American Football Database
American Football Database
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"Harvard Beats Yale, 29–29"
1 2 3 4 Total
Yale Bulldogs football 7 15 0 7 14
Harvard Crimson football 0 6 7 16 29
Date November 23, 1968
Stadium Harvard Stadium
Location Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance 40,280
United States TV coverage
Network WHDH Radio-TV network
Announcers Don Gillis

Ken Coleman

The 1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game was a college football game between the Yale Bulldogs and the Harvard Crimson, played on November 23, 1968. The game ended in a 29–29 tie[1] after Harvard made what is considered a miraculous last-moment comeback, scoring 16 points in the final 42 seconds to tie the game against a highly touted Yale squad.[2] The significance of the moral victory for Harvard inspired the next day's Harvard Crimson student newspaper to print the famous headline "Harvard Beats Yale, 29–29".[3] In 2010, ESPN ranked it No. 9 in its list of the top ten college football ties of all time.[4]

Yale came into the game with a 16-game winning streak and its quarterback, Brian Dowling, had only lost one game when he was in the starting lineup since the sixth grade. Both schools entered the game with perfect 8–0 records.[5] It was the first time both schools met when undefeated and untied since the 1909 season.[6]

The tie left both teams 8–0–1 for the season. The famous headline was later used as the title for Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, a 2008 documentary about the game directed by Kevin Rafferty.[7][8]

This game stands as the final tie in the Harvard–Yale series, as subsequent rule changes have eliminated ties from college football.[9]

See also[]

References[]

  1. DeLassus, David. "Harvard Yearly Results (1965-1969)". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/ivyleague/harvard/yearly_results.php?year=1965. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  2. Daugherty, Duffy (November 26, 1968). "Catch-Up Football Often Leads to a Lopsided Game (Duffy calls 'em)". The Telegraph-Herald. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KGJFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LrwMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6536,1572028&dq=harvard+yale+football&hl=en. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  3. "Harvard Beats Yale"
  4. Maisel, Ivan (June 28, 2010). "Ties sparked controversy, debate". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=5334960. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  5. "Heart Stoppers and Hail Marys: Yale vs. Harvard". University of Notre Dame. http://www.nd.edu/~tmandell/harvard.html. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  6. Eldridge, Larry (November 21, 1968). "The Game Stirs Grid Fans". The Day. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Qv4gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3XUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5058,3491145&dq=harvard+yale+football&hl=en. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  7. Dargis, Manohla (November 18, 2008). "Back in 1968, When a Tie Was No Tie". The New York Times. https://movies.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/movies/19harv.html. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  8. Documentary Archived 2009-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. https://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2006-08-24-overtime_x.htm. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
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