NEW HAVEN - Yale captain Brandt Hollander dropped the word "pantheon" at yesterday's weekly football luncheon here, and if he and his teammates can complete a perfect season by beating archrival Harvard at Yale Bowl Saturday, they'll be immortals down at Mory's.
Besides going undefeated and untied for the first time since 1960, the Bulldogs would become the first Yale varsity to win 10 games since the 1909 team, which was unscored upon and won the national title. Not that coach Jack Siedlecki has had his men thumbing through the history book.
"The kids know," he said. "I don't have to say a word. They're pretty bright."
Nobody has had to mention what happened the last three times Yale entered The Game unbeaten. The 1979 team was upset here by a Crimson squad that had won only two games. The 1974 team lost at the Stadium with 15 seconds to play as Hawaiian quarterback Milt Holt drove Harvard 95 yards. And the 1968 team was "beaten," 29-29 (if you accept Cantabrigian accounting) when Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds.
That was the last time both schools were unbeaten coming into the finale. And if it weren't for two plays in the final 30 seconds against Holy Cross and Lehigh, it could have happened again this time.
"They are a scoop-and-score and a Hail Mary pass from being 9-0," observed Siedlecki.
The Crimson, who have won their last six games, have more to play for than merely marring another flawless Yale season. A victory would give them their fourth outright Ivy title since 1997. The Bulldogs, who shared last year's crown with Princeton, haven't won it alone since 1980.
Attracting a crowd
If Saturday's game attracts a crowd of around 60,000, as expected, it'll be the fullest the Bowl has been since 1983, when 70,600 turned out for the 100th meeting of the schools. Attendance for the Harvard game has been on the upswing since the low point of 26,064 in 1997, when Yale lost nine games. Two years ago, more than 53,000 watched Harvard beat Yale (and darkness) in triple overtime . . . How even has the series been since 1968? Dead even, with 19 victories for each side. The pendulum usually takes several years to swing, though. Until Yale won last year, Harvard had won five straight. Before that, Yale had won three in a row after losing three in a row.Home hazards
This is one rivalry in which it pays to be the visitor. Harvard has won three straight at the Bowl and five of the last six. Yale has won six of the last 10 at the Stadium, including last year's 34-13 victory for a piece of the Ivy crown. Why doesn't home cooking count for more? "[Predecessor] Carm Cozza told me when I got here," said Siedlecki. "There are a lot of distractions in the game when you play at home, tickets being the first one. Your kids are on campus with all the hoopla and it's tough to get a night's sleep. There's something to be said for being in a hotel on the road, especially in a game like this." . . . Both schools will have Massachusetts residents at QB: North Chatham's Matt Polhemus for Yale, Reading's Chris Pizzotti for Harvard. Yale is 17-2 with Polhemus at the helm and Harvard is 10-1 when Pizzotti starts.Looking back
It's a big anniversary year for H-Y lore. It's been 55 seasons since Bulldog manager Charlie Yeager caught a conversion pass to cap a 41-14 rout at the Stadium. It's been 50 since Yale administered a 54-0 drubbing at the Bowl, the most lopsided decision in series history. ("This will never happen again," vowed Harvard president Nate Pusey.) It's been 20 since Harvard won its second outright Ivy title (amid a sub-zero wind chill in New Haven) and 10 since it claimed its third. And it's been 25 since an exploding balloon was planted by MIT pranksters beneath the Stadium turf.Harvard at Yale
What: 124th version of The Game
When: Saturday, noon
Where: New Haven
TV/radio: Ch. 56, WWZN (1510), WHRB-FM (95.3)
