Yale-Harvard rivalry provided memories for senior class
Their last meeting was one for the ages, but as Yale and Harvard prepare to meet for the 137th time on a football field, Bulldogs senior Melvin Rouse II went back a little earlier to talk about his memories from his first three years of the rivalry.
When his class arrived as freshmen at Yale in 2017, Rouse and the Bulldogs had already clinched a piece of the Ivy title with a win at Princeton in Week 9. Week 10 brought Harvard to Yale Bowl.
The Bulldogs won 24-3 to win the championship outright.
“That’s what makes that team so special, 2017,” Rouse said, “is the fact that we knew we had a championship in the bag, but that team was so hungry. We wanted more. That team wanted to play in the FCS playoffs, if we had a chance.”
There’s (probably) not as much on the line this time around. Unless Dartmouth and Princeton both lose Saturday — and Brown or Penn pulling off either would be a big upset — neither the Bulldogs (5-4, 4-2) nor the Crimson (7-2, 4-2) can grab themselves even a piece of the championship with a win Saturday (noon, ESPNU).
But it’ll be one final memory on the field for this class, part of two championship teams.
“Those games, you feel the highest highs and the lowest lows. And we’ve felt both,” Yale captain John Dean said.
“That’s all I can really say, you know what it feels like to win and you know what it feels like to lose. And we’re willing to do whatever it takes to go out on top.”
Harvard beat the Bulldogs 45-27 at Fenway Park in 2018, a year Rouse called a growing year after injuries and graduations hit hard.
Then 2019 at the Bowl, completed after sunset, delayed by a halftime protest in which students occupied the field: a doubleovertime tilt in which Yale had trailed by 17 in the fourth quarter. Two touchdowns in the last 1:28 tied it. Yale won in double overtime to share the title with Dartmouth.
“I didn’t really think it was that crazy playing in the game,” Rouse said. “The thinking is, ‘we’re down, we’re down. We need to get back,’ like, ‘we need to score, stop, score, stop.’
“When you finally have some time to reflect and look back on it, that was a great experience to be a part of, and just sending those guys out, people like Kurt Rawlings, J.P. Shohfi, that whole class, sending
them out on a high note — at home too — that was great.”
Bulldogs coach Tony Reno said he had a similar experience, watching a replay of the game on a flight, realizing just how amazing a comeback it was, feeling pride in his players.
“You’ve got an FBS atmosphere, which is really a great thing,” Reno said; he remembered the student section providing a boost from the crowd in 2019. “From a selfish point of view, I would venture to say there’s very few schools in the FCS that get this kind of venue to play in.”
Rouse has been a receiver, a running back and a cornerback in his Yale career. He has practically seen it all.
“Coming into this last one, just basically leave it all out there like we do every year,” Rouse said. “It’s all about legacy.”