Another key conversion came on a fourth-and-three from the Yale 36 when, with the Bulldogs crowd roaring, Shelton-Mosley outraced his defender for a 34-yard gain. The effort cashed out three plays later when senior tight end Ryan Halvorson tied the score at 14-14 with a third-down score.{shortcode-ed33d0cce649063f1c386bd6b22c8d859dd18487}
After a four-turnover loss against Penn last week, Harvard did not commit one against Yale. Senior quarterback Joe Viviano finished 16-of-28 for 181 yards, and the team’s rushing attack totaled 148 yards on 36 tries.
Still, the Crimson crippled itself with self-inflicted wounds—in this case a missed field goal. With the score tied at 14 early in the fourth quarter, Harvard marched 79 yards into the red zone. However, a holding penalty backed up the offense.
Ultimately freshman kicker Jake McIntyre trotted out and sent a 35-yard attempt wide left, the second misfire of his career.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs benefitted from slick special teams play. Before the onside kick, Yale nailed a trick play on fourth-and-four near the end of the first half. Holder Andrew Johnson took the snap and stepped forward a few yards—only to toss the ball to senior tight end Leo Haenni.
The Tebow-esque completion pushed Yale inside the red zone for the first time all day. With 27 seconds to play in the half, Bulldogs freshman running back Alan Lamar burst forward for a one-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
That excitement followed a slow first quarter in which neither team drove past the opponent’s 40. The Crimson won the field-position battle, pinning the Bulldogs offense inside the 20 on three consecutive positions.
{shortcode-8e32e7abdccc9f6c809172f3880f2729de03a333} However, the Harvard offense failed to advantage of the favorable conditions. Viviano did not complete a pass in the opening period, and at the end of 15 minutes, the score still stood at 0-0.
“[This] reality is something we haven’t experienced in a long time,” Murphy said. “You can put it all out there, you can work as hard as you can, you can believe, and when you do that, you still risk getting your heart broken. That’s certainly what happened today.”
—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.