Starting in 1875, the Harvard vs Yale football game has since become one of the most iconic rivalries in the sport. And, this year’s Harvard Crimson’s season has been one for the ages, as they have had only one loss, which came against Brown. They are currently at the top of the Ivy league standings, where they stand 5-1.
In their game against UPenn last week, they had a stunning two-touchdown comeback to win. This comeback is a result of Charles DePrima having a legacy game, as he led the team in rushing with 122 yards and passing with 169 yards. DePrima had a great game the week before, having a rushing and receiving touchdown. Another player who has had a great stretch of games so far is receiver Cooper Barkate. Barkate had a touchdown against Columbia and had 11 catches for 129 yards. These two players have helped put Harvard at the 20th ranking on the FCS poll rankings. When asked about the game, junior Jack Germain stated, “Harvard is going to beat Yale by a lot this year.”
The Yale Bulldogs have had a good albeit weaker season than Harvard, with a record of 6-3 following a good team win vs Princeton. Two key players in their win were their quarterback Blaine Hipa and running back Ethan Clark. Hipa threw for an astonishing 267 yards while having a touchdown and an interception. Clark had 12 rushes for 79 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 4 catches for 55 yards. The craziest part about this game is that Hipa is Yale’s backup quarterback.
Grant Jordan, Yale’s starting quarterback is set to play in the Harvard game. In the last game he played, he had seven total touchdowns. Yale’s three losses this year were all within 3 points, except their Cornell game because they lost by 24 points.
One of the most impressive things about this Yale team thus far is that they demolished a Brown team that Harvard lost too. As mentioned before, Grant Jordan played his heart out and had seven total touchdowns with a mind-blowing 393 yards of total offense. Out of those 393 yards, 372 of them were passing while 21 were rushing. When senior Adam Healey was asked about Yale’s chances, he said, “Yales been looking very dangerous lately and they seem as though they can pull through in a tough matchup vs Harvard in their upcoming game.”
With the stakes of this Saturday’s game being as high as they are, is this the biggest game in the history of their rivalry? Well for the impact of the rest of both teams’ seasons, it may be. But the biggest game that has so far taken place was in 1968. With over 40,000 people in the stands, Yale took a commanding lead over Harvard throughout the game. But with 42 seconds left, Harvard put up eight points to add to their 13. Then Harvard went for the onside kick and recovered it, giving them the ball. Harvard scraped down the field with little time and tied the game. The game did not proceed to overtime and ended 29-29. Many people call the result of this game “Harvard beats Yale, 29-29” because of Harvard’s historic comeback. Fun fact, ESPN ranked this game to be the 9th most exciting tie in college football history.
The winner of this game will depend on if both team’s impact players have a hot start. Harvard’s impact players include Charles Deprima, Cooper Barkate, Jaden Craig, Ty Bartum, and Eric Little. Yale’s impact players include Grant Jordan, David Pantells, Joshua Pitsenberger, Abu Kamara, and Joshua Toliver.
Harvard currently holds the number one spot in the Ivy league standings, with a conference record of 8-1. Despite Yale being 4th in the Ivy league standings with a record of 6-3, they have shown flashes of greatness throughout the season.
