Yale has one more chance for a happy ending

By Carl Bialik

The dust had barely settled on the field in the Yale Bowl after Princeton's 19-14 defeat of Yale on Sat., Nov. 11, when Yale Head Coach Jack Siedlecki, running back Rashad Bartholomew, MC '01, and receiver/punter Eric Johnson, JE '01, dutifully filed into the post-game press conference room in the Smilow field house. The mood was one of abject sorrow and regret.

Siedlecki began by shouldering the burden of blame for the loss. "I played it not to lose," he said. Bartholomew—who is normally nonchalant but looked like he was holding back tears—was asked about his nagging foot and ankle problems. "I was really hungry," he said. "I really wanted it today. You don't notice injuries when you feel that way." Johnson was asked why the offense seemed to have hit a rut in the last two games. He paused for a full 15 seconds before admitting, "I don't know. Obviously, we haven't had an answer."

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Yale captain and linebacker, Peter Mazza, JE '01, has led the team in tackles this season.

It was around that time that Yale captain Peter Mazza, JE '01, entered the room. After Siedlecki fielded another question, Mazza was asked about the game's turning point, when, on a second-and-12 play from the Princeton 18-yard line with under a minute left, fullback Marty Cheatham '01 caught a short pass from Tiger quarterback Jon Blevins '01 that seemed destined to leave Cheatham behind the line of scrimmage and, more importantly, in bounds with the clock ticking. Yet, somehow, Cheatham managed to run up the right sideline for a 44-yard gain that set up Princeton's winning touchdown.

While the reporter asked Mazza about the play, Mazza stared back, just as focused and intense as when he stares down an opposing quarterback or watches the offense on the field, alone on the sidelines. But what he said was heartbreaking. "Yeah, I was right there," Mazza said of the play. "I could have had him. But I stopped running. And I won't know why until the day I die." A reporter suggested that maybe Mazza was afraid of being whistled for the late hit. "No, I have no answer, no excuse for it," Mazza responded. "We would have won the game."

The room went silent; no one dared ask another question. Less than 10 minutes had elapsed and the conference was over. All that remained was the Harvard game, and for the first time since the members of the Class of 2001 were freshmen, the Bulldogs would go into The Game without a chance of winning the Ivy League title.

From high hopes to heartbreak

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Yale football's rise in the Ivy League since Siedlecki took over the program in 1997 has been meteoric: the Bulldogs went from 0-7 in league play his first year to a stunning 5-2, second-place finish in 1998 to last year's tie for the Ivy championship. Last season was the final one for legendary quarterback Joe Walland, TD '00, who owns almost every Yale passing record and who capped last year's Ivy championship with one of the most remarkable single-game performances in Yale history against Harvard. But so much talent and leadership returned with the Class of 2001—the first class Siedlecki could call his own. The final chapter of this storybook seemed destined to be a triumphant one.

Yale and Cornell were picked by the media as co-favorites for the league title, and the new schedule adopted by the league pitted the two teams against each other in the league opener, on Sat., Sept. 23. Yale dominated that game until the fourth quarter, when the Big Red outscored the Bulldogs 14-3. Still, a final Yale drive set up a potential game-winning field goal from 32 yards. Up stepped kicker Mike Murawczyk, MC '01, who in 1998 and 1999 was first-team All-Ivy and All-New England and was 22 of 22 on kicks within 40 yards. As the clock wound down, Murawczyk booted it inches left of the uprights, and just like that, Yale was 0-1 in the league.

Immediately, comparisons to last season began. In the season opener in 1999, Yale looked to be in control against Brown, but Brown came back and won, 25-24, with the decisive points coming on a fluke two-point conversion with 40 seconds left. Siedlecki rallied his team then, and the Bulldogs did not lose another game. But could this year's team accomplish the same unthinkable goal? Mazza guaranteed they would try. "We know this position," he said after the loss to Cornell. "We're certainly not going to tank it from here on out."

