Epic Walland performance yields Game victory

COURTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY Eric Johnson, JE '01, celebrates after receiving Joe Walland's, TD '00, 42nd completion-- the game-winning touchdown pass.

Appropriately, the final Harvard-Yale football game of the century was, in two words, magnificent and preposterous. In a game with four lead changes in the fourth quarter, a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, and two interceptions, the biggest turning point in the 117th edition of the rivalry was an unexpected gift from the heavens.

Nearing the end of the second quarter, Bulldog quarterback Joe Walland, TD '00, who had spent the previous night in bed at Yale-New Haven Hospital and had a 102-degree temperature at game time, was still visibly affected by what doctors believed to be a severe case of tonsillitis. Repeatedly missing wide-open receivers, Walland was clearly in bad shape—and so was the Bulldog offense, trailing 7-3 and seemingly incapable of sustaining a long drive down the field. It was unusually warm for a late November afternoon, and with the sun shining down on him for nearly the entire half, Walland, unlike most of the 52,484 spectators in attendance at the Yale Bowl, was not thankful for the unexpectedly pleasant weather. "With my horrible fever and with the warm weather," Walland said, "I was dying."

And then, a gift from God: the sun suddenly disappeared in the clouds and the temperature cooled a bit. "I had felt light-headed all game," Walland reflected, "but once the sun went down, I felt a lot better." The Bulldogs moved the ball deep into Crimson territory late in the half, with Walland connecting on crucial passes, and although they did not score, coach Jack Siedlecki knew that Walland was coming around. "He was clearly clearing up," Siedlecki said. "I thought he could play a good half." And he did.

When his "good half" was done, Walland had broken just about every single-game record a quarterback could dream about. One by one the records fell in the second half. But it is one thing to break records. It is another to shatter them. And it is yet another to shatter them in the biggest game of your life. The final score was 24-21 Yale, wrapping up a 9-1 Ivy League championship season for the Bulldogs, their first league title in 10 years. In the second half alone, under the shadow of the clouds, Walland completed 33 of 51 for 343 yards. For the game, he was 42 of 67 for 437 yards, all school records. His final pass of the afternoon came with half a minute left in the game, landing in the hands of receiver Eric Johnson, JE '01, who caught a record-breaking 21 catches for 244 yards [see page 26].

Walland not only proved that he is this team's most valuable player (and arguably the league's as well) but he also put up a performance that will probably permanently place his name with the Eli greats, though history will be the ultimate judge. "He is the greatest player I've ever coached," Siedlecki said. "His game will go down in history, no doubt about it." After the game, a Yale alumnus approached Walland and told him that his performance was "better than anything Brian Dowling [BK '69] ever did." Dowling was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Walland finishes his Yale career with nearly 20 school records, including all-time bests in career total offense, completions, passing yards, and touchdown passes. He is an unlikely hero at the position, given his 5'10" height and lack of experience—he had to beg an unwilling Siedlecki in 1997 spring practices to give him a shot at quarterback.

In addition to the fever, Walland had a sprained thumb and injured his toe in the contest's third quarter, causing him to limp painfully for the rest of the game. Still, Siedlecki had confidence—not only did the coach scrap the Bulldog running game altogether in the second half, but also—for the first time in his career—let his quarterback make every single play call at the line of scrimmage as Yale went to an exclusively shotgun offense. "One of the biggest things was coach's confidence in me," Walland said. "It just makes you play better automatically when you have support like that."

After the game, Walland sat on the sideline, watching fans storm the field and players celebrate at midfield. "I wanted to enjoy the moment. I was really in disbelief. I couldn't believe what had just happened."

The magnitude of the game and his performance hasn't yet hit Walland. He'll have all his life to reflect on the glory. There has, however, already been much talk about how this Game will rank in Bulldog history. But even if time is the ultimate judge, just two weeks after the contest, there is nothing hyperbolic about calling the 1999 Game what it was: one of the greatest in Yale history—as was Walland's performance.

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