THE GAME '06: Rush to the Finish

Tomorrow Harvard will become more than an elite institution. For one day in the year, the school will shift its attention from academics to athletics, joining the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, and USC in the national Rivalry Week spotlight.

When Yale (7-2, 5-1 Ivy) travels to Cambridge to take on the Crimson (7-2, 4-2) at 12 p.m. at Harvard Stadium, hopes will be high that the 123rd edition of The Game does not disappoint.

Though it’s unlikely to top last year’s triple overtime thriller, this season’s edition will be essential in the fight to the finish.

Although the Crimson needs help to win the Ivy League championship after last weekend’s loss to Penn, it has the chance to wrench the title out of its perennial rival’s paws with a victory and an improbable Dartmouth win over Princeton. The Bulldogs can solidify their own share with a victory.

“To us the Ivy championship is on the line, we need to beat Harvard to get to that goal,” Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. “I think that’s motivation enough for everybody.”

On paper, Harvard has the upper hand.

The Bulldogs come in with the best statistical run game in the league behind Mike McLeod. The sophomore is averaging just under 142 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry.

But the Crimson counters with a seasoned threat in the form of senior tailback Clifton Dawson, who last week broke the all-time Ivy League rushing record.

Although the Harvard back is only averaging 128.1 yards a game, his yards per carry average of 5.4 bests that of McLeod.

Both offensive lines have impressed.

The squads are responsible for the strong run games, and Yale has allowed just 12 sacks, one more than the Crimson’s 11.

But Harvard also counters with the Ivy League’s top defense, and possibly the best in all of Division I-AA.

The defense has surrendered just 58 yards per game rushing in addition to posting 43 sacks. The line is led by senior defensive tackle Mike Berg, who leads with 8.5 sacks. The rest of the ‘D’ is no slouch, either, as sophomore linebacker Eric Schultz has a team-leading 74 tackles, including ten for a loss. Junior cornerback Steve Williams leads with four interceptions, and the team is giving up under 300 total offensive yards a game.

Either the Bulldog offensive line or the Crimson defense is going to have to give.

“Like many weeks, it is going to come down to who wins the line of scrimmage,” Dawson said. “It is going to come down to our defensive line outplaying their offensive line and our offensive line outplaying their outstanding defensive line. That might sound simple, but it’s really not.”

Harvard has numerous threats on offense, as junior quarterback Liam O’Hagan has at least six solid sets of hands at his disposal.

Senior Corey Mazza leads the team with 34 receptions for 599 yards and seven touchdowns. Last weekend marked the first time since that he didn’t reach the endzone.

“I think the Mazza kid is a pretty special player,” Siedlecki said. “Defensively you can’t just say you have to stop Clifton Dawson. [Harvard has] a lot of threats. You have to have a gameplan that accounts for everything they can do.”

The Bulldog defense that will try to contain every threat is led by the Abare brothers. Linebacker Bobby leads Yale with 71 tackles, 7.5 for a loss, and has four interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Defensive back Larry is second in tackles with 67.

But the Bulldogs are giving up over 376 total offensive yards a game, over 20 more than the offense produces.

The less well-established Yale offense has some new faces since the last time the teams met.

Leading the attack is junior quarterback Matt Polhemus, who’s responsible for 1,312 passing yards and five touchdowns on the season.

He frequently opts to go to senior wide receiver Chandler Henley, who has a team-best 37 catches for 511 yards and two touchdowns.

No matter how the teams look on paper, experienced observers of the nation’s greatest rivalries know to disregard the data.

“You can look at it from a lit of different angles,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “But it all still comes back to pride. Any great rivalry is a pride game.”

—Staff writer Madeleine I. Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu