Live Updates: Harvard Falls to Yale in 141st Game

No. 10 Harvard (9-1, 6-1 Ivy) collapsed against No. 25 Yale (8-2, 6-1 Ivy) for the fourth straight year in a humiliating 45-28 defeat — its first loss this season and a stunning upset in a game that was ugly from the start.

“They came out there and they did everything that we had been doing for nine weeks,” Head Coach Andrew Aurich said. “What they did, that was really impressive.”

On the first play of The Game, Harvard lined up on its own 15-yard line, looking to start off strong and earn redemption after three consecutive losses to the Bulldogs. Senior quarterback Jaden Craig shot off a quick pass to senior Dean Boyd before the ball slipped out of Boyd’s grasp — and right into the hand of Yale defender Brandon Webster.

The Crimson found the end zone via a 31-yard deep throw from Craig to Tattserall. On the ensuing two point conversion, Harvard pulled out a “Philly Philly” from its playbook to cut the lead to 45-28.

Reno completed a pass to Lucius Anderson, who raced into the end zone to give Yale a 45-20 lead, putting the cherry on top of its dominant performance.

Yale capped off the third quarter with a 61-yard completion down the field, slicing through Harvard’s thinly spread defense. Up 38-20 and deep in the Crimson’s territory, the Bulldogs are closing in on their fourth consecutive win in The Game.

In what appeared to be a do-or-die move, Head Coach Andrew Aurich pulled the trigger and went for it on fourth and long, when Craig completed a pass over the middle to Boyd. The team capitalized on the decision with a nine yard touchdown pass into Tattersall’s hands. The Crimson’s two point conversion attempt was broken up by the Bulldogs, keeping the score at 38-20.

Off the backs of a busted coverage and an unstoppable barrage of Pitsenberger runs, Yale took six minutes of valuable time off the clock and barreled in another touchdown to take a 38-14 lead. Pitsenberger now has three touchdowns on the day.

Harvard enters the break down by a score of 31-14, thanks to a struggling offense and a defense that has let up big plays all day. Yale has managed to score on five of six drives, and it will receive the second half kickoff as the Bulldogs aim to stifle the Crimson in the second half.

Yale running back Josh Pitsenberger has scored two touchdowns on 75 yards rushing, and quarterback Dante Reno is nine-for-12 passing with two touchdown passes of his own. For Harvard, quarterback Jaden Craig has passed and rushed for one score each, but the Crimson has managed just 166 yards of offense versus 251 yards for the Bulldogs.

As the first half drew to a close, Yale dominated the trenches yet again, taking meaningful time off the clock and punching it into the end zone to take a commanding 31-14 lead. The Bulldogs will receive the second half kick. Harvard will need to get a stop on Yale’s first drive the next half to stay within striking distance.

With time winding down in the first half, Craig breaks tackles and sprints into the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown. The star quarterback and Bascon led a methodical drive down the field, capped off with the spark from the senior’s legs. Now, the Crimson trails 24-14 with 4:19 left in the second quarter.

Reno launches a 64-yard touchdown pass to Brown, extending Yale’s advantage to 24-7 with 7:34 remaining in the second frame. A blown man coverage led to Brown streaking down the sideline, breaking a tackle, and waltzing into the end zone.

Craig lofts a 23-yard touchdown pass to Tattersall to cut Yale’s lead to 17-7.

Josh Pitsenberger rushed into the end zone for a Yale touchdown to start the second quarter, bringing the score to 17-0 for Yale after the extra kick. This is the most Harvard has trailed at any point this season.

Harvard struggled throughout the first quarter, as the team showed its nerves with a disastrous start. The Crimson will need to significantly improve its play and figure out how to make headway with Yale’s defense if it wishes to snap its losing streak against the Bulldogs.

Harvard started the game with a fumble, and things didn’t improve much from there. With prime field position, Yale immediately scored. Harvard, looking sloopier than the team has all season, managed one first down during the entire quarter and a series of bad punts continued to give Yale opportunities.

Harvard’s defense managed to keep Yale’s score from ballooning, but Head Coach Andrew Aurich will need to speak to his team and make some changes going into the next quarter

A 39-yard field goal attempt by Yale kicker Noah Piper sails through the uprights, giving the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead with 6:12 remaining.

On second down from his own 10-yard line, Craig fumbles the ball but quickly jumps back on it. On a third-and-13 Craig underthrows Boyd. The Crimson, from its own end zone, punts the ball only to its own 43-yard line.

A Yale fumble on a backwards pass results in a 15-yard loss, setting up a punt to give senior Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig and the offense another opportunity to strike back.

On its first full offensive series, Harvard goes three-and-out. Head Coach Andrew Aurich doesn’t pull the trigger on fourth down — his characteristic move. A short punt gives Yale the ball at their own 49-yard line.

Yale scored a touchdown on its first offensive play of the game, a 21-yard touchdown from quarterback Dante Reno to Jaxton Santiago to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 with 14:42 remaining.

Harvard senior wide receiver Dean Boyd fumbled on the very first play of the game. Yale will now have the ball at the 20-yard line, giving the team a prime opportunity to begin the game with a touchdown and momentum.

Yale won the coin toss and chose to defer. Harvard received first. It returned the kick to the 30-yard line, but the ball was placed at the 15-yardd line due to penalty..

The Harvard and Yale football teams ran out to a mix of boos and cheers as The Game is about to begin. Both teams took a knee in a moment of prayer before the coin toss. Outside, students from both schools are tailgating and are only just beginning to enter the stadium.

After nine consecutive weeks of action-packed Harvard football, we have finally reached the season finale — a matchup in New Haven against the Yale Bulldogs that will have more riding on it than any game this season, and potentially in the Crimson’s history.

Thanks to wins last Saturday by both Harvard (9-0, 6-0 Ivy) and Yale (7-2, 5-1), the two teams now in first and second in the Ivy League. Due to new tiebreaker rules from league officials, the winner of this matchup will be the Ivy champion.

But the real incentive will be a chance at an automatic bid to the FCS’s 24-team postseason tournament. While both programs have won well over a dozen Ivy League titles each, neither has played in the FCS postseason, thanks to the 1945 Ivy Group Agreement. However, thanks to a reversal in that agreement late last year, the Ivy League winner will now have the chance to face perennial powerhouses such as North Dakota State, Montana State, and Montana.