The Harvard Crimson call Cambridge, Massachusetts home. They have won the third most Ivy League Championships in history. In recent years, however, the Crimson have regressed. Harvard finished 3rd in 2016 and 5th in 2017. The Crimson also saw their 9 game winning streak against Yale come to an end. Let’s take a look at the Harvard vs Yale 2019 Preview.
Last year, Harvard went 6-4 finishing in 3rd place in the Ivy League Standings. The Crimson won their final three games including a win over Yale, at Fenway Park, by a final score of 45-27. Coach Tim Murphy is entering his 25th season art the helm of Harvard. Murphy hopes year 25 restores the dominance the Crimson have been used to in recent years.
Harvard will have to replace their starting quarterback on offense. Senior Tom Stewart threw 14 touchdowns last year. Jake Smith steps into the spotlight in 2019. Smith threw 4 touchdowns in the backup role last year. Running backs Aaron Shampkin and Devin Darrington join Smith in the backfield. Jack Cook, Ryan Reagan, and BJ Watson are weapons, that Smith can throw to, on the outside.
Look for this Harvard offense to build on their late-season success from last season. On the defensive side of the football the Crimson return leading tackler Jordan Hill. Hill registered a team-high 70 tackles last year. Hill is joined by cornerbacks Max Jones and Bennett Bay, linebackers Joey Goodman and Cameron Kline, and three defensive linemen including Kelvin Apari, Brogan McPartland, and Bobby Drysdale. During their last 3 games, the Crimson gave up an average of 17 points per game. Like the offense, look for this Harvard defense to pick up where the 2018 team left off.
The 2019 non-conference schedule features games against San Diego, Howard, and Holy Cross. The home Ivy League schedule includes Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn, while the Crimson travel to Princeton, Columbia, and Yale. Harvard should be able to go 3-0 in their non-conference schedule. Give them losses to Dartmouth and Princeton, allowing the Crimson to be 7-2 heading into their showdown with Yale. The Bulldogs won the last game at the Yale Bowl 24-3.
The 2019 version of “The Game” should be as competitive as the games have been in year’s past. Give the Bulldogs the win on their home field dropping Harvard to 7-3. The 2019 schedule could see Harvard go undefeated. At the very least, it could come down to the game in Princeton to decide the 2019 Ivy League Championship. This means Harvard pulls off the upset, at home, against Dartmouth. Coach Murphy has helped Harvard win 9 Ivy League Championships. 2019 could result in magic number 10. Keep an eye on the 2019 Harvard team looking to return to Ivy League Glory.
The rival of the Harvard Crimson is the Yale Bulldogs. Yale resides in New Haven, Connecticut and they play at a historical stadium called the Yale Bowl. Yale returned to the top of the mountain in 2017. The Bulldogs started their success in 2016 snapping their losing streak to Harvard. Yale went into Cambridge and won 21-14.
The Bulldogs followed up that emotional win with a 9-1 record in 2017. The Bulldogs only blemish was an October 7th loss to Dartmouth. Yale avoided a split championship by defeating Harvard 24-3. With the win, Yale celebrated their first Ivy League Championship since 2006. The celebration was short-lived as the Bulldogs slipped backward in 2018. Yale finished with a 5-5 record and lost to Harvard at Fenway Park. The Bulldogs defeated Cornell, Penn, and Brown last season. Tony Reno enters his 8th season at the helm of Yale. Coach Reno hopes his rebuild continues to grow and the Bulldogs can celebrate another Ivy League Championship in 2019.
The Yale offense will have its signal-caller back under center. Kurt Rawlings begins his senior season for the Bulldogs. Rawlings played in 7 games last year registering 1,562 yards and 9 touchdowns. Rawlings will have running backs, Spencer Alston and Zane Dudek. Receivers on the outside include Reed Klubnik, JP Shohfi, and JJ Howland.
Rawlings and company hope to return to 2017 form and put up conference breaking numbers. The Yale defense returns their leading tackler from last year. Senior linebacker Ryan Burke returns as the leader of this defense. Burke finished last season with a team-high 48 tackles. Joining Burke are linebackers Noah Pope and John Dean, cornerbacks Deonte Henson and Malcolm Dixon, and defensive lineman Devin Moore, Jailon Henry, and Charles Callender. In their last 2 losses, the Yale defense gave up 52 points per game.
The Bulldogs also gave up 31 to Holy Cross and 41 to Dartmouth. This defense knows it can be better and they will be motivated to make changes from last year. The Bulldogs defense hopes to return to their 2017 success.
Yale has non-conference games against Holy Cross, Fordham, and Richmond. The Bulldogs home conference schedule features Cornell, Penn, Columbia, and Harvard. Yale travels to conference opponents Dartmouth, Brown, and Princeton. Like Harvard, Yale should have no trouble ending non-conference play 3-0. The toughest non-conference game is against Richmond. The Spider could very much pull off the win against Yale.
Give the Bulldogs conference wins over Cornell, Penn, Columbia, and Brown. With the Bulldogs having to travel to Dartmouth and Princeton it is going to be a challenge to win those two games. Best case you split those games and enter the Harvard game with a record of 7-2. As stated above, I give Yale that win against Harvard. This brings the Bulldogs record to 8-2.
If Yale can beat Richmond and Dartmouth the Bulldogs finish 9-1. Depending on how Princeton fairs in 2019, that could be good enough to win the Ivy League Championship for Yale. Worst case the Bulldogs finish 7-3, but they can still celebrate a win over their archrival. Coach Reno turned this Yale team around in 5 years. He hopes it takes just 2 years for the Bulldogs to win another Ivy League Championship. Yale hopes 2019 brings back another trophy and another banner to unveil at the Yale Bowl. That was the Harvard vs Yale 2019 Preview.
