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Harvard vs. Virginia

Harvard and Virginia have 9 meetings on file, the first in 1915; Harvard leads the series 8–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 9 meetings it’s Harvard 8–⁠1.

Harvard wins
8
Virginia wins
1
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1915
Longest streak
8 Harvard
Current streak
1 Virginia
Last 10 meetings
Harvard 8–⁠1
Most recent
1947

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1910s3–⁠0
1920s2–⁠0
1930s3–⁠0
1940s0–⁠1
Average margin
33.7 points; 0 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Harvard
8–⁠0 Harvard’s record at home
At Virginia
1–⁠0 Virginia’s record at home
Shutouts
8

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Harvard’s biggest win1936: Harvard 65, Virginia 0by 65 points
  2. Virginia’s biggest win1947: Virginia 47, Harvard 0by 47 points

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Harvard and Virginia, 1915 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The Evening star's story of the 1915 game: LITTLE IN WAY OF UPSETS IN BIG FOOT BALL CONTESTS Harvard Fails to Cross Virginia Goal and Princeton Runs Up Big Score on Lafayette. GEORGETOWN Eleven Is Praised.

    1915 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 17, 1915

  • The Norwich bulletin's story of the 1916 game: A JOKE FOR HARvARps Crimson Machine Rips Southerners for Big Gains-score 51 to 0.

    1916 · Norwich bulletin, Connecticut, Nov 6, 1916

  • The The sun's story of the 1919 game: HARVARD TEAM BEATS VIRGINIA. ELEVEN EASILY Crimson Attack Shows Power in Rolling Up AZ Point Score. CAPTAIN MURRAY STARS SOutherners Force Crimson Substitutes to Battle Hard to Prevent Score. CAPTAIN MURRAY STARS

    1919 · The sun, New York, Oct 26, 1919

  • The The New York herald's story of the 1920 game: CRIMSON TOO POWERFUL FOR j. OF VIRGINIA Southerners Play Good Open Football, but Fail TO Score. GAME ENDS "a TO 0 Strong Line Attack and Alert Running of Harvard Backs Earn Victory. GAME ENDS "a TO 0

    1920 · The New York herald, New York, N.Y., Oct 31, 1920

  • The Evening star's story of the 1924 game: VIRGINIA is DOWNED BY HARVARD, Ia TO O

    1924 · Evening star, Oct 5, 1924

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Oct 11, 1947Virginia 47, Harvard 0at Virginia
Nov 12, 1938Harvard 40, Virginia 13at Harvard
Nov 7, 1936Harvard 65, Virginia 0at Harvard
Oct 31, 1931Harvard 19, Virginia 0at Harvard
Oct 4, 1924Harvard 14, Virginia 0at Harvard
Oct 30, 1920Harvard 24, Virginia 0at Harvard
Oct 25, 1919Harvard 47, Virginia 0at Harvard
Nov 4, 1916Harvard 51, Virginia 0at Harvard
Oct 16, 1915Harvard 9, Virginia 0at Harvard

Every game is listed as played on the field.