Early in the fourth quarter the crowd was told of Dartmouth's victory over Princeton which made possible a Crimson Ivy championship. Harvard turned down the tile offer, however, as its frost-bitten fans watched in disbelief.
Rapp used up valuable minutes at the start of the final period with a slow but eventually fruitless ground game, and when the Crimson finally got the ball on its own 28 coach John Yovicsin sent in the hero of the Dartmouth contest, Bill Humenuk, to try to save The Game.
It was not a good day for passing, but Humenuk was willing to try. After Harshbarger had picked up only three yards on a charge through the middle, Humenuk dropped back to throw. His arm motion was impeded by the grasping hands of Bulldog guard Mike Benoit, however, and the wobbly toss went directly to Eli reserve center Tim Merrill.
Merrill ran to the Harvard three, and while a clipping penalty returned the ball to the Harvard 31, the Crimson was about finished. Rapp, Egloff, and Mercein moved the ball and the Eli linemen moved Harvard men easily. Egloff scored on another one yard plunge and Yale had a commanding 20-6 lead.
In its last chance with the ball Harvard grew daring and desperate. Bassett and Harshbarger worked their neat flare pass for 46 yards to set the ball on the Yale 27, by the next six plays gained only seven yards. Both Yale's defense and the clock were overwhelming, and no amount of double reversing and passing, screen or otherwise, could change the score.
Hundreds of little kids and thousands of Yalies swarmed on the field when the gun announced that Harvard was officially dead and the Ivy League title was the joint property of Dartmouth and Princeton. As the Crimson left, the large hollowed-out mole-hill that is the Bowl resounded with the primitive cry, "Bulldog, Bulldog, Bow Wow Wow!" A 'Cliffle said it was too cold to cry.