NOTEBOOK: Football's Offense, Fourth-Down Defense Struggles in 133rd Playing of The Game

The reign of dominance finally came to an end. Yale beat Harvard in football.

A Crimson win was supposed to be a sure thing. After all, the program had lost a mere four games over the last four seasons. By beating the Bulldogs (3-7, 3-4 Ivy), Harvard could have earned a fourth-straight Ivy League title for the first time in school history.

But as 2016 has indicated time and again, no outcome is certain. The Crimson (7-3, 5-2 Ivy) has played an inconsistent season, defined by injuries, defensive lapses, and a hot-and-cold offense. Such inconsistency showed this weekend.

At times against Yale, Harvard looked like the best team in the Ancient Eight. But at the end of the afternoon, timely plays by the Bulldogs and costly mistakes by the Crimson resulted in Harvard’s first defeat to Eli’s men in a decade.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER SILENCED

The most obvious deficit that the Crimson showed on Saturday was a lack of offensive firepower.

Especially in early play, Harvard seemed set on punishing the Yale defense with its rushing attack. In the first quarter, the Crimson threw the ball exactly once—this meager production despite the fact that Harvard averaged almost 250 passing yards per game this season and featured two of the league’s best pass-catchers in senior halfback Anthony Firkser and sophomore receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley.

Still, senior quarterback Joe Viviano ended the half with 34 yards on a two-for-nine performance. Meanwhile, the Yale defense bottled up the Crimson’s run game. Harvard was forced to punt five times in the first 30 minutes.

“We felt like we really had to get the ground game running to be able to sort of open it up, which is what we eventually did,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “But I think the bottom line is, we felt like we had to have a balanced attack, and we’ve thrown the ball a good deal the last couple of games.”

The offense did find more balance in the second half, but by that point, it was too late. The Yale defense was locked in on Harvard’s rushing attack, and the secondary was fresh. Viviano ended the game 16-of-28 for 181 yards and a touchdown, far below his average of nearly 225 yards a game. Overall, the Crimson totaled 329 yards on offense. For comparison, Harvard’s season average was 390.

FOURTH TIME’S THE CHARM

Statistically the Crimson and the Bulldogs looked equal throughout the game. Yale punted eight times, Harvard six. The defenses of both teams held strong, allowing less than 330 yards to the opposing offenses.

Nonetheless a lot of mistakes hurt the Crimson on Saturday. For one, six of Yale’s 20 first downs came off penalties by the Harvard defense. In addition, the Bulldogs’ special teams outplayed the Crimson, as highlighted by a successful onside kick to open the second half and a missed field goal by Harvard.

However, one factor stood above all others: Yale was perfect on fourth down. Late in the second quarter, with Harvard leading 7-0, Yale drove the ball down to the Crimson 19. The secondary shut down the Bulldogs, and the Yale kicking team trotted on the field to attempt a field goal on fourth-and-four.

However, as soon as holder Andrew Johnson got the snap, he ran towards the line of scrimmage and threw a jump pass to senior tight end Leo Haenni. The Bulldogs scored four plays later. Later in the game, Yale converted on a fourth-and-one that set up another touchdown.

This is not to say that Harvard didn’t make big plays. Shelton-Mosley picked up a huge gain on fourth-and-three to set up Crimson’s first touchdown. However, Yale’s timely conversions gave the visitors much needed momentum.

“I just think that when you get in a game like this, it comes down to making plays,” Yale coach Tony Reno said. “We were able to make some plays,”

NO MORE STREAKING

For the first time in four years, the Harvard football team will not win at least a share of the Ivy League championship. Moreover, for the first time since 2006, the Crimson lost to Yale.

“It’s heartbreaking for our seniors because they had a chance to win an Ivy championship,” Murphy said. “It’s heartbreaking for our seniors because at the end of the day this game is about pride. As I’ve said before, [it’s] pride in our team, pride in our program, and certainly pride in our school first and foremost.”

What’s interesting is the way in which the streak ended. In most fans’ eyes, this playing of The Game felt like a sure victory for Harvard. The Crimson was 7-2 coming into the clash, with its only losses coming to non-conference foe Holy Cross and eventual Ivy League champion Penn. Yale, on the other hand, was 2-7 and starting a rookie quarterback on the road. However, none of that mattered between the sidelines on Saturday.

“It really teaches the young guys how to be leaders,” Yale freshman quarterback Kurt Rawlings said. “It’s the start of something new. There’s been a long streak; we didn’t really like to talk about it. But it’s over. Now it’s our streak.”

—Staff writer Gant Player can be reached at wplayer@college.harvard.edu.