No. 17/18 Harvard Football Looks to Stay Unbeaten Against Princeton

No. 17/18 Harvard (5-0) (2-0) is primed to face off against Ivy League rival Princeton (2-3) (1-1) this Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The Crimson enter this game as one of two undefeated teams in the FCS (No. 1 South Dakota State), and are looking to go 6-0 for the first time since 2015. With a win this weekend, head coach Tim Murphy would be in sole possession of the most Ivy league wins as a head coach. Murphy is currently tied for the lead with Yale’s Carm Cozza at 135.

The Crimson’s early-season success has not gone unnoticed. Earlier this week, senior defensive lineman Thor Griffith, junior quarterback Charles DePrima, and senior tight end Tyler Neville were named 2023 Phil Steele FCS Midseason All-Americans, leading all other Ivy League schools at this point in the year.

Meanwhile, the Tigers enter the game struggling at a mark of 2-3. Last year, Princeton recorded a statement 37-10 win against the Crimson at Harvard Stadium. This year, Harvard is looking to flip the script and continue their dominant play. Last week, Princeton lost an overtime thriller to Brown, who Harvard beat in Week 2.

“Just like any other week,” said DePrima about preparing for Princeton’s defense. “I feel like I say this no matter what, we’re just preparing for them like any other team, we’re gonna treat them like any other week, like any other team, and we respect them, and we’re just gonna make sure we’re prepared and ready.”

This season has been night and day from the 2022 season for the Crimson. Not only has Harvard started the year undefeated, but they took the hard route to get there, picking up their highest quality win in over 10 years against Holy Cross in their third game and winning a shootout with a talented Brown team a week prior. They followed it up with a dominant performance over Howard. Keeping the unbeaten streak alive remains the focus going into their clash with the tigers.

“Just keeping up with what we’ve been doing,” continued DePrima about specific offensive goals against Princeton. “It’s never about them, it’s just about us and our execution, and we’re just making sure that we’re doing what we’ve been doing.”

“I’d say it means a lot,” said first-year running back Xaviah Bascon about Harvard being 5-0 for the first time in two years. “Especially [because] the guys here, they work so hard, and we saw that from day one coming in as a first year, and they just kind of set that tone. So it means a lot to us, and I don’t think we’re gonna let go at all, we’re gonna keep working hard and keep pushing.”

Junior running back Malik Frederick breaks free from the Howard defense on October 14, 2023. By Nicholas T. Jacobsson

In addition to the streak, Bascon was named Ivy-League Rookie of the Week after a breakout game against Howard. The first-year rushed for 46 yards on 8 carries and added a touchdown reception in Harvard’s dominant performance against the Bison.

“It felt great, but I just got to give credit to the Lord,” said Bascon regarding the honor. “God is what keeps me going, and with faith in Him, it just pushes me and allows me to do things that I don’t think I’m capable of. It’s humbling, though, just to know through hard work you can achieve great things.”

On the other side of the line, Harvard’s defensive line has continued to stifle rushing attacks in consecutive weeks, allowing only 111 yards total in their 41-23 win against Cornell and 139 in their 48-7 massacre of Howard. Leading into this week again the Tigers, the Crimson aim to continue their strong play and minimize mistakes.

“Just through practice,” said Bascon about how the defense is looking to improve this weekend. “The effort they put into our film as well, the [defense] work super hard, they put in all the time, so they set the tone in practice, so I think that’s how.”

The Crimson is gearing up for the Princeton offense.

“We’ve played some very explosive offenses already,” said Bascon about how Princeton’s offense differs from other teams they’ve played this year. “Brown being one of them, Holy Cross obviously, so gonna just have high expectations coming into every team, and I feel like that’s what we’ve done very well, not taking our foot off the pedal and just looking at every team as obviously the best team we’ve played all year each week and that’s just made us come into each week very prepared and we execute very well because of it.”

The game will kickoff this Saturday at 1 p.m. at Princeton Stadium.