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Updated November 22, 2025, at 4:53 p.m.

No. 10 Harvard (9-1, 6-1 Ivy) collapsed against No. 25 Yale (8-2, 6-1 Ivy) for the fourth straight year in a humiliating 45-28 defeat — its first loss this season and a stunning upset in a game that was ugly from the start.

“They came out there and they did everything that we had been doing for nine weeks,” Head Coach Andrew Aurich said. “What they did, that was really impressive.”

On the first play of The Game, Harvard lined up on its own 15-yard line, looking to start off strong and earn redemption after three consecutive losses to the Bulldogs. Senior quarterback Jaden Craig shot off a quick pass to senior Dean Boyd before the ball slipped out of Boyd’s grasp — and right into the hand of Yale defender Brandon Webster.

From there, everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

With the loss, the Crimson not only has to share a claim to the Ivy League title with the Bulldogs, but its postseason fate now lies in the hands of the FCS selection committee. Yale will receive the first-ever automatic playoff bid in Ivy history.

The loss means that Harvard’s Class of 2026, months from graduation, has never witnessed a victory for the Crimson in The Game. It is Harvard’s first streak of four losses in the rivalry game since 1947.

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Despite the Crimson’s recent struggles in The Game, Aurich maintained that he will treat the rivalry no differently than other games on the schedule.

“I don’t think you can treat this game any different,” he said. “Because once you start doing that, then you have guys trying to do things that are out of character for what they need to do to be a successful football player.”

The vulnerabilities exposed in last week’s close win over the University of Pennsylvania came back with force as Harvard looked unrecognizable from the team that was knocking on the door of an undefeated season.

Harvard’s secondary — particularly junior Damien Henderson — struggled to stop deep passing plays by Yale, giving up huge yardage in key moments throughout the game, marking the second week in a row that a usually strong Harvard defense made almost no impression against the opposing team.

Meanwhile, Yale’s star running back Josh Pitsenberger looked unstoppable, picking up 145 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

Yale’s defense also managed to do what no other team has done all season — stop Harvard’s offense led by star quarterback Craig. Harvard had its lowest scoring game of its season and trailed from start to finish.

The wide receiving core dropped critical passes from Craig, including sophomore wide receiver Brady Blackburn — usually the team’s most reliable target — who dropped a deep touchdown pass as Harvard attempted to mount a comeback. Without many snaps from Harvard’s tight ends Seamus Gilmartin and Ryan Osborne, the two struggled to provide their usual strong blocking.

On their first play from scrimmage, the Bulldogs, led by quarterback Dante Reno, lofted a 21-yard touchdown ball into wide receiver Jaxton Santiago’s hands to take an early 7-0 a mere 18 seconds into the game.

After trading defensive stops, the Crimson’s third drive began from deep in its own territory. In a messy play, Craig mishandled a handoff in the backfield, but was able to pounce on and recover the ball. Still, the negative play pinned the offense, resulting in yet another punt.

A shaky kick from sophomore Dylan Fingersh gave the Bulldogs stellar field position, starting from the Crimson’s 43-yard line. Yale continued to move the chains behind Pitsenberger’s forceful rushes, but the Crimson stopped the Bulldogs from tacking on another touchdown via pressure on the quarterback from captain Ty Bartrum. Forced to kick a 40-yd field goal, Yale extended its lead to 10-0 with six minutes in the quarter.

After another Harvard possession that once again ended in a punt, the Bulldogs put together a 13-play, 79-yard drive that ended with an 8-yd touchdown rush by Pitsenberger. Chewing six minutes of clock, Yale now held a 17-0 advantage with 13 minutes left in the first half.

Seeing his team’s largest deficit of the season, Craig and his offense finally got going, extending the drive on a pass to freshman receiver Ryan Tattersall and once again on a scramble first down from Craig. After junior rusher Xaviah Bascon had a big run to give the Crimson some momentum, a 23-yd pass to Tattersall down the right sideline gave Harvard its first points of the match, trailing 17-7 six minutes into the second quarter.

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Just two plays after giving up their first points of the game, the Bulldogs looked to open the game wide open. Breaking through the Crimson’s secondary and seeing a deep pass, Yale receiver Nico Brown stretched his arms for a catch that he ran all the way to the house for a 64-yd touchdown, giving his team a 24-7 lead.

On the next drive, Craig’s unit continued to move the football, and after another big rush by Bascon, Harvard was knocking on the door again. One play later, a designed quarterback draw gave Craig a 26-yd touchdown rush to cut the lead to 24-14.

On the Bulldogs’ next drive, another long pass to Brown easily set their offense in Harvard territory. Moving the ball near the goal line and chewing the game clock to three seconds, Yale looked to run the ball on fourth down and inches in a crucial play. With Pitsenberger seeing the handoff, he jumped through the line and found the end zone for his second touchdown of the day, pushing the Yale advantage to 31-14 as halftime came.

The second half was not any better for Aurich’s unit as the Crimson, which needed a stop to stay alive, allowed the Bulldogs to drive the ball down the field to start the third quarter. After a six-minute, 11-play drive, Pitsenberger rushed for his third touchdown of the game, pushing the lead to 38-14, which proved to be insurmountable for Harvard.

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Harvard managed to respond toward the end of the quarter, with a string of passes from Craig and two fouls on Yale keeping the Crimson’s drive alive. Tattersall notched yet another touchdown to bring the Crimson to 20-38 after a failed two-point conversion.

Neither team scored for the rest of the quarter, but — just as the quarter ended — Reno completed yet another long pass to Brown that set up the Bulldogs to increase the deficit at the start of the fourth.

Now lagging by 25 points, Harvard tried to at least narrow the margin, stringing together another Tattersall touchdown and successful two-point conversion. With the score at 28-45 with 11:45 left to play, though, there was little Harvard could do to save the game.

The Crimson awaits the FCS selection committee’s final decision on whether the team has earned a spot in the 24-team playoff tournament.

“I think we’ve done enough,” Aurich said. “But ultimately I don’t make that decision.”

If the team is given the opportunity to compete in the playoffs, Aurich believes his squad is ready.

“We have to block out all the notes, all the external stuff, and just do what we know how to do, which is focus on one play at a time."

—Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at connor.castaneda@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at praveen.kumar@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Jo B. Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Jo_Lemann.