Yale Nukes Harvard, 30-27; Penn Left Atop the Ivy Pile

A visiting Yale squad upset Harvard, 30-27, before more than 40,000 fans today in the Stadium.

The Bulldogs scored The Game's winning points on a fourth down, 1-yard leap by sophomore Led Macauley with less than 5 minutes to play.

The touchdown came after Harvard had stopped the Elis on three plays from inside the 10, and just one series after the Crimson had field off a furious Bulldog scoring attempt.

As a result of Yale's come-from-behind victory in The Game--its first win over Harvard since 1981--the two squads tied for second place in the Ivy League, both finishing 5-2.

The University of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, became the League's first undefeated champion since Dartmouth did it in 1970, by toppling Cornell, 24-0, in Ithaca, New York.

Yale's win over Harvard today didn't look likely from the way the game started.

On its third play from scrimmage the Crimson struck. Quarterback Brian White hit tailback Mark Vignali with Harvard's longest touchdown pass of the year (35 yards) for the opening score. Rob Steinberg added the point after, and at 3:41, Harvard led 7-0.

Just two and a half minutes later, the Crimson got the ball back on the Yale 15 when Eli punter Hank Eaton fumbled the snap.

Vignali got the call from Harvard Coach Joe Restic, and after rumbling up the middle for 12 yards on the first play, he swept in from the 3 on the next play for his--and Harvard's--second score.

Steinberg's extra point put Harvard up 14-0, 5-48 into the game.

Yale got its first big break midway through the first stanza when Crimson punt returner Chuck Shirey fumbled a kick and Eli McKenna covered the ball at the Harvard 25.

Yale capitalized with a 7-play drive, capped by Paul Spivack's 3-yard-scoring scamper off left tackle at 12:25.

With time winding down in the first quarter, the Elis continued to take advantage of Harvard mistakes.

Harvard sophomore wingback George Sorbara fumbled Bill Moore's low, line-drive kickoff after the visitors' first score.

Four plays later, Moore connected on a 34 yard field goal into the wind, cutting the Harvard lead to 14 to with 33 seconds left in the quarter. Harvard had built its 4-point lead despite the fact that Yale had the ball for almost the entire 15 minutes (Yale, 12:39, Harvard, 2:21).

But Harvard's lead was as temporary as the stands in the end zone.

Although he had carried the ball just 18 times coming into The Game, Spivack got his second score of the day at 9:38 of the second quarter.

The key play of the 8-play, 67-yard drive was a 38-yard bullet from Eli quarterback Mike Curtin to Kevin Moriarty.

The Moore conversion gave Yale a 17-14 advantage.

Bulldog Coach Carm Cozza caught the Crimson napping and particularly Brain Cooke with a surprise onside kick following the score.

Mike Flannery recovered the kick off Cooke's chest at the Harvard 42.

After the Crimson defense stymied the Yale running game. Moore hit again, this time on a 44-yard field goal for his longest 3-pointer of the year.

Mistakes continued to plague the Crimson in the second half. In fact, less than a minute into the third periods, a swarming Eli defense caused a White fumble at his own 30.

Lucky for Harvard, though, the Bulldogs failed to advance the ball and Harvard took over, still down by 4 but with plenty of time still to go.

And it didn't take the Crimson long to get back on top. White moved his troops 72 yards on 6 plays in 2:17, with the touchdown coming on a 52-yard scoring strike from the junior quarterback to junior fullback Robert Santiago.

The touchdown pass--which replaced the earlier touchdown as the longest Harvard score of the year--and the ensuing extra point gave the Crimson a 21-20 lead.

The next time the Crimson touched the ball, White capped a 60-yard, 6-play drive with a 16-yard scamper around left end. Yet, after 20 straight successful PATs, Steinberg missed his first of the year and Harvard was holding a precarious 27-20 lead.

The Crimson then held off a furious Yale effort, stalling the Elis after they had moved the ball 70 yards. On fourth and goal from the 2, Harvard defensive end Steve Anderson sacked Curtin for a 13-yard loss.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to 27-23, though, with 13 minutes to play after they couldn't advance a Santiago fumble. Moore provided the three points on a 30-yard field goal.