Harvard Beats Yale 31-24 in Thrilling 131st Edition of ‘The Game’

By Jeff Pini

November 22, 2014

2 minutes to read

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They don’t call it “The Game’’ for nothing.

After a low-scoring first half, Harvard and Yale battled through a thrilling final two quarters in their 131st meeting, won by Harvard 31-24 after a last-minute touchdown at Harvard Stadium.

Tied 24-24 after Yale scored 17 straight to erase a 17-point deficit, Harvard senior quarterback Conner Hempel hit junior wide receiver Andrew Fischer for a 35-yard touchdown to grab the game-winning score with 55 seconds to play in Harvard’s 58th win in the storied series.

Live from Cambridge this weekend, the ESPN College GameDay crew all went with Harvard in their pregame picks, with the exception of Lee Corso, who welcomed Handsome Dan, Yale’s live bulldog mascot, to the set before donning his oversized Bulldog mascot head as he picked Yale to win.

Harvard had a golden opportunity for seven points in the first quarter, when Ryan Jones blocked a Yale punt and Harvard took over just seven yards from the endzone. The Bulldog defense came up with a huge stop, however, holding Harvard to just a field goal as the Crimson scored the first points of the game.

Yale answered with 38 seconds to play in the first quarter, as Tyler Varga rushed in from six yards out for a touchdown and the Bulldogs jumped ahead 7-3.

Neither team would score again as the clock ran out on the first half.

Harvard came out of the locker room for the second half and took the opening kickoff all the way down the field, capping a 4:57 drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Paul Santon Jr.

The Crimson missed another chance to add to their lead with 7:20 to go in the third, as a field goal attempt by Andrew Flesher was blocked and Yale took over.

Harvard upped their lead to 17-7 off a well-executed fake reverse that saw wide receiver Seitu Smith II hit a wide open Fischer for a 40-yard touchdown that fooled the Yale defense. Yale then brought the ball down to the Harvard 10-yard line, but a 90-yard touchdown interception return for Harvard’s Connor Sheehan put the Crimson ahead by 17 with just four seconds to play until the fourth quarter.

Yale responded with the second touchdown run of the day for Varga to cut their deficit to 10. They scored another on an 8-yard catch by Varga with 8:21 to play, then completed the comeback to tie the game 24-24 with a field goal as 3:45 remained on the clock.

After Harvard took the lead, Yale tried one last drive to try and send the game to overtime, but it ended on the Harvard 32-yard line when Scott Peters intercepted a pass from Yale’s Morgan Roberts with 10 seconds left.

The win secured Harvard’s perfect 10-0 season, going 7-0 in conference to capture the Ivy League championship. Yale could have claimed a share of the title with a win, but finished their season with an 8-2 overall record, while going 5-2 in Ivy League play.