Categories
Uncategorized

Harvard Notes

The Yale Bulldogs won the 2019 Ivy League Championship with a stunning double overtime victory over the Harvard Crimson.  Congratulations to the players and coaches of Team 147 on an unbelievable season to remember!

The offense came out swinging with a 51 yard passing play to Sandifer on the first play from scrimmage.  Harvard’s stout defense clamped down on the Elis forcing a field goal on that possession and limiting Yale to just 3 points until the second half.  With Harvard up 22-3 in the third quarter, the Yale offense responded to the pressure by simply slicing apart the Crimson defense.  Rawlings’ quick feet and golden arm were on display as he avoided pressure, chewed up yardage in the ground game and delivered perfect strikes through the air.  Rawlings finished with 417 passing yards, 62 yards rushing, 3 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.  Shohfi and Klubnik cemented their status as the best Yale receiving duo of all time.  Shohfi battled through an injury all day and caught every ball remotely close to him.  Klubnik roasted defensive backs and racked up much needed yards after the catch.  The two-headed monster of Shohfi and Klubnik combined for 244 receiving yards and a touchdown, but even that gaudy stat line doesn’t begin to show how clutch these players were down the stretch.  Herring, Tipton and Sandifer had their best performances of their careers when we needed them most.  The offensive line had some early struggles against Harvard’s defensive line, yet the Bulldogs wore them down and were able to provide Rawlings with nice protection in the second half and overtime.  Tribble suffered a serious injury and was carted off of the field.  Cepalia stepped in and the offense didn’t miss a beat.  Dudek had nifty runs to keep the chains moving and a stellar overtime touchdown, while Lamar was phenomenal catching balls out of the backfield.

Poor tackling and even worse open field angles allowed Harvard’s freshman running back Borguet to rush for 269 yards and 4 touchdowns.  Harvard scored very quickly on drives giving much needed time for the Yale offense to operate in the second half.  The defensive line and linebackers harassed Smith for much of the day with sacks from Sampleton, Goodyear and Burke.  Rouse was spectacular with an interception and numerous big hits.  In the second overtime, Dean made a crucial tackle on 3rd down forcing Harvard into a do-or-die fourth down attempt.  Harvard opted to put the ball in BJ Watson’s hands, however, Burke and Thomas read the play perfectly and each got a shot on Watson as he fell short of the first down marker.  The defense stepped up to the challenge in critical moments to seal the victory.

Sam Tuckerman will go down as the best onside kicker in Ivy League history.  We saw his skill in that department versus Richmond, but no onside kick was bigger than the one Klubnik recovered in The Game.  Harvard actually executed their onside return scheme effectively with the front line acting as blockers, however, they didn’t account for a better receiver from Texas stepping in front of their Texan wideout.  Bosman averaged over 35 yards per punt and delivered excellent hang time on the punt that Harvard dropped. 

The Curse of Cozza lives on!

20 replies on “Harvard Notes”

I noticed from the TV broadcast that Murphy never, not once, looked comfortable or relaxed, even leading 36-19 in the final quarter. He was no doubt concerned about our offense’s propensity for exploding for bunches of points, which proved well founded. Still, it was very surprising Murphy tried on onside kick immediately after his squad made it 36-19, an attempt to salt the game away that backfired when we recovered, started in their territory, and Sam T. kicked the FG that got the comeback started.

Harvard’s onside kick was not a surprise, in my opinion. They had just scored on a long run by the freshman to go ahead by 17. Thanks to some stupidity at the end of that play (a recurring theme that I won’t get into now), a 15-yard penalty was enforced on the kickoff.
So, Harvard was kicking off from the 50 yard line. What would be gained by booting the ball through the end zone? Nothing – Yale would start at the 25. Pooching for a fair catch? Yale starts at the 25. In short, there’s few scenarios where Yale starts their drive any worse than their own 25. So, why not try an onside kick, because the two most likely outcomes are: (1) Yale starts around their own 35 (not a significantly worse outcome than a regular kickoff would produce), and (2) Harvard recovers in Yale territory and can put The Game on ice.
It was definitely worth the risk.
Of course, it didn’t work out quite that well for Harvard, both on that play and throughout the rest of The Game. Thank goodness for that!

You’re absolutely right Voy Vey, I hadn’t noticed that kickoff was from the 50, probably because I watched the Spanish broadcast. Makes total sense. We had a nice return on it.

If the game had been called in OT, still tied, on account of darkness, would it have been declared over, a permanent tie? Could the game have been finished on another day? And how long were the officials prepared to let the game go?

Tim Murphy on the sidelines always looks like he just lost his grandmother, but maybe he was thinking. “How did we ever lose to Columbia?”

A great article comparing the recruitment of the class of ‘82 to the class of ‘2020. I was saddened to read Serge Milhaly passed away last month. at age 59. I had the privilege to meet him a few years ago at a networking event. Rich Diana is right, he was the nicest guy you could ever meet. He told me stories of the great win against Navy. May he Rest In Peace.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.middletownpress.com/sports/amp/Jeff-Jacobs-Yale-football-players-are-brothers-14854198.php

I didn’t meet any of the ’81 players, but did interview and spend time with lots of guys in ’84 and ’85. QB Mike Curtin and WR Kevin Moriarity were great guys, DB Mike Tjarksen was funny. PK Bill Moore was cool and P Hank Eaton was funny, a former DB who got so fired up during games a teammate called him “our madman punter”.

Yale , would have represented well. Holy Cross , and Central Connecticut got their behinds ,handed to them.

It looks like we lost the kid from Washington State the quarterback I don’t see him on the list on 247. Is there any other news on any other recruits coming in.

It used to be that Coach Reno did not send out the Football Newsletter after the Harvard game if we lost. Has he forgotten The Game already?
WHERE IS THE NEWSLETTER?

After watching the 4th quarter and OT on YouTube for the 100th time, I have a question.

What was with the throwing of helmets to celebrate the win? I have never seen that before. All I kept saying to myself was, don’t hit anyone by mistake.

Perhaps a more dangerous/expensive (What if someone is struck by or makes off with your helm?) variation on grads of the service academies tossing their “covers.”

Comments are closed.