Comeback kids: Yale rallies to beat Harvard in double OT in Yale Bowl,
NEW HAVEN — Fans rushed onto the field at the Yale Bowl not once, but twice during a classic showdown between rivals Yale and Harvard on Saturday.
The first was a peaceful student protest that delayed the start of the second half by about 30 minutes, the second was an outpouring of emotion after Yale rallied for a 5043 victory in double overtime to earn a share of the Ivy League title.
The record breaking offensive trio of Kurt Rawlings and receivers Reed Klubnik and JP Shohfi delivered one last set of remarkable, gamedeciding plays. The exclamation point was provided by senior linebacker Ryan Burke, who dove at the legs of B.J. Watson and stopped the Harvard running back short of the first down to give the Bulldogs a victory that they will be talking about for years to come. It was one that came in near darkness and one the Bulldogs needed to secure a piece of the Ivy League thanks to Dartmouth’s win at Brown.
“I didn’t know what to think, to be honest,” Burke said. “I looked up, I saw it and saw people storming onto the field, I thought about all the work, the tears, me, all the guys up
here [at the press conference] put in all season and it finally felt like it came to fruition.”
Behind four touchdowns and 269 rushing yards from freshman Aidan Borguet, the Crimson led by 17 points early in the fourth quarter setting the stage for Yale’s comeback.
Kurt Rawlings engineered a 96yard drive, completing a 28yard pass to freshman receiver Mason Tipton on third down followed by a 10yard score to Tipton to pull Yale within seven with 1:28 to play.
“I am just telling these guys to enjoy these last moments, enjoy the moments of the game, do your job and have fun,” said Rawlings, who set a Yale single game record with 479 yards of total offense in the win. “Win or lose, I love playing with these guys. I have been so blessed to be put in this role and be at this university in the first place and I can’t be more thankful than that.”
The comeback began with senior kicker Sam Tuckerman’s 35yard field goal with 8:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. His best kick, however, came when he bounced an onsides kick past the first set of Harvard players and into the reliable hands of Klubnik.
“Once we got the ball back in our offense’s hands, we had all the confidence in the world,” Klubnik said.
A fumble recovery by offensive tackle Cameron Warfield after a jarring hit on Rawlings gave the Bulldogs a chance. After a timeout, Rawlings connected with Shohfi with a 7yard touchdown pass. Tuckerman tied the game with the extra point to send the same into overtime.
Harvard quarterback Jake Smith hit a wide open Cody Chrest for the 25yard touchdown pass on the first play of overtime. Yale answered with backtoback completions to Shohfi and Caden Herring to send game into second OT.
Shohfi set up another score, adjusting to make a difficult catch and Zane Dudek scored from 4 yards out. That put Harvard inthe position of having to score a touchdown to send the game into a third overtime.
The underneath throws to running backs worked well for the Crimson but this time Burke worked his way through the traffic to make the final tackle of his collegiate career.
It was the fifth straight loss for Harvard (46, 25 in the Ivy League) and each time the Crimson led in the second half.
“It is so symbolic of the last half of our season, we keep thinking that the law of averages is going to even itself out. At the end of the day, a great effort by Yale. That was a classic football game and I told our kids that if you have given everything you possibly can, you can have no regrets but unfortunately this is going to be painful for a long time.”
Yale got off to an impressive start with Rawlings hooking up with Jaylen Sandifer for a 51yard reception on the first offensive play of the game. A Rawlings scramble gave the Bulldogs a first down at the 4. Rawlings held onto the ball trying to make a big play and took a 16yard sack. Ultimately, Yale settled for a 34yard field goal by Tuckerman to take the early 30 lead.
Jake Smith connected with James Batch for a 60yard gain on Harvard’s first offensive play, but after a third down pass to the end zone was a little high and fell incomplete, Jake McIntyre tied the game with a 27yard field goal.
Yale drove inside the Harvard 20 on the next drive but once again, the Harvard pressure got to Rawlings. After a pass on third down to Patrick Conte in the end zone was overthrown, Tuckerman was called upon again but was short on a 42yard field goal.
It remained 33 until Watson went 27 yards for the game’s first touchdown on a play similar to the final one in the game. The score was set up when Rawlings threw into triple coverage and was intercepted by Isaiah Wingfield.
Yale (91, 61 in the Ivy League) was in position to cut into the lead on a 27yard catch and run by Alan Lamar got the ball to the Harvard 31. A 15yard run by Rawlings had the Bulldogs knocking on the door, but once again the senior quarterback held onto the ball too long. Logan Clifton hit Rawlings from behind and David Schwartz recovered the fumble. Aidan Borguet raced 47 yards for a touchdown but some razzle dazzle on the twopoint conversion run didn’t fool the Bulldogs as it remained 153. That was the score at halftime as Yale was held without a touchdown in the first half for the first time since the loss to Dartmouth.
Harvard added to the lead on a 59yard scoring run by Borguet on the opening drive of the second half.
The Bulldogs got closer as Jaelin Alburg’s recovery of a muffed punt led to Zane Dudek’s 4yard scoring run and 39yard pass from Rawlings to Klubnik on third down set up Tuckerman’s 32yard field goal to make it a 2213 game.
Borguet, who came into game with 264 rushing yards, broke free for a 60yard score. Yale answered back as Rawlings capped scoring drive with 5yard touchdwon run, but the twopoint pass was no good before Borguet escaped the grasp of Yale’s leading tackler Ryan Burke in the backfield en route to a 67yard score.
Yale was held to a 35yard field goal by Tuckerman on the next drive to make it 3622.
The start of the second half was delayed by a student protest. Law enforcement officials surrounded the group, confiscated the signs but no attempt was made to remove the protesters from the field. At one point it was estimated that more than 1,000 protesters were on the field.
The teams came out to warm up for the second half and at 2:09 p.m., both teams headed off to their respective locker rooms. At 2:38 the field was cleared and the second half began at 2:48.
Rawlings finished with 417 passing yards and three touchdowns. He added 62 more on the ground.
Shohfi (10 catches, 103 yards) and Klubnik (nine catches, 141 yards) became the second set of Ivy League teammates to have at least 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
The last time two receivers from same team had 1,000 yard receiving season came in 1983 when Derek Graham and Kevin Guthrie of Princeton accomplished the feat.
Rawlings finished as Yale’s career leader in career passing yards, yards of total offense and touchdown pass. He also finished 30 as a starter against Harvard.
Yale coach Tony Reno called Rawlings, Klubnik and Shohfi among the best players ever at Yale. Murphy was just happy that he doesn’t need to go against them again.
“Just incredible, not just today but whenever they needed a play this year, the sort of connection that they have with the ability to make big plays when things look tough is other worldly at times,” Murphy said. “Needless to say, a lot of coaches will be glad to see them graduate.”