THE BEST OF TGS..."THE GAME" THAT STILL RESONATES
by Bruce Marshall, Goldsheet.com Editor
In this latest "Best of TGS" installment, we recall the following feature which ran in Issue 12 of our 62nd edition in November of 2018, when we honored the 50th anniversary of an epic matchup that continues to resonate...
Allow us to digress for a moment. It might be hard for the present-day audience of the sports books in Nevada and various locales elsewhere to relate to an era when Ivy League football was a big deal and indeed featured weekly on the pointspread sheets. Into the mid ‘90s, we at TGS would devote space to the weekly card of Ivy clashes, while other Eastern sides such as Holy Cross and Colgate were often included in the weekly wagering fare as well. Though the Nevada books stopped posting Ivy football a generation ago, we have noticed that select outlets are once again reintroducing Ivy action into the “extra” slate of games along with various FCS conferences. Who knows, the day might be coming soon when Ivy League football is once again featured on the pages of TGS!
But we don’t know of a rivalry game in our publishing history, including any of the various “Games of the Century” that would include Notre Dame-Michigan State 1966, Texas-Arkansas 1969, or Nebraska-Oklahoma 1971, that remain as marketable, and continue to fascinate, as much as the Harvard-Yale classic in 1968.
Though the Ivy entries had faded as nationally relevant on the gridiron by the early ‘50s, there was a brief revival in 1968 centered upon a wondrous Yale side that would crack the national rankings late in the season and close its campaign vs. fellow unbeaten Harvard in a game they still can’t stop talking about...50 years later. So much so that yet another new book on that showdown, titled The Game: Harvard, Yale, and America in 1968, by George Howe Colt, is now the rage at booksellers across the land.
Though the Ivy entries had faded as nationally relevant on the gridiron by the early ‘50s, there was a brief revival in 1968 centered upon a wondrous Yale side that would crack the national rankings late in the season and close its campaign vs. fellow unbeaten Harvard in a game they still can’t stop talking about...50 years later. So much so that yet another new book on that showdown, titled The Game: Harvard, Yale, and America in 1968, by George Howe Colt, is now the rage at booksellers across the land.
They’re playing another Harvard-Yale game this weekend (at Fenway Park, no less), but the extra twinge to Saturday’s Crimson-Bulldogs game will be the 50th anniversary of the ‘68 classic, which thanks to Colt’s book can almost come to life again for all of its readers.
Colt’s The Game is written from a unique perspective in that he was actually at Harvard-Yale in ‘68 as a 14-year-old, attending the game with his father. Needless to say the contest made an impression upon Colt, an author of some repute whose previous bestsellers include The Big House, Brothers, and November of the Soul. Colt includes his own experience at the game near the beginning and again near the end of the book, while alternating Yale and Harvard-centric chapters in between.


Colt’s ability to weave all of these elements not only around the historic game (which we’ll get to in a moment) but all of what was also going on in society during a very turbulent ‘68 is another extraordinary angle to the book.
Lest we give the impression The Game is a book without a football emphasis, it’s in Colt’s meticulous review of the players, coaches, and games that led up to the memorable collision of the unbeatens on November 23, 1968 that really rivets. Anticipation had been growing throughout the autumn as the two Ivy powers were on an inevitable collision course, though it was Yale generating the majority of headlines, mostly because of Brian Dowling and Calvin Hill. Yale was indeed national news; ABC, in one of its telecasts early that November, sent its top announcing team of Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson to call the Dartmouth-Yale game just after the conclusion of the Mexico City Olympics (yet another landmark event taking place in the fall of ‘68). As mentioned, HC Carm Cozza’s Bulldogs had cracked the national rankings, astounding for an Ivy entry, in November, up to No. 16 after rolling unbeaten through eight games, and no foe within single digits. Harvard’s trajectory was not quite as steep, but HC John Yovocsin’s scrappy Crimson had also cobbled an 8-0 mark in much lower-scoring fashion.
Lest we give the impression The Game is a book without a football emphasis, it’s in Colt’s meticulous review of the players, coaches, and games that led up to the memorable collision of the unbeatens on November 23, 1968 that really rivets. Anticipation had been growing throughout the autumn as the two Ivy powers were on an inevitable collision course, though it was Yale generating the majority of headlines, mostly because of Brian Dowling and Calvin Hill. Yale was indeed national news; ABC, in one of its telecasts early that November, sent its top announcing team of Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson to call the Dartmouth-Yale game just after the conclusion of the Mexico City Olympics (yet another landmark event taking place in the fall of ‘68). As mentioned, HC Carm Cozza’s Bulldogs had cracked the national rankings, astounding for an Ivy entry, in November, up to No. 16 after rolling unbeaten through eight games, and no foe within single digits. Harvard’s trajectory was not quite as steep, but HC John Yovocsin’s scrappy Crimson had also cobbled an 8-0 mark in much lower-scoring fashion.


So complete seemed Yale’s advantage that the Crimson could flatter itself by being down just 29-13 deep into the 4th Q. After the Bulldogs raced to a 22-0 lead in the 2nd Q, Harvard had rallied briefly to within 22-13 at the half, but Yale had missed chances to put the game completely out of reach. Still, that 16-point lead looked pretty solid into the final minutes of the game.
Desperate for offense, Yovocsin had earlier summoned backup QB Frank Champi for an ineffective George Lalich late in the first half, and Champi, who had thrown just 12 passes all year, indeed provided a brief spark. But Yale had reassumed control and appeared in the process of salting away a comfortable and satisfying win over its old enemy and finishing a glorious, unbeaten season.
Desperate for offense, Yovocsin had earlier summoned backup QB Frank Champi for an ineffective George Lalich late in the first half, and Champi, who had thrown just 12 passes all year, indeed provided a brief spark. But Yale had reassumed control and appeared in the process of salting away a comfortable and satisfying win over its old enemy and finishing a glorious, unbeaten season.
It was getting late for the Crimson, as the sun began to dip behind the west side of Harvard Stadium, shadows began to cover the field, and the wind whipped up as the air developed a new-found, bone-rattling chill. Hardly the conditions for a dramatic rally. Due to injuries and ineffectiveness, Harvard was down to its second-string backfield (including QB Champi) as it attempted to make a comeback that seemed unfathomable. Yale, not content to sit on the clock, continued to pass, but a fumble with just over 3 minutes to play gave Harvard the ball on its 14. Helped by a defensive holding call and a bizarre fumble recovery run by T Fritz Reed, Champi would hit Bruce Freeman on a 15-yard TD pass with 42 seconds to play, cutting the lead to 29-19. With nothing to lose, Harvard went for 2, and got a second chance on a pass interference call. It was FB Gus Crim who gouged out the yard needed to cut the lead to 29-21.


George Howe Colt’s The Game: Harvard, Yale, and America in 1968 can be found everywhere books are sold. Needless to say, it’s a great read. And, who knows? We might be handicapping Ivy football again on these pages in the not-too-distant future!
