CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University football returns to Harvard Stadium to host nationally ranked No. 11/10 Holy Cross on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+) with both the Crimson (2-0) and Crusaders (4-0) coming into the contest with undefeated records.
 
Harvard has opened the season with back-to-back victories over Merrimack (28-21, OT) and Brown (35-28). The Crimson came back from a 21-7 deficit to top the Warriors in its season opener before building a 35-7 lead on its way to a victory over the Bears in its Ivy League opener. Holy Cross has posted victories over Merrimack (31-17), Buffalo (37-31), Yale (38-14), and Colgate (35-10) this season. Harvard leads the all-time series with Holy Cross, 45-25-2.

What to Know

• 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.
• As a team in the NCAA FCS rankings, the Crimson ranks first in red zone offense (1.000), fourth in rushing defense (41.5 yards per game), first in team sacks per game (5.50), and second in tackles for loss per game (10.5).
• In the NCAA individual rankings, senior running back Aidan Borguet ranks third in points per game (12.0), fourth in rushing yards per game (129.0) and 10^th in all-purpose yards per game (150.50). Senior wide receiver Kym Wimberly stands ninth in receiving yards per game (96.5) and sixth in receptions per game (7.5).
• 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 following 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.
• The Crimson captured its fourth straight non-conference home victory with its triumph over Merrimack. One would have to go back to Sept. 28, 2018, to find its last such defeat (23-16 vs. Rhode Island).
• Harvard has won four straight games vs. schools from the state of Massachusetts, a streak that first started in 2017.
• 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 returns to Ivy League play when it plays in a nationally televised game at Cornell on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPNU) in Ithaca, New York, at Schoellkopf Field.