Harvard Completely Outplays Favored Yale, to Win 13-0

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Nov. 21--High up on the south side, an old Harvard grad, he must have been Class of '14 or so, sat down and cried with joy. The declared read Visitors 13, Yale 0. Already, more youthful Harvards were swarming through the Bowl's exits singing and cheering jubilantly. A few yards to the side, John Culver and Nick Culolias, 200 pound giants, were playfully slamming each other on the back.

Inside, 20,000 Harvard fans had just finished waving triumphant hand-kerchiefs, mimicking 45,000 Blues to the bottom of their cold seats. The Harvard Band, undefeated again, had just circled the inside of the Bowl, playing "Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"

A Yale degree sometimes valued at $10,000 wasn't worth a plugged nickel today.

For Harvard's football team, winless in the Bowl since 1940, winless on the road in seven years, winless against Yale since 1948, outplayed favored Yale all the way here today, toying with the great Eli line, opening it almost at will, stopping the Yale runners consistently. And it brought home part of the Big Three title, the first since 1940.

Great Harvard Line

It was a good Harvard backfield, but it was a great Harvard line. Against practically the same forward wall which a year ago had pushed the Crimson all over the field, the varsity line today held Yale's numbers to a mere 69 yards rushing, and stopped the Elis dead on their one big chance of the day.

At the start of the third quarter, the Elis, six points behind, took the ball, and in seven plays moved it all the way to the Harvard six with a first down.

On the first play, Culolias, playing fine football all the way, broke through and caught fullback Connie Corelli for no gain. Then Bill Weber stopped Corelli for no gain, and the Elis, frustrated all afternoon on the ground, prepared to take to the air.

They never got there.

Before Bulldog quarterback Bob Brink could even fade back, Bill Meigs and Weber were on top of him, and the Elis were four yards further away from a touchdown, with one play left.

". . . It won the game"

Timmy Anderson, who doubles as a wrestler in the off season, and another standout all day and all fall, hurtled through caught the fading Brink and wrestled and pinned him back for a six yard loss, taking the ball away from him. While Culolias did an Indian dance around the referees, Harvard took over the ball and the ball game.

"The goal line stand was the thing. It won the game. Our line just knocked hell out of them," Coach Lloyd Jordan said afterwards.

But then, to show that they were not merely a defensive line, these men, Bill Weber, Bernie O'Brien, Culolias, Meigs, Jeff Coolidge, Anderson, and Joe Ross, opened holes for Captain Dick Clasby and John Culver for 84 yards all the way down the field.

Culver Carries Over

With Clasby and Culver alternating short gains, the Crimson moved the ball to the Yale 34, where Jerry Marsh, starting his first college game, called a straight fullback play with Culver carrying. O'Brien and Culolias bowled over Eli guard Dick Polich, Weber hit the tackle, and Marsh took the linebacker. Culver broke through, cut to the sideline, and outraced Corelli over 34 very fast yards to climax one of the great Harvard football careers. This, Ross' extra point, subsequent interceptions by Coolidge and the steadily improving Al Culbert, and the Eli's own inability to pass ended all Yale threats.

This was Harvard's day. Taking the initiative from the start, the varsity, which hasn't been outplayed this year, which finished the season with a 6-2 record, just completely outplayed Yale.

Lowenstein to Clasby

Only a small penalty nullified a perfect Carroll Lowenstein to Clasby pass, a play which found the Crimson captain sneaking behind an Eli just as the spiraling ball fell into his arms. And then, later in the second half, Clasby dropped a Lowenstein pass as he toppled into the end zone. These were two possible scores, but they only made statistical difference. The people who weren't satisfied with the final score were in predominance Saturday--not noisy, slightly more sober, they almost all wore Blue and White scarves.

The Crimson scored its first touchdown in the second quarter. After a sloppy Yale punt went out on the home team 34, the varsity, despite an offside penalty, moved across in seven plays. Culver smashed through the line three times, Clasby hit Lewis with a short pass, and then Lewis took the ball from Clasby, cut through the short side, knocked down one defender, outran two others, and carried one over with him after 22 yards of sheer determination. A holding penalty set the Crimson back to the 17, from where Ross just missed the point.

The Long Read Back

This was the first time that the current Harvard seniors had beaten Yale. It was a fine season, climaxing three years of Crimson improvement which saw the win total grow from one the previous year to three, five and finally six. Many shared a great deal in this road back to success if not superiority, but for two of them today ended three years of hard work. For Captain Dick Clasby, a truly fine all around football player, from his breath-taking running to his constantly improving passing to his punting, a strong point of the Harvard defense this season, this was the final game. In the three years that Clasby was here, Harvard may have been outplayed, but it was never outclassed, because no one has more class than Clasby.

Two Way Player

And for Culver, whose speed matched his physical size, whose inside thrusts often set up Clasby's long outside runs, who could almost always get the extra yard, this was a fitting finale. No player in the East adapted himself better to two-way football than Culver, no one played more rugged football. It will be a long time before someone hits a Yale line as hard as Culver did today.

Carroll Lowenstein played his last game today, and this had been a tough season for a fine passer. Injuries, defensive weaknesses, and the difficulty of working in the same backfield with Clasby, had slowed down Lowenstein this year and had prevented him from throwing touchdown passes more than any defensive backfield could have. Lowenstein was a one platoon player in a two platoon game, a T formation passer in a single wing backfield, yet he was always an offensive threat and a credit to Harvard football.CRIMSONStephen S. ShohetBOB COWLES hauls down a pass during the indecisive first period of Saturday's game, which Harvard eventually won, 13 to 0.