The Game, The Protest, The Darkness

There were protests, darkness, and fanfare in the stands at the Bowl on Nov. 23.  There was also a game, one of the best Harvard-Yale contests in history. (YWAA photos)

Years from now, those who chronicle the best of times of Yale football will scratch their heads figuring out how best to describe The Game, 2019.  On and off the field, in the stands and on the Bowl's new artificial turf, and under cloud cover and late-autumn dusk, this year's Harvard-Yale football game (the 136th Game, Yale's 147th squad) had just about everything.  

Books have been written about Yale-Harvard, even as recently as last year. Web pages have described Yale-Harvard traditions and pranks. Last year's Game was special because of the venue.  The Game was played at storied Fenway Park in downtown Boston. For Yale-Harvard, 2019, where will the chroniclers and college football historians start?

After tossing passes that seemed to soar far beyond his target receivers in the first half, Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings '20 gathered himself for the second half and led his teammates to a comeback for the ages.  In double overtime and under the glimmer of lights from a new scoreboard in a darkened Bowl, Yale beat Harvard, 50-43.  

Double overtime in darkness wasn't on the agenda.  Players roaming and wandering around the field squinting to find teammates and opposition is best explained by, well, the Protest. Yale's shocking turnaround and its effective offensive play (and one shrewdly executed on-sides kick after a late touchdown) were all enough to give The Game national attention.  But around the world (at least through various media), This Game became That Game because of The Protest.  As the Yale band marched off the field at half time, Harvard and Yale students, joined by others, in unison swarmed the field and settled themselves onto the "Y" at midfield. 

Some unveiled signs to explain they were protesting both universities' investments in companies in fossil-fuel industries.  Some protested the universities' response to the impact of climate change. A Bowl crowd of 45,000 watched, surprised but not shocked, because unusual, unexpected things happen at Harvard-Yale games. The Protest, which may have peaked with over 400 students, led to a silent stand-off, which led to an impasse and then to a looming question of whether the football contest would ever continue. When the Yale announcer requested demonstrators to leave the field, that only encouraged others to stream from the stands and dash to midfield to join the other participants. 

With the Harvard team too far ahead and the sun setting behind the press box, many in the old stadium departed. No one expected a Yale team to overcome a 17-point deficit, especially after a half-time intermission that stretched to almost 90 minutes. 

The third quarter ended as a Harvard first-year running back scampered down the sidelines one more time. (He scored four times on long runs. Yale defensive backs couldn't catch him.) For most, The Game would be over after the annual Saybrook strip show by Yale students, a traditional exhibition that appeared this year to be more X-rated than usual, perhaps because New Haven cops and Bowl security were already preoccupied with protest duties during the day. With the sun going down swiftly, Yale students offered comical assistance by flashing their cell-phone lights as if that might permit the stadium to be sufficiently lit. 

The tide turned. Rawlings, assisted by receivers Reed Klubnik and captain J.P. Shofi '20, turned a switch on and methodically led the team down the field for score after score--at the end of the game and during overtime. Rawlings passed for three touchdowns and 417 yards, a performance that deserves to be discussed for all-time. 

At a point when fans in the stands could hardly see beyond 10-20 rows because of the dark skies, they still could see a sharp glare from the scoreboard, which proclaimed Yale the victors after a failed fourth-down attempt by the Crimson in the second overtime. When the scoreboard atop the stadium showed 50-43 as a final, The Game and The Protests had now evolved into The Swarm. Yale students and other fans sprinted by the hundreds onto the smooth turf (which in past years would have been torn, brown and smelling of sweat) to celebrate. Yet another tradition which New Haven and Yale security officers permitted without any ado. 

The Yale Precision Marching Band celebrates the Yale residential colleges, 14 in all (YWAA photos)

The protesters took over the field just as the Yale band departed the field. (YWAA photos)

Yale students and fans celebrated in the darkness after the second overtime, after Yale beat Harvard, 50-43.(YWAA photos)

Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings '20 tossed the ball for 417 yards, leading the Bulldogs in a second half that could be remembered for years to come (YWAA photos)