CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Crimson welcomes nationally ranked New Hampshire to Harvard Stadium for the first time on Friday in what is a renewal of a series that began in 1929. The night game will mark the eighth all-time meeting and the first between the two programs since 1939. NESN and ESPN+ will carry the action live, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
Quick Hits
- Harvard is facing a Wildcats team that has won three straight outings and has not played since defeating Bryant, 38-17, back on Sept. 21. In fact, UNH has not left Durham since a 21-20 road win at Holy Cross on Sept. 7. The Crimson, meanwhile, comes into the non-conference tilt on short rest and is looking to rebound from a 31-28 road loss at Brown last Saturday.
- Senior wide receiver Cooper Barkate enjoyed season highs in receptions (6) and receiving yards (90), while scoring a pair of touchdowns at Brown. Barkate enters the UNH game with three TDs on the year, a figure that matches his 2023 season total. The California native leads the team with 10 catches, 166 yards, three TDs and an average of 83.0 yards per outing.
- Marcus Alexander led all players with a career-high 11 tackles at Brown and was one five Crimson defensive players to record at least seven stops. The other four -- Eric Little, Ty Bartrum, Myles Wiley, Mitchell Gonser -- combined for 28 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss of six yards, 1.5 sacks for a loss of four yards and three pass breakups. Damien Henderson, meanwhile, had a career-high three PBUs of his own, while adding four tackles and 1.0 TFL. Henderson's PBU total vs. the Bears equaled his 2023 output.
- Harvard will look to stop its losing streak at one. The Crimson has recently done a nice job of not dropping two games in a row, having responded to a loss with a victory in its last seven opportunities, including its season opener vs. Stetson (Harvard lost its 2023 finale at Yale). The last time Harvard dropped two outings in a row was Oct. 23, 2021 (at No. 17/22 Princeton; 5ot-L, 16-18) and Oct. 30, 2021 (vs. Dartmouth; L, 17-20).
- Aiding the Crimson's effort to get back in the win column will be the turf it will play on. Since 2001, Harvard owns the fourth-best home winning percentage (.800; 92-23) among current FCS schools (min. 20 home games played) and will take a seven-game home winning streak into the UNH contest.
- During Harvard's current seven-game home winning streak, the Crimson has averaged 35.0 points per game and 227.9 rushing yards. On the other side of the ball, Harvard has been stout, allowing just 15.1 points and 90.7 yards on the ground. In the 35-0 season-opening victory vs. Stetson, the Crimson allowed 85 yards passing, which was its 10th fewest allowed since 1996 (5.67 yards allowed per completion was the 14th-lowest allowed in the FCS this season), and 16 rushing yards.
- Harvard will play host to a nationally ranked team for the first time since Oct. 21, 2022, when it was on the short end of a 37-10 score vs. No. 23/-- (coaches/media) Princeton. The last time it welcomed a non-Ivy ranked team to campus came earlier that 2022 campaign, when it dropped a 30-21 decision to No. 11/10 Holy Cross. The Crimson, however, won its last game vs. a nationally ranked foe after it beat No. 5/6 Holy Cross, 38-28, last season at Polar Park, home of the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Worcester WooSox.
