CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — It’s been more than a century since there was this much at stake in The Game.

When Harvard and Yale renew their rivalry for the 141st time on Saturday, the winner will earn the Ivy League’s first-ever FCS playoff berth, giving the conference champion a chance to compete for a national championship for the first time since the sport's leather-helmet era.

“Definitely a lot more on the line, outside of just being one of the biggest rivalries in college football,” Harvard coach Andrew Aurich said this week as he prepared his team to face the Bulldogs on Saturday at the Yale Bowl. “So if that motivates them even more than what should be an easy game to get motivated for, that’s great.”

First played in 1875 – six years after Rutgers and the school that was not yet Princeton

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