NEW HAVEN – Quarterback Dante Reno threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns as Yale won a wild edition of The Game, beating Harvard before a crowd of 52,490 at Yale Bowl.
Nico Brown caught 8 passes for 189 yards as the Bulldogs balanced attack was relentless, jumping out to a 17-0 lead, then matching high-powered Harvard touchdown for touchdown.
Yale (8-2) won a share of the Ivy League title, and with the head-to-head win over Harvard, holds the tie-breaker to claim the league’s automatic bid to the 24-team FCS playoffs. The Ivy did not allow its teams to participate in postseason play until this season. Harvard (9-1) has a chance for an at-large bid. The playoffs begin next week.
Yale set the tone immediately. On the first play from scrimmage, cornerback Brandon Webster wrestled the ball out of the grip of Harvard’s Dean Boyd, giving the Bulldogs possession deep in Crimson territory. Yale’s first snap, Reno hit Jaxton Santiago for 21 yards and a TD.
The Bulldogs defense swamped Harvard’s offense for much of the first quarter, and Yale extended the lead to 17-0 with a 12-play, 79-yard drive, capped by Josh Pitsenberger’s 8-yard run early in the second quarter. Pitsenberger finished with 37 carries for 141 yards and three touchdowns.
Then Harvard’s explosive offense got in gear. Quarterback Jaden Craig threw for a touchdown, and ran for another. Yale responded to both scores. Reno threw a 64-yard pass to Nico Brown, who made an over-the-shoulder catch and took it to the end zone. On the last possession of the half, Reno and Brown hooked up for 31 yards to ignite the drive. Faced with 4th-and-goal with three second left, Yale gambled and won, Pitsenberger diving in for a 31-14 lead at the half.
Yale got the ball to start the second half and staged another 75-yard drive, Reno again passing efficiently and Pitsenberger scoring this third TD to extend the lead to 24 points.
The back-and-forth continued throughout the game. When Yale’s Lucius Anderson took a shovel pass and scored from 12 yards out, Yale had a 45-20 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.