CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University football opens the final month of the 2022 season on Saturday, Nov. 5, when it plays host to Columbia University at Harvard Stadium at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
 
The Crimson returns to Harvard Stadium after it earned a 28-13 road win at Dartmouth last Saturday. The decision improved Harvard's road record to 4-0 this season and kept the Crimson in the hunt for the Ivy League title. Harvard enters the week tied with Penn and Yale at 3-1 in the conference standings, just one game back of Princeton (4-0).
 
Columbia will visit Cambridge in search of its first Ivy victory. After opening the campaign with a 2-0 record and wins in three of their first four outings, the Lions have dropped three straight, including last week's 41-16 home loss to Yale.

What to Know

• The Harvard-Columbia match-up features two Ivy League coaching icons in Tim Murphy and Al Bagnoli. The two have each won nine conference championships, which is one shy of the league record, and are among the Ivy leaders in wins. Murphy ranks first in overall coaching victories (191), with Bagnoli sitting in second (181). The two, meanwhile, rank No. 2-3 in conference wins (No. 2 - Murphy: 132; No. 3 - Bagnoli: 130), behind Carm Cozza's 135 (Yale).
• The Crimson opens the month of November having won three straight games in the calendar's 11th month, dating to last season.
• Senior running back Aidan Borguet has earned a spot on the Walter Payton Award Watch List – an honor that is presented annually by Stats Perform to the national offensive player of the year in college football's Division I FCS subdivision. Borguet ranks fifth in the NCAA in rushing yards per game (127.9) and is coming off a 179-yard, 2-touchdown rushing performance at Dartmouth. He has five 100-yard rushing games this season and scored at least one touchdown in six games. Borguet, who has a career-high 895 rushing yards, needs just 105 rushing yards to hit the 1,000-yard plateau.
• Borguet leads the Ivy League in rushing attempts (145), rushing yards (895), rushing yards per game (127.9), and second in rushing touchdowns (nine). Borguet owns a sizable advantage in Ivy rushing yards per game as Yale's Nolan Grooms, who ranks second, is averaging 74.0 yards per outing.
• Junior defensive lineman Thor Griffith has gained recognition on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List – an accolade that is awarded to the national defensive player of the year in college football's Division I FCS subdivision. Griffith stands 39th in the nation in tackles for loss per game (1.2). The junior is among three Harvard players who rank in the top-50 nationally in category as Truman Jones sits in 11th (1.5) and Nate Leskovec is 45th (1.1).
• As a team in the NCAA FCS rankings, the Crimson ranks second in blocked kicks (seven), second in blocked punts (four), third in tackles for loss allowed (3.29 per game), eighth in rushing defense (94.9 yards per game), 10th in team sacks (3.14 per game), 11th in red zone offense (.909), 12th in team tackles for loss (7.6 per game), and 14th in sacks allowed (1.14 per game).
• In the NCAA individual rankings, senior running back Aidan Borguet ranks fifth in rushing yards per game (127.9), 15th in all-purpose yards per game (135.71), 17th in rushing touchdowns (nine), 21st in total touchdowns (10), and 25th in rushing yards per carry (6.17).
• Senior wide receiver Kym Wimberly sits seventh in receptions per game (7.1) and 24th in receiving yards per game (85.4), while sophomore receiver Ledger Hatch ranks sixth in yards per reception (22.19).
• Wimberly has made 50 receptions for 598 yards and four receiving touchdowns on the season. He paces the Ivy League in receptions per game (7.1) and ranks second in receiving yards per game (85.4). The wideout is coming off a five-catch, 70-yard, one-touchdown effort at Dartmouth. His reception and yard totals led all Harvard players.
• Senior defensive lineman Truman Jones stands 11th in the NCAA in tackles for loss per game (1.5), T-38th in sacks per game (0.64), and third in blocked kicks (three). All three of his blocked kicks have come in his last three outings.
• Senior quarterback Charlie Dean has completed 108-of-185 pass attempts (58.4 percent) this season for 1,336 yards and 11 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He has thrown for over 200 yards in four of six games this year and has averaged 222.67 passing yards per game.  Classmate Luke Emge, however, received the starting nod at Dartmouth and threw for 195 yards (11-of-17 passing) and a touchdown.
• Senior defensive back James Herring earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week after recording a blocked punt and eight tackles in the Crimson's 41-25 win at Howard (Oct. 15). He tallied his sixth career blocked kick. Against the Bison, the Crimson also blocked a field goal.
• 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.
• 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.

Next Up

Harvard plays at Penn at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+) in its final road contest of the season.