Image courtesy of Harvard University

Having experienced Harvard-Yale for the first time last season, I can unequivocally say it’s no overstatement to call it one of the best atmospheres for any athletic event here in New England.

I’ve been to AFC Championship games and Game 7’s, the Harvard-Yale atmosphere inside Harvard Stadium matched them. From the time Yale and Harvard players jawed back and forth and had to be separated pregame, to another near team-wide scrum during the coin toss, right down to Yale celebrating the league championship under the lights in Cambridge. The intensity never wavered and neither did the buzz in the stadium.

Fast forward to this Saturday and The Yale Bowl will feel the exact same. The Crimson (8-1, 5-1) are ranked 19th nationally and have already clinched a share of the Ivy League for the first time since 2015. A win would give them the title outright. The Bulldogs (6-3, 4-2) can earn a share and also allow Dartmouth to possibly have a share if they beat Brown.

For many guys, this will be the final football game they ever play since Ivy League presidents don’t allow the football programs to compete in the NCAA postseason. It’s just one of many reasons why it’s one of the most well-known, historic events in the entire country. Yale leads the all-time series 69–61–8 against Harvard and have won four of the last six meetings.

“The two things you can expect in this game are adrenaline and adversity,” Yale head coach Tony Reno told The Yale News this week. “For us, that’s really like every Saturday…We’re fortunate for the opportunity we have on Saturday and play our game. It’s a great opportunity to see how good can Team 150 be…our focus is on each day.”

“For us, we’re going to approach [The Game] like we have the last four games,” Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms added. “I think it’s going to be the quickest week…going to soak it all in and hope things turn out the way we want them to on Saturday.”

The Crimson remember last year vividly and would love nothing more than to return the favor down in New Haven, but Murphy – who now has both the all-time wins and all-time league title records in the Ivy League – knows how difficult of a challenge this day represents.

“We’re fortunate that we are in this situation,” Harvard head coach Tim Murphy said on this week’s edition of the ‘Inside Harvard Football’ podcast. “Having placed early, that doesn’t happen very often in our league at all. But, the second part of the equation is, if you ever think there’s going to be a let down – and there’s potential for that with any young people after you’ve already accomplished Mt. Olympus if you will – well, it won’t be Mt. Olympus until we beat Yale in The Yale Bowl. I know our kids whether we’re 1-9 or 9-1, 8-1, whatever it is…our kids are going to battle. It’s always a huge game for us. We’ve been very fortunate in The Yale Bowl. It’s a game where our kids over the years have responded. Someone this week…I couldn’t do the math because it didn’t make much sense, but they said ‘do you realize you’re 11-3 over the last 14 games in The Yale Bowl?’ I probably wouldn’t have guessed that, but we’ll take it.”

“There’s no question they’re a very good football team….if you look at the team that’s come the farthest since, say October 1st, it’s probably this Yale team. They’re an outstanding team. They have very little weaknesses. They’re playing with a tremendous amount of confidence and enthusiasm. They also have as we know a three-year starter and defending Ivy League Player of the Year Nolan Grooms at quarterback. Yeah, they’re a really good football team. Big, strong, physical. Nolan Grooms is one of those guys, he’s so athletic, it’s hard to box him in.”

The Harvard seniors will certainly take one more as well if they can get it, especially as the class that dealt with the Covid year of 2020 as freshmen as well as the Princeton officiating nightmare that robbed them of a league championship two years ago.

“I would say nobody can really get it unless you were in our weight room during those Covid days,” said senior tight end Tyler Neville. “It was definitely trying, trying times. Thankfully, we were freshmen and didn’t know any better. We thought this was the best thing that ever happened to us when we were able to play football with masks on, but yeah. This would be the cherry on top. Nobody deserves it more than this class. Couldn’t be more excited to go out and try to get this victory.”

Title on the line, no title on the line, close to 55,000 people would have shown up anyways when these two square off on Saturday. It’s an experience you can’t get everywhere else and part of the reason this New England rivalry is so special.

“Even if we weren’t playing for an outright championship, even if Yale wasn’t playing for a piece of the championship, you know it’s going to be a very intense game, very intense rivalry,” Murphy added. “We’re certainly looking forward to it.”