Yale Breaks Five-Year Crimson Run

Three months ago, no one would have been surprised to see an Ivy League champion crowned at Harvard stadium on a late November evening.

But that the team celebrating would be Yale—that might have turned some heads. What at the beginning of the season seemed improbable for a Bulldogs squad that was picked to finish fifth in league preseason polls turned into a reality on Saturday when Yale beat the Crimson 34-13 at Harvard Stadium in front of a sellout crowd.

With the victory, the Bulldogs snapped a five-game losing streak to the Crimson—the longest such streak in series history. They also secured a share of the Ivy title, which they will share with Princeton after the Tigers defeated Dartmouth on Saturday 27-17.

"It’s obviously very, very frustrating," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "We talked last night as a team. What would the psyche of Yale be? And I said, ‘It’s like a guy’s been on a deserted island for six years and he’s starving to get off.’"

For Harvard, the loss marked a painful end to a season that included more adversity for Murphy than at any other point during his 13 years as head coach. Several isolated misbehaviors off the field resulted in three team suspensions and two dismissals.

The game also served as a somber finale for arguably the greatest player in Harvard history. Senior running back Clifton Dawson—who finished his career as the all-time Ivy leader in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, points, and all-purpose yards—never found the rhythm that had allowed him to dominate games so often during his four years.

"It’s really difficult to sum up my experience here," said Dawson, who ran for 60 yards on 24 carries with a touchdown and a lost fumble in his final game, of his tenure. "It’s been such an incredible experience—the best of my life."

Yale controlled the momentum throughout. And but for a brief moment in the second quarter, when Harvard tied the game at 7-7 on Dawson’s one-yard touchdown run, the Crimson could not keep up with the Bulldogs’ balanced attack.

Yale only amassed a modest 266 yards of total offense, although running back Mike McLeod did gain 87 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Bulldogs quarterback Matt Polhemus managed the game effectively—if not spectacularly—with 125 yards passing and another 19 on the ground.

But Harvard’s inability to move the ball left the Bulldogs with consistently good field position. The Yale defense, which ranked last in the league in pass defense coming into the game, held Harvard to just 218 yards of total offense. The Crimson went three-and-out on five of its first six possessions and managed only 68 first half yards.

"This was just a great defensive performance," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. "This is the best offense in the league, [with] a lot of great players, skill players with a lot of speed."

Junior quarterback Liam O’Hagan faced pressure from an aggressive Bulldogs defense, which regularly sent linebackers and corners on blitzes to disrupt the Crimson attack. O’Hagan finished with 53 yards passing and an interception and was replaced by junior Chris Pizzotti midway through the third quarter.

Already leading 20-7, Yale ended what little suspense was left early in the fourth quarter by taking advantage of one of its many short-field opportunities. After a sack of Pizzotti pinned Harvard at its own 3-yard line junior punter Matt Schindel muffed his attempted punt out of bounds, where the ball was whistled out at the 8. On the next play McLeod, who finished the season as the leading Ivy rusher, took a handoff and ran around right tackle into the end zone, giving Yale a 27-7 lead.

On Harvard’s next possession Dawson uncharacteristically fumbled and Yale safety Steve Santoro returned the ball 38 yards for another touchdown and a 34-7 Bulldog lead. Santoro was the star of a great defensive performance, finishing the game with an interception and a sack to go along with the fumble recovery.

"The things we talked about during the week, turning them over and getting [good] field position, we did those things," Siedlecki said.

Yale took control of the game in the first half on two touchdown runs by McLeod. After the Crimson tied the game at 7, the Bulldogs put together their most impressive drive of the game, going 64 yards in just 1:56. McLeod—who had put Yale on the board earlier in the half with a one-yard touchdown run—finished the drive with a four-yard scamper into the right side of the end zone.

The Bulldogs added two field goals on short drives of 45 and 20 yards to take a 20-7 lead into the half.

"We got our butts kicked," Murphy said. "Maybe not physically, but we didn’t make enough plays. And the end result was what you got for a score."

Harvard added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 26-yard pass from Pizzotti to Mazza, closing the final gap at 34-13, but that was far too little and far too late to start a Crimson comeback.

Yale left Cambridge with a year’s worth of bragging rights, an Ivy title, and not a care in the world.

"It doesn’t get any better than this," Yale captain Chandler Henley said. "My biggest concern right now is that they wouldn’t let me bring my cigar in the [interview] room."

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.