Bad news for the Harvard defense: Patrick Witt ’12 is not missing The Game this weekend.
The senior quarterback has officially withdrawn his application for the Rhodes Scholarship and given up his spot as a Finalist in order to play on Saturday. His interview was set to take place on Nov. 19, the same day as The Game, at Emory University in Atlanta. Witt applied from his home state of Georgia.
“I will be playing in the Yale-Harvard game this Saturday,” Witt said in an official press release, “I have withdrawn my application for the Rhodes Scholarship. My focus this week is solely on preparing for the Game alongside my teammates and coaches.”
After transferring to Yale from the University of Nebraska his sophomore year, Witt has become one of the most prolific passers in Blue and White history. He holds Yale’s all-time record in passing attempts and completions, and broke the career passing yards record on Saturday against Princeton. Witt picked apart the Tigers’ secondary, finishing with 26 completions on 33 attempts for 379 yards and three touchdowns.
Casey Gerald ’09 faced a similar dilemma in 2008, forced to choose between The Game and his Rhodes interview. However, Gerald’s Rhodes District split its interviews between Friday evening and Saturday morning. This allowed Gerald to interview on Friday and fly back in time for The Game. Rhodes District Six, which includes Georgia, did not plan for any interviews on Friday.
Saturday’s game will be the 128th meeting between Yale and Harvard.