Show of poise in Ivy
Yale win seals title outright
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Ball security was the difference in yesterday’s 134th edition of the Harvard-Yale football grudge match. Yale had it. Harvard didn’t.
The result was a 24-3 victory by the Bulldogs in front of 51,426 enthusiastic fans in the Yale Bowl that handed the hosts their first outright Ivy League championship since 1980.
Yale (9-1, 6-1), which has won two straight against its ancient rival, held Harvard (5-5, 3-4) to a lone 29-yard first-quarter field goal by Jake McIntyre. It was the first time since 1986 that Harvard has been held without a touchdown in consecutive games as McIntyre’s foot accounted for all six points by the Crimson in last week’s loss to Penn.
This was also the first time Harvard has finished with a losing record in the league since 1999.
“I’m proud of our kids. They’ve shown a lot of character in the face of all the adversity we faced this year. They’ve given us everything they can and that’s what we got today,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy. “Yale is the best football team in our league. They have no weaknesses and they deserved to win.”
Harvard freshman Jake Smith drew the starting assignment at quarterback but was sacked six times for 44 yards in losses. He finished 9-of-16 passing for 83 yards. Over the course of the season, Harvard quarterbacks were sacked 25 times in 10 games.
“The bottom line is, by a little bit, he’s been our best performer back there (at quarterback). Obviously, we’ve struggled there this season,” Murphy said about the decision to begin with Smith before bringing senior Joe Viviano off the bench. Viviano finished 3-of-8 passing for 55 yards with two interceptions.
That was the biggest factor for Yale as it forced four turnovers, recovering two fumbles and intercepting two passes.
Harvard’s first offensive possession drove to the Yale 4, but the Crimson lost 8 yards in three plays to leave the left-footed McIntyre to kick one through the uprights for a 3-0 lead. This also made it 198 straight games of scoring points for Harvard.
Meanwhile, Yale struggled to get any early offensive rhythm, punting three times before Harvard’s Luke Hutton picked off a long pass by Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings at the Crimson 11.
Yale finally fired up the offense when Rawlings (18-of-27, 177 yards, touchdown) hooked up with receiver JP Shohfi for 46 yards down to the Harvard 8. Three plays later, Rawlings connected again with Shohfi for a 9-yard scoring strike and a 7-3 edge with 6:26 left in the half.
Before the second quarter ended, the Bulldogs turned a pair of Harvard fumbles into 10 more points.
A Harvard pitch went astray and Yale cornerback Malcolm Dixon scooped up the loose ball and dashed 19 yards to 14-3 lead with 5:31 to go in the half.
“I saw the quarterback pitch it. I saw him slip. I saw the end zone. I saw he ball. That was pretty much it,” said a grinning Dixon after the game.
Another quarterback pitch to the running back slipped away from Harvard with Yale recovering at the Crimson 31. Yale marched down to the 7, but ran out of gas before Alex Galland’s 25-yard field goal completed the first half scoring with the Bulldogs up, 17-3.
“I really feel bad for Jake and us, especially our defense which kept us in the game,” said Murphy. “It could have been a much different situation. They were almost back-to-back. They were huge impact plays for Yale.”
Following a scoreless third quarter, Yale drove 81 yards in eight plays with Zane Dudek bulling in from the 2 to cap the scoring.