Cambridge, Mass.
And the biggest trick of all from Yale in the 133rd edition of The Game: A 21-14 upset over the Crimson on Saturday to end a nine-year losing streak in one of the oldest rivalries in sports and spoil Harvard’s chances of an unprecedented fourth straight Ivy League title.
Harvard (7-3, 5-2 Ivy) needed a victory to clinch a share of the conference championship. The Bulldogs (3-7, 3-4) had little to play for except a chance to spoil Harvard’s season.
That’s exactly what they did.
After setting up their first touchdown with a fake field goal, Yale opened the second half with an onside kick and scored to take its first lead. The Bulldogs went ahead for good with 4:14 left on a 3-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Kurt Rawlings to Reed Klubnik, who had the ball knocked out of his hands just after he reached across the goal line.
Harvard coaches protested along the sideline. (There is no replay in the Ivy League.)
The Crimson had two possessions in the final minutes, but couldn’t score.
Ithaca, n.y.
Justin Watson caught 11 passes for 106 yards to become Penn’s single-season receiving yards leader, surpassing Rob Mianese’s 1,112 yards in 2002. He has 87 receptions on the season, surpassing Milanese’s 85 in 2016.
Providence, r.i.
Wainwright caught 46- and 16-yard touchdown passes from Anders Hill in the second quarter with the Lions (3-7, 2-5 Ivy) taking a 21-6 halftime lead.
Orono, Maine
New Hampshire (7-4, 6-2 Colonial Athletic Association) retains the Brice-Cowell Musket and will wait to see if it’s selected to the NCAA FCS tournament for a 13th straight season.
Boston
Eagles senior linebacker Matt Milano added a 19-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Boston College (5-6) can become bowl-eligible with a victory in its regular-season finale at Wake Forest next week.
Neither team entered Saturday having produced much on offense in recent weeks.
The Huskies (3-8) started freshman Donovan Williams at quarterback for the second straight game in an attempt to jumpstart an offense that entered the day averaging an FBS-worst 16.5 points per game. But UConn managed just 121 yards of offense, with Williams throwing three interceptions. .
The Eagles, whose offense came in averaging an FBS-worst 295.5 yards per game, had better luck.
Towles had struggled throwing the ball this season, but found a groove in the third quarter completing 5 of 6 passes in the Eagles’ first drive out of halftime. The series ended with his 10-yard touchdown pass to Michael Walker that put BC in front 17-0.
THE TAKEAWAY
UCONN: The Huskies have tried to shake things up offensively in their past two games, but they haven’t moved the needle much. It was a particularly rough day for Williams, but all the experience is good for the young quarterback going forward.
BOSTON COLLEGE: The strides the Eagles made offensively come at the right time. They will need it in their finale next week if they’re going to earn their third bowl berth under coach Steve Addazio.
UP NEXT
UCONN: Returns home to host Tulane in its season finale.
BOSTON COLLEGE: Hits the road for its conference and regular-season finale at Wake Forest.
___
More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.
BYU dominates second half in 51-9 win over UMass
Eds: APNewsNow. Brigham Young 51, Massachusetts 9.
PROVO, Utah (AP) — KJ Hall ran for 101 yards and a score and Brigham Young ran away from Massachusetts in the second half en route to a 51-9 win on Saturday.
Andrew Ford threw a 70-yard touchdown to Bernard Davis near the end of the first quarter to put the Minutemen on top 6-0. Brigham Young (7-4) responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by Hill’s 11-yard run to go up a point.
Logan Laurent then made a 44-yard field goal which was set up by Isaiah Rodgers’ 51-yard kickoff return to BYU’s 48-yard line. The Cougars used a 13-play, 86-yard drive that ended with Harvey Langi’s 5-yard run for a 14-9 halftime lead.
After intermission BYU scored on its first three offensive drives and got a defensive score when Francis Bernard picked off Ford and raced 39-yards to score to put the game out of reach 34-9.
Ford threw for 288 yards and had two interceptions.
BYU outrushed UMass 240-47.
O’Neill’s late FG gives Towson 32-31 win over Rhode Island
Eds: APNewsNow. Towson 32, Rhode Island 31
KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) — Aidan O’Neill nailed a career-best 55-yard field goal as time expired to give Towson a 32-31 come-from-behind win over Rhode Island on Saturday.
Morgan Mahalak, who had just driven Towson (4-7, 3-5 Colonial) 80 yards in five plays to close to 31-29, started at his own 9 on the next drive. The Tigers took 51 seconds to set up O’Neill for his game-winning boot.
The Tigers missed on the 2-point try on the previous touchdown and failed on the ensuing onside kick.
The Tigers defense held and Towson got the ball back. Mahalak drove his team to Rhode Island’s 33 where O’Neill hit the game winner.
Mahalak threw for 353 yards and two scores. Christian Summers, who caught the last touchdown pass, grabbed 10 passes for 132 yards. Andre Dessenbert caught seven passes for 106 yards.
Jordan Vazzano led Rhode Island (2-9, 1-7), throwing for 265 yards and two scores.