Harvard beats Yale to claim share of Ivy League title
Scott Hosch #3 of the Harvard Crimson looks for an open man in the first quarter against the Yale Bulldogs on November 21, 2015 in New Haven, Connecticut. Credit: Getty Images / Jim Rogash
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Scott Hosch threw four touchdown passes to lead Harvard to a share of the Ivy League crown for a third straight year with a 38-19 victory over Yale in front of 52,126 fans on Saturday at Yale Bowl.
The Crimson (9-1, 6-1 Ivy) split the title with Dartmouth and Penn, who were victorious earlier in the day. The same schools were also part of the league's last three-way tie, which came in 1982.
In addition to league bragging rights, Harvard also won a record ninth straight time in "The Game," the most by either school. Yale (6-4, 3-4) had shared the mark, winning eight straight from 1880-89.
Harvard was minus its leading rusher, senior Paul Stanton (knee), but that didn't matter with Hosch onboard. He finished 23-of-37 passing for 320 yards and one interception.
Freshman Justice Shelton-Mosley finished with five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He added a fourth-quarter rushing score on an 8-yard run.
The game started in Yale's favor. Morgan Roberts threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Chris William-Lopez, on a fourth-and-12 play, to give the Bulldogs an early lead. Bryan Holmes kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 with 11:24 left in the first quarter.
Harvard answered with 21 straight points to lead 21-7 at the half.
The Crimson needed less than a minute to tie the game, with Hosch's 53-yard touchdown strike to Shelton-Mosley, who out ran the coverage, and Kenny Smart kicked the first of his first extra points.
The Harvard combination teamed up again in the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown. Shelton-Mosley caught a pass from Hosch in the middle of the field, broke to the sideline and raced down the line for the end zone.
Hosch's third touchdown pass came right before the half when he hit tight end Ben Braunecker in the end zone for an 18-yard toss to make it 21-7 with 2:27 left.
Holmes missed a 31-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half.
The Crimson opened the second half with a 13-play, 74-yard scoring drive to lead 28-7. Hosch teamed up with Braunecker again, this time on a 2-yard toss.
Smart's 39-yard field goal extended the lead to 31-7 with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
Roberts, who three for a career-high 410 yards on 38-of-65 passing, led the Bulldogs to two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but failed on two-point conversion attempts.
The Yale senior quarterback scored on a 1-yard keeper and also threw an 8-yard touchdown to Stephen Buric. Williams-Lopez finished with 13 catches for 169 yards.
