4 Years, 3 Wins, 1 Game

At a school where brains trump brawn, where final exams take precedence over national championships, and where a play by William Shakespeare is often a bigger draw than a play by Crimson back Steven Williams, there is one annual anomaly that brings the Harvard student body together in the name of sports: The Game.

The final whistle’s sound each November cements the memories. Thanks to a league ban on postseason playoffs, there is no chance to change history—no conference title contest, bowl game, or national championship. The memories linger with coaches, players, and fans­—exultant or despondent, sweet or sour.

For the Class of 2008, those reminiscences are largely happy ones. Not only did the Crimson team win three of the four Harvard-Yale matchups, bookending their careers with Ivy championships, but they also helped produce some of the most memorable triumphs in Harvard history.

The Class of 2008’s introduction to Harvard-Yale could not have been more perfect. The Crimson, which took the field with a 9-0 record, had clinched the league title. The team was looking to win 10 games and to finish the season undefeated, a feat that Harvard football had not achieved for a century. With a soon-to-be NFL draftee, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05, at the helm, and a young but dazzling Clifton Dawson ’07 in the backfield, the Bulldogs hardly stood a chance.

By the time most of the crowd pulled itself away from the Ohiri Field tailgate, Harvard had turned The Game into a rout, taking a 21-0 lead after a 53-yard punt return by wide receiver Brian Edwards ’05 and a 100-yard interception return by safety Ricky Williamson ’05. Yale would chip in a field goal late in the first half to avert a shutout, but a vicious Crimson defense and almost 200 yards of total offense from Fitzpatrick brought the fans over the (surprisingly high!) walls of the stadium and onto the field to celebrate a 35-3 blowout and the greatest season in modern Harvard history.

Could the Class of 2008 outdo itself in its sophomore season?

As alumni streamed into the Yale Bowl for the 122nd Game, even a share of the Ivy League title was out of reach. Brown, despite having lost to the Crimson in double-overtime, was a lock to win the crown outright.

Nevertheless, the most dramatic moments of the league’s season took place in New Haven on that blustery day. The Crimson fell behind 21-3 before quarterback Liam O’Hagan ’08 found Dawson for a 16-yard pass to shave the deficit to 11. Williams returned an interception 18 yards early in the fourth quarter to bring Harvard within five points after a missed two-point conversion attempt. Yale added a field goal to push its lead to eight, but the Crimson, boosted by raucous fans, would not be quelled, registering a touchdown with just 3:37 remaining and tacking on a two-point rush by O’Hagan to tie the game.

The squads entered overtime as the sun set on the unlit Yale Bowl and the crowd started to lose sight of the ball. A missed field goal, an interception, and two fumbles kept both sides from scoring in the first two extra periods. Would the epic clash ever end, or would the failing light force a tie for the first time since 1968?

Perhaps the spirit of The Game, unwilling to suffer such a travesty, then took over. Defensive tackle Michael Berg ’07 intercepted Bulldogs quarterback Jeff Mroz on first down, giving the Crimson another chance to clinch the game. And as he did many times in his career, Dawson delivered, rushing three times for eight yards on the final three plays of the contest to clinch The Game for Harvard in triple-overtime, sending the crowd of 53,213 into a frenzy.

Two for two, Class of 2008.

2006 was a year to forget. With the football team hampered by several personal controversies that produced three team suspensions and two dismissals, Yale romped to a 34-13 victory, leaving the somber Harvard footballers and the sober Crimson fans (thanks to a College crackdown on alcohol at the tailgate) aching for memories of years past.

No matter. 2007 would be a year of sweet, sweet revenge.

It didn’t start off looking that way. Much like Harvard in 2004, this season’s Yale squad built a 9-0 record en route to the 124th edition of The Game, demolishing its opponents and setting itself up for a perfect season and an Ivy championship.

And though Cambridge fans reveled in their school’s first-ever game under the lights last fall, it hardly looked like their squad would stand much of a chance against the New Haven juggernaut later in the season.

Both teams boasted 6-0 league records going into last year’s Game, for the first time since 1968. The stage was set for a historic battle, but most of the bookies weren’t giving Harvard much of a chance.

Forgive the crowd, then, for straggling at the tailgate as The Game began. Little did anyone realize that the Crimson would open the scoring just 1:08 into the contest and build up a 27-0 lead by halftime.

As the final whistle blew on a 37-6 Crimson victory and another Ivy title for Harvard’s Class of 2008, the fans jumped over the (much shorter!) Yale Bowl walls to celebrate. They may not have been celebrating a national championship, but you would be hard-pressed to find a more jubilant crowd anywhere in the country. For the Class of 2008, there could be little more satisfying.