NEW HAVEN - The football archives at Yale date to 1872, and the rushing section is crammed with all manner of Hills and Dianas and Jaurons and Carrs. Too many to thumb through to determine where a man might rank. "I never really look at the record book," says Mike McLeod, who has spent the better part of three years rewriting it. "People always tell me."
Those who focus on history have been updating the Bulldogs' chart-busting tailback on a weekly basis recently. With one game left in his junior season - The Game against archrival Harvard at the Bowl Saturday - McLeod already has set career marks for touchdowns (48), rushing attempts (797) and yards (3,622), and all-purpose yards (4,373), plus the season (1,569) and game (276) marks for rushing yards.
McLeod downplays the numbers, particularly the career records. "Most of the guys who held them only got to play for three years because freshmen weren't eligible," he points out. "You have to put that in perspective."
It wasn't as though McLeod set out in September to scribble his name at the top of every ballcarrying list. "The only goal I set was that I wanted to contribute to the team in a positive way," he says, "and help us to a 10-0 season."
If Yale wins its finale, it'll be the first Blue squad to go 10-0 since the 1909 varsity, which didn't allow a point, won the national championship, and had six men named All-American. Since they won at Princeton last Saturday, McLeod and his teammates have been regaled with tales of bygone days. "We hear the history pretty much every single day," he says.
Yet even though McLeod lived just up the road in New Britain and came down occasionally, he didn't know much about Yale lore. "Things as simple as Walter Camp inventing football and being a New Britain native," he says. "That came as a huge surprise."
Camp, of course, is foremost among Bulldog immortals. The gate dedicated to him next to the field house is only slightly less grand than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was Camp who put Yale on the map in the 19th century. Now, after a couple of undulating decades, the 11th-ranked Bulldogs are back on the growl.
Last year, they shared the Ivy League title with Princeton. By beating Harvard, which Yale hasn't done here since 1999, they would win the crown outright for the first time since 1980. "It shows we're getting things done," says McLeod, whose mates have won 17 of their last 19. "We've brought back the tradition of Yale as a football school."
The central figure
McLeod has been a huge factor in the turnaround. He's also the reason Yale has evolved into a running team. "Mike has clearly changed our offense," says coach Jack Siedlecki. "Before he got here, we were throwing the football all over the place."This year, the Bulldogs have had their fewest passing attempts in 16 years, and quarterback Matt Polhemus has tucked and run so often he ranks eighth in the league in rushing. "The offense is going to control the ball, march it down, and limit the opportunity of the other team to make plays," says McLeod. "If they don't have the ball, they can't do anything."
McLeod, who leads the nation in rushing yardage (174.3 per game), does most of the marching, averaging 34 carries a game, and he's rushed for more yards and touchdowns than every other team in the league. And since the Pennsylvania game four weekends ago, McLeod has been doing it with a broken big right toe, which has slowed him only modestly.
"Our trainer told me that I couldn't hurt it any more than I already had," he says. "Once I heard that, I ran on it as hard as I ever would. Our offense isn't going to change, and I can take it."
The twinges McLeod gets from the toe are nothing like the pounding he's been taking week after week. Now that opponents know Yale no longer puts on an aerial circus, they've painted an enormous bull's-eye on the tailback's chest. "Not until this year did I know they would stack the box," he says.
Not that it has deterred McLeod from busting into and through it. Every week, he's gained more than 100 yards, four times going over 150 and twice over 250. Every week, he's scored a touchdown (a league-record 18 straight games), managing at least three on five Saturdays, including five against Holy Cross.
"He's an incredible back," says Harvard coach Tim Murphy, who has watched McLeod gain 178 yards and score four touchdowns in two games against his defense. "I don't think I've ever seen him take negative yardage. Whenever he's hit, it's plus-3 from there."
Especially if it's third and 2. Yale doesn't lead the nation in possession time (35 minutes 3 seconds per game) by accident. "He's a determined back and he does not want to lose," testifies Polhemus. "You'll see him run over guys when we need a first down. In the huddle, you can see it in his eyes. He wants the ball."
McLeod was used to getting it at New Britain High, where he scored 39 touchdowns as a senior (including eight against Manchester), led his teammates to the state title, and was named Connecticut player of the year. That drew interest from the likes of Notre Dame, Penn State, and UConn, but he and his parents decided Camp's alma mater was the best option.
A strong statement
McLeod figured he'd still have to put in an apprenticeship at Yale, and that was fine with him. "I knew I wasn't going to get the ball too much freshman year," he says. "But it was good to ease into the system without having it all on your back."In his debut at San Diego, McLeod picked up 102 yards on only eight carries. Then reality hit against Cornell. "I had 66 on 22 carries," McLeod recalls. "That was a shock to me. Those guys were just flying around. That's when I knew what college football was about."
McLeod also knew he had to get bigger and stronger to hold up under weekly pummelings, and his upper body, including Popeye-like biceps, now is built for battering. And as his workload has grown (only once in two years has he had fewer than 25 carries), McLeod's numbers have soared, as has his rep.
Another year like this one and he could end up in the NFL, as former Yale running backs Calvin Hill, Rich Diana, Dick Jauron, Chuck Mercein, and a few others did. "If it comes one day, I'd love to play in the NFL, but you never know with football," McLeod says. "But it's comforting to know that if I want to play at the next level, there are people from my school who have done it."
Come Saturday, he'll get a chance to do something none of them did - beat Harvard to close out a perfect season. There are some accomplishments around this place that aren't listed in the record book.
John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com.
