Harvard-Yale Game 2009 Has Yale Lose with 'Belichick' Call

The Harvard-Yale game 2009 looked like another normal edition of "The Game" even as the Harvard-Yale game 2009 looked to be an upset. Harvard was on the brink of being upset by Yale, just a week after losing the Ivy League title. But the Harvard-Yale game 2009 soon turned, in a way that was extremely fitting. The week began with one of the most controversial NFL play calls in years, and now it ends - in a game involving a team from Massachusetts, no less - with the Harvard-Yale game 2009 turning on a "Belichick"

The Harvard-Yale game 2009 was going pretty good for the Yale Bulldogs. They were on the brink of upsetting the favored Crimson, as Yale was up 10-7 with over 2 minutes left. The Bulldogs benefitted from an ugly fake field goal pass attempt from Harvard, which looked to be the big blunder of the day.

In the end, it looked like Yale would have to give Harvard one last shot in the Big Game 2009, as the Bulldogs had 4'th-and-22 at their own 25. Conventional wisdom is to punt - but conventional wisdom on fourth down seems to have been vanished lately.

Bill Belichick got racked over the coals for his 4'th-and-two call from his own territory, which cost the Patriots a win over the Colts. Nearly a week later, Yale coach Tom Williams went one step further than Belichick, and tried a fake punt on 4'th-and-22. Though punter John Powers got a nice 15 yard run, he needed 22, and the Crimson took over at Yale's 42.

The Harvard-Yale game 2009 wasn't exactly like Belichick's call. For one thing, Williams was even more crazy than Belichick, in trying to gain 22 yards on fourth down. For another, Williams did it on a fake punt, whereas Belichick failed on a straight-forward pass play.

But the Crimson had a slightly longer field to work with than the Colts did. However, the results were the same, as Harvard's Collier Winters got a third down, 32-yard touchdown pass to Chris Lorditch for the 14-10 win.

Both the Patriots-Colts and the Harvard-Yale game added new, shocking chapters to legendary rivalries in the span of a week. But on Sunday, a daring gamble blew up for a team from Massachusetts. On Saturday, a team from Massachusetts took advantage of a major blunder this time.

However, the Crimson didn't have a perfect day, as Penn officially clinched sole possession of the Ivy League championship. Harvard will settle for a second place finish, while Yale lost their chance to finish at .500, ending their year at 4-6.

Records barely mean anything in the Harvard-Yale game, though. 41 years after their famous tie, the two created a finish that was just as wacky - and even more topical.

Sources

Chicago Tribune- "Yale gambles and loses in latest Harvard win"

New York Times- "Yale Fails on Fourth-Down Risk, Then Harvard Pulls Out Win"