Five games later, what had been unthinkable seemed inevitable. Against Penn and Holy Cross, the Bulldogs had some trouble protecting fourth-quarter leads, and they had to come back in the fourth quarter against lesser opponents Dartmouth and Fordham—but they won all those games. Going into its match up against Columbia on Sat., Oct. 28, Yale was 5-1, 2-1 in Ivy play and tied with four other teams for the league lead. And on that cold, windy day, the Bulldogs played as close to a perfect game as they ever have, pummeling the Lions 41-0. With only two games remaining before the Harvard game, both against teams with inferior records, Yale seemed assured of playing The Game with a chance for a repeat miracle championship.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Yale Coach Jack Siedlecki blamed himself for Yale's offensive letdown in the loss to Princeton. 'I got conservative,' Siedlecki said. 'You certainly won't see that happen this Saturday.'

But a funny thing happened on the way: the offense stopped humming. Against Brown, the previously mistake-free Yale quarterback Peter Lee, TD '02, threw four costly interceptions, and an injured Bartholomew could only muster 66 yards on the ground. The Bears, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Brown Field before a raucous crowd, spoiled things for Yale for the second straight year, winning 28-14.

Then, against Princeton, as in the Cornell game, Yale let the opponent back in the game by stalling on offense. The Bulldogs failed to score in the second half—their first scoreless half this season—and the Tigers scored 16 to win. "That's one of the toughest losses I've ever been through, and I've been doing it a lot longer than they've been playing," Siedlecki said. Also, like the Cornell game, the opponents won by a margin of inches, and Yale's pain was another team's joy.

Princeton coach Roger Hughes, Blevins, Cheatham, and receiver Chisom Opara '02 occupied the press room before the somber Yale players entered, and their faces could barely mask their glee. "I looked down, and my feet were in bounds," Cheatham said about his crucial sidelines scamper. How close was he to stepping out? "Pretty close. As close as I can get." Hughes, who, in his first year as Princeton coach had to replace injured quarterbacks four times, had persevered. "The most satisfying thing," he said, "is that all year long I told them to hang in there. Forget about the score, play until it's over, and good things will happen."

Harvard sucks, and Princeton doesn't matter

That is exactly the task remaining for the Bulldogs: forget about the record, forget about the disappointments, and play until it's over. And just as a 2-6, beat-up Princeton team found redemption in a victory over Yale, so a Yale victory in The Game could redeem all.

"Initially, it's shock and depression," Siedlecki said of his players' reaction to the defeat. "But then you just have to get mad. When you're mad, you take it out on Harvard and stop feeling sorry for yourselves." He added, "I'm glad we're playing Harvard, and not somebody else. Because we'll get excited to play Harvard."

That is always the nature of the Harvard game, and that's what makes it special. No matter what the teams' records are going into The Game, whether they be at the top of the league or the bottom, The Game is an end unto itself.

In 1997, when Siedlecki and the Class of 2001 were struggling through their disheartening first season, they faced a Harvard team at the Bowl that was undefeated in the league. The Bulldogs were clearly outmatched, but they played hard and kept it close, losing 17-7.

This year, the teams are more evenly matched, as Yale's Class of 2001 has blossomed into one of the best in its football history. In 1998 and 1999, their teams went a combined 11-3 in Ivy play, and each year in The Game, the Bulldogs came from behind to win in the final minutes.

The three distraught players sitting in the press conference after the Princeton game have left as indelible marks as any. If not for their remarkable performances over the years, the team would not have been in the position to expect to win against Princeton—and to be severely disappointed. Bartholomew needs just 52 rushing yards against Harvard to pass current Chicago Bears Coach Dick Jauron, PC '73, on the all-time Yale rushing list. Johnson owns Yale's single-season and career records for receptions, receiving yardage, and touchdown receptions. And Mazza leads the team in tackles and, with his intense desire, as a captain.

Siedlecki pointed to Mazza's comments at the press conference as evidence of his leadership. "For him to volunteer that he was there and that he should have made that play speaks volumes about our kids and their sense of responsibility," Siedlecki said. "They're not pointing the finger at somebody else or blaming somebody else."

"We've had plenty of opportunities for great memories and relationships to form," Mazza said. "It all culminates with the Harvard game this year. I'm hopeful that we'll go out the way I think we're meant to go out, and that's on top." And if they do—if, as the Bulldogs hope, Harvard sucks and Princeton doesn't matter—then the final chapter of this storybook, which has had so many surprises and twists, can still have a happy ending.

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