Program Prestige · HarvardThe Game 1875 (first match)
Harvard and Yale played the second-oldest rivalry in American college sports; Harvard won 4-0
Harvard
9-22025 recordIvy · Harvard Stadium · 30,323 · 9,635 avg in 2025
The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The marketno line yetat New Hampshire · our model 48% Harvard · a number, not a pick
Openerat New Hampshire · Sat Sep 19 · 1 pm ET · Wildcat Stadium · series 8-0, won the last 8 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · preseason
Program Prestige · Harvard
Power Program
The CFP Era
11 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality
AP Rank (inverted)
CFP Appearance
Harvard's 2014–2025 record is 80-31. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.
Program outlook
Harvard went 9–1 in 2025 and lost the one game that mattered, then collapsed in the playoffs.
Read the full essay — 4 more paragraphs
Harvard football is one of the oldest programs in the world. The Crimson represent a tradition stretching back to 1874, when the sport didn't yet have codified rules. The program's golden age came under Percy Haughton (1908–1916), whose 71-7-5 record and three national championships (1910, 1912, 1913) pioneered modern football strategy. Haughton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. The modern era belongs to Tim Murphy (1994–2023), who compiled 200 wins—the most in Ivy League history—and captured 10 conference titles. Murphy's 19-10 record against Yale remains among the program's greatest achievements.
Harvard Stadium (1903) was the first large reinforced-concrete stadium in the United States and inadvertently shaped modern football. In 1906, when the Intercollegiate Football Conference proposed widening the field to reduce violent collisions (18 deaths that year), Harvard objected because the concrete structure could not expand. The forward pass was legalized instead—a rule change directly catalyzed by Harvard's stadium design. The stadium was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Andrew Aurich was hired in February 2024 from Rutgers. In his first season, Aurich won a shared Ivy title. The 2025 season promised to be transformational: the Crimson went 9-1 and looked positioned to claim the outright Ivy championship. Then came The Game. On November 22, 2025, Yale defeated Harvard 45–28 in the 141st edition of the rivalry, ending the Crimson's undefeated season and handing Yale the conference title and automatic FCS playoff berth. Harvard received an at-large bid but lost their first-round playoff game to Villanova, 52-7, ending the season at 9–2. The wound is fresh: a season of excellence was undone by a single moment and then a collapse.
Harvard fans are newly aware of what FCS playoff football demands and of the gap between Ivy dominance and national competition. The 2026 season begins with the weight of that knowledge and the determination to prove that the 2025 campaign was not a mirage but the beginning of a new era.
On the field
Harvard is a non-scholarship program committed to player development and character-based coaching. The Crimson emphasize excellence through integrity—a philosophy inherited from Tim Murphy's three decades and carried forward by Andrew Aurich.
All-time record · Harvard
Harvard has won 69% of its games since 1875 — 74% at home, 57% on the road.
801-315-42 all-time · 131 seasons · 1875–2025
Home
589-192-13
Away
200-123-29
Neutral
12-0
65%
1870s
79%
1880s
87%
1890s
84%
1900s
84%
1910s
61%
1920s
53%
1930s
46%
1940s
44%
1950s
64%
1960s
60%
1970s
54%
1980s
1 g
1990s
80%
2000s
74%
2010s
76%
2020s
Program memory
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
1903
Harvard Stadium opens
First large reinforced-concrete stadium in the United States (Nov 14, 1903); catalyzed 1906 forward-pass legalization by objecting to field-widening proposal
1910
Percy Haughton era
Haughton's 1910 national championship; three titles in nine years (1910, 1912, 1913); pioneered modern football strategy
2004
Tim Murphy's undefeated season
Harvard goes 10-0, wins outright Ivy title under Tim Murphy
2025 The Game loss
Yale defeats unbeaten (9-1) Harvard 45–28 on Nov 22, 2025; costs Harvard outright Ivy title and automatic FCS playoff berth; first losing streak of four consecutive losses in rivalry since 1947
Wound
2025 FCS Playoff first-round loss
12th-seeded Villanova defeats Harvard 52-7 in first-round FCS playoff (Nov 29, 2025); Harvard's FCS playoff debut ends in blowout; season finishes 9-2
Wound
Moment of the Year · Harvard · 2025
Moment of the Year · Harvard · 2025Won 59-7 at Stetson
Week 4 of 2025. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.
More in this tab
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Joseph Restic departs
- Hired Joseph Restic
- John Yovicsin departs
- Hired John Yovicsin
- Dick Harlow departs
- Hired Dick Harlow
- Dick Harlow departs
- Hired Dick Harlow
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
Harvard Stadium's Legacy
since 1903
more
Harvard Stadium opened on November 14, 1903, as the first large reinforced-concrete stadium in the United States. Its innovative construction inadvertently shaped modern football: in 1906, when the Intercollegiate Football Conference proposed widening the field to reduce violence (18 deaths that year), Harvard objected because its fixed concrete dimensions could not expand. The forward pass was legalized instead—a rule change directly catalyzed by Harvard Stadium's design. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987, the 30,323-seat stadium stands as a monument to engineering ingenuity and football history.
The Game (Harvard vs Yale)
since 1875
more
The second-oldest rivalry in American college sports (dating to November 13, 1875), The Game is one of football's most storied traditions and a blood feud. Harvard won the first meeting 4-0 but has lost 7 of the last 10 matchups, including the pivotal 2025 contest (45–28 on November 22). That loss ended Harvard's perfect season at 9-1 and cost the Crimson the outright Ivy League title, handing Yale the conference's first-ever FCS playoff berth. The rivalry transcends contemporary stakes—it carries the weight of 150 years of institutional pride.
The Crimson Color
since 1858
more
Harvard's identity is uniquely rooted in a color, not an animal mascot. In 1858, rowers Charles William Eliot and Benjamin W. Crowninshield distributed crimson scarves to crew teammates for spectator identification. The color was officially designated as Harvard's identity in 1910 and has remained unchanged for more than a century. Unlike other programs, Harvard athletic teams are named for the color itself—the Crimson—a distinction symbolizing unity, tradition, and academic excellence.
Percy Haughton's Genius
since 1908
more
Percy Haughton coached Harvard from 1908 to 1916 and compiled a 71-7-5 record while winning three national championships (1910, 1912, 1913). Haughton pioneered forward-pass combinations, hidden-ball plays, and lateral passes—innovations that transformed football from raw collision into a game of strategy and skill. During his tenure, Yale never scored more than 13 points across the entire rivalry period. Haughton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. His era remains the program's sustained peak of excellence.
Cultural identity
This page may include content derived from public news sources, social media, and fan communities. We relay these sources as-is — we are not reporting them. Sources may be summarized or quoted imperfectly; for anything that matters, go look at the original source directly. The original source may also be wrong. AI-generated content is labeled and may contain factual errors. All analysis is editorial opinion, not professional reporting. Data sources · About this site