CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - No. 22/20 Harvard (AFCA Coaches/Stats Perform), winners of six straight games, will make its final road trip of the season to face Penn at Franklin Field. The 1 p.m. ET contest will pit two of the three teams that received first-place consideration in the Ivy League's preseason poll back in August. ESPN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia and NBC Sports Boston will air the game live.
Quick Hits
- The Crimson jumped in both major FCS top-25 polls this week, moving from No. 25 to No. 22 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and from No. 24 to No. 20 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. Harvard's No. 22 coaches poll ranking is its highest since it was ranked No. 19 ahead of last year's game at Yale. The Crimson's Stats Perform ranking, meanwhile, is its highest since it landed at No. 18 ahead of its 2023 matchup at Princeton.
- Harvard is coming off a decisive 26-6 home win over Columbia, a team it entered the week with, along with Dartmouth, atop the Ivy League standings. With the victory, the Crimson improved to 3-0 against teams that occupied first place in the Ivy standings at game time (at Cornell, at Dartmouth, vs. Columbia). The decision was also Harvard's 11th straight overall at home.
- The Crimson has won six straight games, which is tied for the eighth-longest streak nationally (Drake). Along the way, Harvard has notched impressive wins over then-No. 16/21 New Hampshire, at Cornell (Ivy first place at game time), Holy Cross (current Patriot League tri-leader), Princeton, at then-No. 22/22 Dartmouth (Ivy first place at game time) and Columbia (Ivy first place at game time).
- In the win over Columbia, Harvard received a two-interception performance from Austin-Jake Guillory. The sophomore, who also had six tackles, captured Ivy Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors on Monday, marking the second week in a row a Crimson athlete has garnered recognition. Last week, junior safety Ty Bartrum was named the Ivy's top defensive player after a career-high 16-tackle showing at Dartmouth.
- The Crimson's effort vs. Columbia on defense was one of its best showings of the season. It marked the second fewest points allowed, trailing its shutout of Stetson in the season opener. The six points, meanwhile, were the fewest the Lions scored in 2024, and their lowest since Oct. 1, 2022. Additionally, the six points allowed by Harvard was tied for the fifth fewest allowed by a Crimson team in an Ivy League game since 1996.
- On offense against Columbia, Harvard had a number of standout performances, beginning with quarterback Charles DePrima. The senior rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown, and had 59 yards receiving and a TD through the air. He was the fourth Division I quarterback, and just the second FCS QB, to record at least one receiving and rushing TD in a game this season, and the only one not to attempt a pass in the game. DePrima was also the only Division I quarterback this season, and third since 1996, to have at least one receiving TD, one rushing TD, 75 rushing and 50 yards receiving in a game (first since Antwaan Randle El in 1998).
- Starting QB Jaden Craig passed for 244 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions. It was Craig's sixth multi-touchdown performance of the season. Ninety-one of Craig's 244 yards went to wide receiver Cooper Barkate, who hauled in four passes, one of which went for a 34-yard TD. The junior wideout has at least 91 yards receiving in five straight games and at least 76 in every game this season. Running back Xaviah Bascon, meanwhile, rushed 22 times for a career-high 107 yards.
