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Harvard beats Colgate 20-17 on last-second Hail Mary lateral

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly right-leaning (67%).

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

Harvard defeated Colgate 20-17 on Saturday night in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after a final play in which quarterback Charlie Smith threw a Hail Mary pass that was caught by tight end Teigan Pelletier near the Colgate 5-yard line. Pelletier lateraled the ball to freshman Nate Bailey, who ran it in for the winning touchdown as time expired. The win came after Harvard’s special teams committed a false-start penalty on a potential tying field goal attempt. Harvard improved to 3-0 on the season, while Colgate, which had taken a 17-13 lead late in the fourth quarter, fell to 4-2. Harvard head coach Andrew Aurich discussed the victory afterward.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Harvard defeated Colgate 20-17 on Saturday night in Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Reported byLeftRight

  2. The winning score came on a Hail Mary pass followed by a lateral on the final play

    Reported byLeftRight

  3. Quarterback Charlie Smith threw the pass, caught by Teigan Pelletier, who lateraled to Nate Bailey for the touchdown

    Reported byRight

  4. A false-start penalty on Harvard's special teams pushed the Crimson out of field goal range before the final play

    Reported byRight

  5. Harvard improved to 3-0 on the season while Colgate fell to 4-2

    Reported byRight

  6. Harvard head coach Andrew Aurich commented on the win after the game

    Reported byLeft

How each side tells it

Compare views

  • the left

    1 outlet

    Bloomberg presents the event briefly as a video segment centered on the coach's own account rather than a traditional game recap.

    Harvard Football Beats Colgate with Miraculous Hail Mary Lateral
    BloombergLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    2 outlets

    Both right-leaning outlets use excited, play-by-play headlines emphasizing the dramatic and improbable nature of the finish, with Fox News adding detail about the penalty that set up the final play.

    Harvard football Loaded verb“outsmarts”Implies strategic superiority rather than simply reporting the outcome of the play.More neutral: defeatsDisagree with this highlight? Colgate on Hail Mary attempt to win game in final seconds
    Fox NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left0

    No loaded words in its own voice.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right5

    come crashing downcrazy Hail Mary playstunbrutal false start penalty

In the outlets’ own words

  • Sensational language

    come crashing downMore neutral: was about to end

    Dramatizes the potential loss with vivid metaphor rather than neutral phrasing.

    Harvard’s undefeated season was about to come crashing down.

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    crazy Hail Mary playMore neutral: last-second Hail Mary play

    Adds subjective dramatic emphasis rather than neutral description of the play.

    Harvard completes crazy Hail Mary play to stun Colgate

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    stunMore neutral: defeat

    Frames the outcome with dramatic flair rather than neutral reporting.

    Harvard completes crazy Hail Mary play to stun Colgate

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    brutal false start penaltyMore neutral: false start penalty

    Uses an emotionally charged adjective to describe a routine penalty rather than a neutral description.

    …football comeback as Nate Bailey scored on a last-second lateral after a brutal false start penalty.

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

Show 1 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Loaded verb

    outsmartsMore neutral: defeats

    Implies strategic superiority rather than simply reporting the outcome of the play.

    Harvard football outsmarts Colgate on Hail Mary attempt to win game in final seconds

    Used byFox News (Far Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

1 outlet

Leads with

  • head coach Andrew Aurich's comments on the win

Leaves out

  • details of the final play, including the penalty and lateral sequence
  • the final score context of Colgate's late lead

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the headline from the leftHide the headlines
  • BloombergLeft

    Harvard Football Beats Colgate with Miraculous Hail Mary Lateral

    Harvard Football Head Coach Andrew Aurich discusses the team's Hail Mary victory over Colgate on Saturday night. (Source: Bloomberg)

    Read at Bloomberg (opens in a new tab)

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the mechanics of the Hail Mary and lateral
  • the false-start penalty that preceded it
  • Harvard's record and ranking implications
See the 2 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    Harvard football Loaded verb“outsmarts”Implies strategic superiority rather than simply reporting the outcome of the play.More neutral: defeatsDisagree with this highlight? Colgate on Hail Mary attempt to win game in final seconds

    A viral clip shows Harvard's Ivy League college football comeback as Nate Bailey scored on a last-second lateral after a Loaded modifier“brutal false start penalty”Uses an emotionally charged adjective to describe a routine penalty rather than a neutral description.More neutral: false start penaltyDisagree with this highlight?.

    Read at Fox News (opens in a new tab)
  • New York PostRight

    Harvard completes Sensational language“crazy Hail Mary play”Adds subjective dramatic emphasis rather than neutral description of the play.More neutral: last-second Hail Mary playDisagree with this highlight? to Loaded verb“stun”Frames the outcome with dramatic flair rather than neutral reporting.More neutral: defeatDisagree with this highlight? Colgate

    Harvard's undefeated season was about to come crashing down. But then a Hail Mary football prayer was answered.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    1 day 8 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 5, 10:55 AM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 4, 2:36 AM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 4, 2:36 AM EDT
  2. Fox NewsFar RightOct 4, 12:52 PM EDT
  3. BloombergLeftOct 5, 10:55 AM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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