NEW HAVEN - Though Harvard's last two Ivy titles capped perfect seasons (9-0 in 2001, 10-0 in 2004), this one may have been sweeter because it was unexpected.
"Pretty much everybody had forgotten about us," said coach Tim Murphy, whose squad won its final seven games after losing two of its first three, both in the final 30 seconds.
What was most satisfying, Murphy said, was how the Crimson regrouped and ran the table.
"The resilience," he observed. "The fighting through adversity that we talk about all the time."
Spoiling the party
Yesterday marked the fourth straight time Harvard has spoiled an undefeated Yale team's bid for a perfect season, and it was by far the easiest victory. In 1968, the Crimson needed to score 16 points in the final 42 seconds to pull out a 29-29 draw. In 1974, they had to drive 95 yards to win with 15 seconds left, 21-16. In 1979, they slugged out a 22-7 decision. Yesterday's was the most one-sided Harvard victory in the series since the 36-0 wipeout here in 1914, and it could have been worse. Yale stopped the Crimson four times inside the 2 as time ran out in the first half. "There's no question our guys thought we could win," said Murphy, who's now 9-5 against the Bulldogs. "I don't think we saw this coming."
First was foremost
The indicators were there early that Yale was in for a rough day. The Bulldogs, who'd given up only 7 first-quarter points all season and allowed an average of 11 per game, conceded 7 in the first 68 seconds and 13 in the quarter . . . Maybe Harvard's football team should do what Dartmouth used to do for decades and play Yale here every year. Yesterday's triumph was the Crimson's fourth straight in the Bowl and its sixth in its last seven visits. If Bulldog wideout Eric Johnson hadn't made his fingertip catch with 29 seconds left in the 1999 contest, Harvard would have won seven in a row here . . . Yesterday's crowd of 57,248, many of whom got stuck in the usual ungodly traffic, was the biggest in the Bowl since 1989, when 59,263 turned up.
Load off McLeod
Yale junior tailback Mike McLeod, who clearly wasn't the same after he broke his right big toe at Pennsylvania last month, couldn't finish out the game, retiring after three quarters. "I don't have to hide anything now, it hurts," said McLeod, who was held without a touchdown for the first time in 19 games and kept to his fewest yards (50) since the next-to-last game (Princeton) of his freshman year. "It limits me. I was playing 60-70 percent. I know my limits and I can't run. I wasn't effective." McLeod, who'd scored three touchdowns at Harvard last year, rushed for more yards and touchdowns than every team in the league this season and is a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, which goes to the best offensive player in the playoff division.
Pickin' and grinnin'
Harvard cornerback Steve Williams closed out his career by taking down the school's interception record, which had stood for nearly six decades. His third-quarter pick off Matt Polhemus, his eighth of the season, made it 16 total, breaking the mark set by Ken O'Donnell (JFK's old pal) from 1946-48. If wideout Corey Mazza had caught a touchdown pass, he would have broken the career mark of 28 set by Carl Morris from 1999-2002.
