The 1968 Harvard football squad (bottom right) entered The Game undefeated, 8-0. The 29-29 tie gave the Crimson a share of the Ivy League title that year.

The year was 1968. But in the midst of the chaos of the Vietnam War, a different battle was brewing. This one would take place on American soil—in Harvard Stadium.

Just as they do on every even-numbered year, the Yale Bulldogs were coming to Boston, this time to take on the Harvard Crimson in the 85th playing of The Game.

The clash of the storied rivals was one that dated back nearly a century and had ended the Bulldogs’ and Crimson’s schedules for nearly 70 years running. Even if the circumstances hadn’t lined up perfectly, The Game would have been huge.

“You could lose every game in the season, but it’s a winning season if you beat Yale,” said Harvard end receiver Bruce Freeman ’71.

But this meeting was different. The circumstances did line up.

And even 45 years later, the details are still clear in the minds of those who took the field that day.

A TALE OF TWO TEAMS

A scriptwriter couldn’t have created a better matchup. Entering The Game, both teams were 8-0, and the result of Saturday’s contest would determine the Ivy champion. But despite the parallel in record, the undefeated teams were anything but similar.

In one corner, there was Yale. At the helm was senior quarterback Brian Dowling, who had built up a legendary reputation across the country. Through eighth grade, high school, and collegiate football, Dowling had never lost a game that he finished. So entering The Game, Dowling was riding a nine-year self-assuredness high.

“I think you build up confidence throughout history, and I had confidence from high school and from my [college] teammates, so I just couldn’t wait to play each week,” Dowling said.

Lining up next to Dowling was halfback Calvin Hill. Named NFL Rookie of the Year in 1969 while with the Dallas Cowboys, Hill was the first Ivy League graduate to be drafted in the first round of the NFL.

“[Bulldogs coach] Carmen Cozza said that in his 32 years coaching at Yale, [Hill] was the only player he had that could have played all 22 positions,” Dowling said. “Some people say if you’ve got a shotgun, you shoot it. With Calvin, I just tried to get him the ball as much as possible. The more I could get him the ball, the better—he was such an incredible athlete.”

With Dowling and Hill leading the offense, Yale became unstoppable.

“More than anything else, it was exciting,” Bulldogs safety JP Goldsmith remembered. “We had the longest winning streak in the nation, we knew we were going to win, we had Dowling and Hill, and it just didn’t occur to us that we were going to lose.”

And with just one game left, Yale hadn’t lost yet. Predicted in the preseason to be the Ivy League champs, the Bulldogs were rolling coming into their final game of the season—the Elis had outscored every opponent before Harvard by at least two scores.