finished the day 22-of-35 for 251 yards and two touchdowns. His two-yard scamper following Breaux's reception tied the game at 24 and the stage was set for the remarkable extra periods.

“The two defensive takeaways we had at the end were like something I’ve never seen before,” Murphy said.

After putting together a drive to open the game in which it faced only a single third down, Dawson took a short pass from O’Hagan to the two-yard line, before a big hit knocked the ball loose. When the Bulldogs recovered the fumble on their own three-yard line, Dawson, though upset about the turnover, knew the Crimson would bounce back.

“I knew that our defense would give the offense another opportunity,” he said.

That opportunity came when Harvard forced Yale to punt on its opening drive, and Dawson made up for his early miscue. Except for O’Hagan’s sneak on a fourth-and-one and an incomplete pass thrown by the quarterback, Dawson ran or caught a pass on every Crimson play during the scoring drive.

It was a trend that continued throughout the game, as Dawson had the ball on more than half—43 of 85—of the team’s offensive plays.

Asked if the strong workload made him tired, the answer was an easy one.

“I didn’t come in expecting to be the primary receiver,” Dawson said. “But I kept thinking, I have the next eight months to rest my body.”

The five straight wins against Yale is a first in the 122-year history of the two schools, but for this year’s winners, it means little.

“It feels great, but we weren’t really thinking about that,” captain Erik Grimm said. “It was a great team effort, and it was a special game.”

It was most special for this year’s seniors—the second straight graduating class to go 4-0 in The Game.

“That was something we stressed throughout the week,” Williams said. “Win one for the seniors.”

“I’m just happy to be a part of this,” Grimm said. “I’m proud of the team, proud of the offense, and there was a lot of heart out there. It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done.”