Harvard at Yale, November 17, 2007

For the 124th time, the Ancient Rivals squared off with the Ivy League Title on the line. The last time both teams came into The Game undefeated in the Ivies was 1968, and those of us who were fortunate to listen to the late, great Ken Coleman's call of the game will tell you that the ending was magic for the Crimson. This year, Yale had to be considered favorites as they were 9-0 and had pretty much flattened every opponent along the way. Their offense revolved around senior running back Mike McLeod who made the opposition look like rubes throughout the course of his brilliant career. McLeod suffered a foot injury two weeks earlier that limited his effectiveness, though the Elis possessed enough balance on both sides of the ball to maintain their superior edge. Two years ago, the Crimson went to New Haven and pulled out the win in triple overtime, so the Yale seniors had ample motivation heading into what would be their final competitive game of football before moving on to become Titans of the business world.

Coach Murphy's Crimson looked to avenge last year's ugly defeat at home. When the year started, Chris Pizzotti was the second-string quarterback but when O'Hagen went down with an injury in Week 2 Pizzotti came in and did an outstanding job leading the team on an impressive run of victories leading up to The Game. Of course, it didn't hurt to have guys like Mazza and Ho on the offense and the Crimson's defense was pretty stout all year especially in the secondary. Most of the Crimson diehards had to believe that winning this year in New Haven would be a tremendous accomplishment.

1st Quarter:

It was a chilly, blustery afternoon typical of late November in New England. Harvard won the toss, elected to receive and Steve Williams returned the ball to the Harvard 29. Pizzotti came out throwing. He hit Mazza for 8 then Luft for 18. On second and 7 at the Yale 40, Pizzotti found Mazza for a touchdown strike and the Crimson were up 7-0 with just about a minute played. The swiftness of the drive was punch in the nose to Yale, who went three and out on their first possession. Harvard took over at their own 9, but after getting a first down they were forced to punt trapping the Bulldogs deep in their end. Polhemus stuck to the ground and he and McLeod had success moving the ball out of the danger zone. On second-and-two at the Yale 40, Polehumus' pass attempt was intercepted by Glenn Dorris but the Crimson could do nothing offensively and buried Yale again with a teriffic punt. The Crimson took over with great field position and this time Pizzotti effectively used Gino Gordon on a series of runs to move the ball into Yale territory. On 3rd and 9 at the 33, Pizzotti found Matt Luft open and Luft "took it to the house". Long's conversion attempt failed but Harvard was ahead 13-0.

2d Quarter:
Christodoulou took the ensuing kickoff to midfield as time expired in the first quarter. Yale was faced with a 4th and 2 at Harvard's 40 and elected try for the first down, but the Crimson D stuffed McLeod for no gain and the offense got the ball with decent field position. It took 11 plays and the ball went backwards when Pizzotti was sacked, but he combined rushes by Ho and a series of three passes following the sack to bring the ball to the 2. Two plays later Ho banged it in and Harvard was ahead 20-0. That's about the time when the Harvard side began to sense that an upset was in the making.

Yale's following possession was bizarre. Starting at the 24, they went nowhere and went for it on 4th and 10 only to lose nine yards and giving Harvard the ball smack dab in the middle of the red zone. One play, six points as Pizzotti found Matt Cook and it was 27-0 Crimson! What was Coach Siedlicki thinking? Sure it was a three possession game at that point but there was half a quarter remaining and a full half to follow. The Bulldogs had a number of comeback wins coming down the stretch, so why not be patient? Yale was able to move the ball to the Harvard 28 on the next possession and failed to convert on 4th and 6. Again Coach, you get whatever points you can as the offense is able. To bring the ball that far without coming up with any type of score is pretty lame. The teams exchanged possessions and the half ended 27-0 Harvard.

Second Half:

Yale went three-and-out on their opening possession of the third quarter. Harvard took over at their 37 and Pizzotti methodically moved the ball on runs and passes to Yale's 3 where the drive stalled and Long kicked a chip shot to put Harvard ahead 30-0. Play on both sides styarted to get a little ragged at that point. Steve Williams intercepted Polhemus late in the third, but the Crimson were unable to move the chains. As the game went into the final minute of the third, Harvard regained possession and moved the ball deep into Yale territory to start the fourth on a 17-yard run by Ho followed by a 13-yard pass completion to Luft.

On third and 7 from the 24, Collie Winters carried for 16 yards to Yale’s 8. Two plays later, Pizzotti found Jason Miller in the end zone and the competitive phase of the game ended with Harvard ahead, 37-0. As the game neared the end, Christodoulou returned a punt 87 yards and the Bulldogs were finally on the scoreboard with 4:15 remaining in the game. At that point, both teams emptied their benches allowing the players who generally ride the pine to participate in one of college football’s most prestigious rivalries.

Final Score: Harvard 37, Yale 6

And so, on that day, the Men of Harvard traveled to New Haven and kicked some serious ass. They weren’t supposed to win and yet, they not only prevailed, the team gave one of its most dominant performances in many years. This win ranks with ’68. ’87, and ’05 as treasured memories for Crimson fans everywhere.

Congratulations to the 2007 Ivy League Football Champions!