CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University football returns to Ivy League play when it travels to play at Cornell University on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPNU at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, New York.
 
The Crimson (2-1) opened the season with back-to-back wins against Merrimack (28-21, OT) and Brown (35-28) before a narrow setback against then No. 11/10 Holy Cross (30-21) in its last outing. The Big Red has also notched a 2-1 record to start the year with wins over VMI (28-22) and Colgate (34-31) alongside an Ivy League loss against Yale (38-14). Harvard leads the all-time series with Cornell, 49-34-2.

What to Know

• As a team in the NCAA FCS rankings, the Crimson ranks second in team sacks per game (4.67), third in team tackles for loss per game (9.0), fourth in rushing defense (76.7 yards per game), third in tackles for loss allowed per game (3.33), eighth in sacks allowed per game (1.00)
• In the NCAA individual rankings, senior running back Aidan Borguet ranks third in points per game (12.0), seventh in rushing yards per game (112.7), 17^th in all-purpose yards per game (127.0), and 17^th in rushing touchdowns (five). Senior wide receiver Kym Wimberly sits sixth in receiving yards per game (97.3) and sixth in receptions per game (8.0) while sophomore receiver Ledger Hatch ranks fourth in yards per reception (25.33). Senior quarterback Charlie Dean stands 23^rd in points responsible for per game (14.0), and senior defensive lineman Nate Leskovec leads the FCS in sacks per game (1.50).
• Senior running back Aidan Borguet has rushed for 338 yards (112.67 per game) and five rushing touchdowns – alongside a receiving touchdown – on 54 carries this season. He ranks second in the Ivy League in rushing yards per game and tied for first in points per game (12.0).
• Senior wide receiver Kym Wimberly has made 24 reception for 292 yards and three receiving touchdowns on the season. He paces the Ivy League in receptions per game (8.0) and receiving yards per game (97.33).
• Senior captain and defensive lineman Truman Jones has earned selection as a semifinalist for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football's premier scholar-athlete award. Jones stands as one of 37 nominees for the award from the Football Championship Subdivision.
• Senior quarterback Charlie Dean captured the NEFW Gold Helmet Award after leading the Crimson to a 35-28 win over Brown on Sept. 24. Dean completed 20-of-29 passes for career highs in passing yards (282) and passing touchdowns (four) with no interceptions in the victory.
• Following its victory over Brown on Sept. 24 – under Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football, Harvard holds a 23-5 (.821) record in its Ivy League openers since 1994.
• Senior defensive lineman Nate Leskovec earned national recognition after posting a school-record 4.5 sacks and seven tackles in the Crimson's win over Merrimack, taking home FedEx Ground Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week and NCAA FCS Player of the Week honors. Leskovec also garnered Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.
• Senior running back Aidan Borguet gained both Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week and NEFW Gold Helmet weekly honors following his performance against Merrimack. Borguet accounted for 166 all-purpose yards (127 rushing, 39 receiving) and three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) to help propel the Crimson to the overtime victory.
• Junior defensive tackle Thor Griffith gained an honorable mention nod on the FedEx Ground Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week list after he posted nine tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks in Harvard's win over Merrimack.
• Senior defensive back Max Jones gained a spot on the prestigious Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, which recognizes 22 college football student-athletes and an honorary head coach for outstanding contributions to their communities. Off the field, Jones started the Project Proximate fellowship program, which aims to help Black and Latinx college students acquire and develop the tools necessary to be change agents in closing the racial wealth gap.
• Under Tim Murphy, The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football, the Crimson is 19-9 in season openers. The 2022 campaign marks Murphy's 29th at the helm of the program.
• The Crimson has won 11 consecutive season-openers at home. Harvard has not dropped the first game of a campaign at home since a 27-25 defeat to Holy Cross to begin the 2000 season.
• Harvard won its second consecutive season-opening game and third in the last four seasons in which it competed behind its 28-21 (OT) win over Merrimack.
• Harvard finished atop the Ivy League preseason poll, collecting 108 points and eight first-place votes. Dartmouth also recorded 108 points but earned four first-place tallies along with Princeton, which found itself with 105 points when the votes were tabulated.

Next Up

Harvard remains on the road to play at Howard University on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 4:00 p.m. (ESPN3) in Washington, D.C., at Audi Field in the Truth and Service Classic.