CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The RV/RV Harvard football team travels to New Haven, Connecticut to take on archrival Yale in the 137th playing of The Game at the Yale Bowl. The Game will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 12 p.m. and carried over the radio on Bloomberg WRCA (1330 AM/106.1 FM) in Boston.
Entering the final week, the Crimson stands at 7-2 overall and is 4-2 in the Ivy League after toppling Penn, 23-7. The Bulldogs meanwhile, are 5-4 and 4-2 after falling on the road at Princeton, 35-20. Harvard is one-game behind Dartmouth and Princeton for first place in the Ancient Eight.
How to Follow
Broadcast – ESPNU (Talent: Alex Vispoli, Justin Gallanty, Connor Clement)
Audio - Bloomberg Radio (Talent: Bernie Corbett and Mike Giardi '94)
Live Stats – Yale
Twitter: @HarvardFootball
Game Notes: Harvard | Yale
Yearbook: Harvard Athletics Fall Yearbook 2021
What to Know
• Saturday's game will be the 137th edition of The Game, with the first meeting having occurred in 1875 (4-0 Harvard win). After the Crimson topped Yale for a series-record nine-straight times from 2007-15, Yale has taken three of the last four. All-time, Yale leads the series 68-60-8, but the Crimson has the advantage since Ivy League play began in 1956, 36-27-1, and is 18-8 against its archrival under Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football.
• The road team has won 16 of the last 30 iterations of The Game. In 2019, Yale defeated Harvard, 50-43, in double overtime at the Yale Bowl. Last year marked the first time since 1944 that the Crimson and Bulldogs did not meet on the gridiron.
• Aaron Shampklin ran the ball 16 times for 116 yards and finished with 127 all-purpose yards as the Crimson knocked off Penn last weekend. Shampklin had a 72-yard rushing touchdown, Harvard's longest rushing score of the season, and added a 16-yard TD on the ground. Shampklin now has 11 rushing TDs on the season, the most for a Harvard running back since Paul Stanton, Jr. (11) in 2014. James Herring picked off two passes vs. Penn, while Andrew Irwin, the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, and Jack McGowan each had 1.0 sacks and 3.0 TFL.
• This week's game will be Harvard's 1,342nd varsity football game. The Crimson has an all-time record of 886-405-50 (.679).
• Heading into Week 9, Harvard leads the nation in rushing defense (56.0). The Crimson is also second in sacks (3.89), second in fourth-down conversion defense (,227), fourth in third-down conversion defense (.262), fourth in scoring defense (13.1) and fifth in tackles for a loss (8.1).
• Aaron Shampklin is the league's top rusher (96.9 yards per game) and is first in all-purpose yards (109.5). Shampklin is also second with 11 rushing touchdowns.
At The Helm
• In his 27th season, Harvard's all-time winningest head coach, Tim Murphy, enters this week's game with a 185-83 record with the Crimson and a 217-128-1 overall head coaching record, which includes five years at Cincinnati and two years at Maine. Since the formation of the Ivy League in 1956, no Ivy coach has compiled as many wins as Murphy's 185, and he is just one of 11 coaches to win 100-plus games. Murphy also owns 128 Ivy League wins, tied for second-most all-time. Murphy has led Harvard to nine Ivy championships (1997, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015).
