Protest leads to fade-to-black ending
Ohio State, Oregon blow big chances
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale and Harvard students poured out of the stands together at halftime in a climate change protest that delayed the 136th edition of The Game for about an hour.
When the fans stormed back onto the field at the end, it was only the Yalies, and they were celebrating this time.
Kurt Rawlings threw two touchdown passes in the final 88 seconds of regulation to rally Yale from a 17-point fourthquarter deficit and beat Harvard 50-43 in two overtimes on Saturday, one of the strangest editions of The Game in its history.
Following a halftime sit-in by a couple hundred protesters who occupied midfield for about an hour before being peacefully escorted off by police, the Bulldogs (9-1, 6-1 Ivy League) celebrated a conference title in darkness 15 minutes after sunset in the unlit, 105-year-old Yale Bowl.
“Yeah, it was surreal. But we were ready to go until tomorrow,” said JP Shohfi, who caught 10 passes for 103 yards and the game-tying touchdown with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter. “It didn’t matter if there were lights or not. It didn’t matter the time of the day.”
Fifty-one years after Harvard rallied to a late tie that The Crimson student newspaper trumpeted with the headline “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29,” it was Yale that came back, marching 96 yards for one score and then recovering an onside kick to set up another. The victory gave Yale a share of the Ivy title; Dartmouth also finished 9-1.
“This game was a lot better because we won,” Yale coach Tony Reno said.
“A bit of a debacle,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy, who fell to 18-8 in the rivalry game.
CFP IMPLICATIONS: With a chance to make a statement that it belonged atop the rankings, Ohio State caught a case of fumbilitis and let No. 9 Penn State hang around on a wet Saturday at the Horseshoe. Pushed for the first time this season, the second-ranked Buckeyes (10-0, No. 2 CFP) responded and comfortably put the Nittany Lions away 28-17 without scoring a fourth-quarter point.
“Having this slugfest under our belt is going to be good for us in the long run,” Buckeyes center Josh Myers said.
Maybe. But in the beauty pageant that is the playoff selection process, the Buckeyes’ victory might not have been pretty enough to persuade the committee they should be No. 1.
Meanwhile, the Pac-12 was just four victories away, two by Oregon and two by Utah, from setting up what would have been its most interesting conference championship since the league started playing the game in 2011.
Two 11-1 teams with a chance to make the playoff. Perfect.
Nope. No. 6 Oregon’s offense disappeared for three quarters and by the time the Ducks and Justin Herbert found a groove, the defense broke down and Arizona State pulled off the upset.
The Ducks already had the Pac-12 North locked up, but the loss ends their playoff hopes and hurts the Utes, too. Utah, taking care of its business Saturday night at Arizona, has been dominant but lacks high-value victories on its résumé.
The Pac-12’s loss is the Big 12’s gain. Victories by Oklahoma and Baylor mean they are still on course for a battle of 11-1s in the conference title game.
It was also a good day for No. 5 Alabama. The committee has said it will be watching closely as the Tide faces Auburn next week with backup quarterback Mac Jones