The Game Becomes Yale's Game

Yale had little difficulty in securing its 24-3 victory over Harvard in the 2017 Game. (YWAA photos)

Clouds hovered over the Yale Bowl all day. The day was gray, chilly.  Rain threatened for much of the afternoon, until drops poured over the crowd in the late afternoon.  As gloomy as the setting appeared, it turned out to be Yale's day.

For the second year in a row (the start of a long streak?), in front of a Bowl crowd of 51,424, Yale stopped Harvard and won the 134th edition of The Game at the Yale Bowl.  For the second year in a row, thousands of Yale students, young alumni, maybe a few elderly alumni, fans, followers, parents and siblings counted down the clock to zero and sprinted onto the Bowl's torn, ripped-up, late-fall turf to celebrate. They leaped, pranced, sang, and hugged each other. This could grow into a beloved habit, a decade-long tradition.

Yale, in fact, on the field trounced Harvard, 24-3. Thanks to a defense that twice smothered a confused Harvard backfield and recovered two fumbles in Harvard territory, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-3 in the second quarter.  And The Game was hardly in doubt after that.

Fans didn't get to see a close, nail-biting, nip-and-tuck skirmish.  And they didn't get to see the outstanding first-year running back Zane Dudek '21 scamper for long runs down the sideline. There was minimal drama, beyond Yale Coach Tony Reno finding moments with minutes to go to permit everybody to enter the game. This was still Yale's day.

Yale calls this "Team 145," a squad that features large numbers from football hotbeds in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.  (Team 145 includes no participants from Westchester.  Is Westchester no longer a favorite recruiting ground for Ivy talent?)  Dudek, who scored a late touchdown, hails from Pennsylvania.  JP Shohfi '20, a receiver, who snagged an end-zone fade pass for a touchdown in the second quarter, is from California. 

Quarterback Kurt Rawlings '20, who tossed the perfect arc of a pass to Shohfi, is from Maryland. Malcolm Dixon '20, who scooped up a Harvard fumble and raced 19 yards for a score, is from California.

In the stands for the first time, Yale students had to push each other to make cheering space for residents from two new colleges:  Pauli Murray and Franklin Colleges.  At the Yale-Harvard game, Yale students sit in residential-college sections and raise their college flags.  For the first time, flags were raised for Murray and Franklin. 

On the field at halftime, the Yale Band celebrates the colleges, and band members run around on the field waving college banners.  For the first time, 14 banners (including those from Murray and Franklin), not 12, were waved amidst the band's formations.

This being the Ivy League, the band did something Ivy League.  It paid tribute to departing Harvard president Drew Faust by playing in her honor a special composition by Yale music director Thomas Duffy.  The piece featured the notes D, G, and F, representing her initials. A band emcee explained the musical motive on the public-address system.

The same band, of course, at the end of the third quarter, provided the soundtrack to the enduring Yale tradition at The Game--the Saybrook (or Pierson, many years ago) strip, where dozens of students cast aside clothing to celebrate (a) the Yale-Harvard game, (b) Yale being a Yale, (c) a football tradition that dates back to the 1970's, and (d) youthful freedom to perform gestures in public (and on national television). Officials hurried over to the section to observe whether any students would go too far. (Unlike last year, students weren't escorted out of the stadium.) 

Back on the field, this Game meant Yale wins the Ivy League championship outright for the first time since 1980.  Team 145 finished the season at 9-1, one of the best years ever.

In the 1980 Game in Harvard Stadium, Yale beat Harvard, 14-0, and, yes, back then, Yale band members ran in random directions waving residential-college flags, Harvard students taunted and teased their Yale counterparts, a dozen or so Yale students stripped in the third quarter, and a few thousand Yale followers dashed onto the wet, cold, trampled turf when the clock wound down.  

Traditions at Yale don't die. They go on and on, or they resurface, reappear, and thrive.

AYA's Alumni Village with free hot dogs, cider, clam chowder and pop corn for Yale alumni is now part of The Game tradition (YWAA photos)

Gray skies and threatening rain didn't damper Yale students and alumni spirits (YWAA photos)

By mid-second quarter, over 51,000 fans had found their way into the Bowl, as Yale took a 14-3 lead (YWAA photos)

Yale will add another Ivy Champ banner for the 2018 season (YWAA photos)

Harvard scored first in The Game, and then its offense disappeared for the afternoon (YWAA photos)

The Yale Band played a tribute to the outgoing Harvard president and, of course, taunted Harvard during its halftime show. (YWAA photos)

As sure as it's November on the calendar, if Yale wins, its following will race onto and storm the field if the Bulldogs win (YWAA photos)

The flag-waving parade on the field at halftime now includes banners from the new Murray and Franklin colleges. (YWAA photos)

Yale beat Harvard for only the third time since 2000. (YWAA photos)