No. 17 Harvard To Host Holy Cross in Final Nonconference Contest

As the Ivy League football season approaches the gritty conference clashes that mark the second half of the season, No. 17 Harvard will look to close out its nonconference slate with a victory over the Holy Cross Crusaders on Saturday at Harvard Stadium.

The Crimson (4-0, 2-0 Ivy League) has faced the Crusaders (2-4, 2-2 Patriot League) in 22 of its last 25 seasons, winning six of the past seven matchups against its in-state rival. Even with the recent success against the 2-4 squad, Holy Cross is by no means a team to disregard for head coach Andrew Aurich and his team.

“They definitely are playing their best football right now, and we’re getting them off the bye week, so they’re going to be well rested,” Aurich said.

Of the four losses the Crusaders took to start the season, three came against currently ranked teams — with the last coming at the hands of FBS opponent Miami (Ohio). Since then, the team has pulled off two high-octane road wins where it averaged 39.5 points per game.

Meanwhile, Harvard enters the game on the heels of its own strong offensive performance in a 41-29 win against Cornell, where it set a season high in points scored and posted over 100 yards both on the ground and through the air. This marked the first time the Crimson has achieved that feat all season after doing it in all but one game in 2025.

Part of Harvard’s struggle this season compared to last are its early-season injuries, which have specifically affected depth at running back, offensive line and wide receiver. Three of the eight returning players who scored multiple touchdowns last season have had injuries significantly limit their playing time, forcing game plans to change week-to-week as the team constantly adjusts.

Regardless of the Crimson’s struggles staying healthy, the team’s stars have continued to shine in big moments. Freshman wide receiver Nate Bailey — who has already won two Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards this season — has generated more than a third of the team’s receiving production this season with 347 yards. His 34 receptions are the most of any Harvard player through four games since at least 2009.

Throwing the ball to Bailey is sophomore quarterback Charlie Smith, who started the season with just 71 passing yards against New Hampshire but has since increased his production substantially, averaging 325 yards per game while throwing for six total touchdowns across the last two contests.

After starting last week’s win over Cornell by seeing his first passing attempt of the game go deep and on-target, only to be bobbled by a receiver and intercepted, the sophomore responded with his best performance so far. He finished the game 23-for-27, throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns along his early-game pick.

“I mean, we didn’t blink, which was great,” Smith said. “That was something we’d been looking for all week. We really clicked, but that’s the standard.

“We know that we can’t hang our heads,” he added. “When something bad happens, no matter who it is, we just gotta keep looking at the next play and forget about the last.”

Smith is sure to be licking his lips entering the matchup with a Holy Cross defense that has struggled against the pass this year. The Crusaders are allowing more than 270 passing yards per game, and have had their opponents average more than nine yards per attempt.

On the other side of the ball for the Crimson, junior defensive back Xaden Benson has six interceptions so far this season, more than any player in all of Division I — despite the fact that the Crimson has played fewer games than any non-Ivy League team in the country.

“He’s doing a really good job of preparing for his opponent,” Aurich said of Benson. “He’ll go into a game, and he’ll know what raw concepts he’s expecting based on splits, formation, all that stuff. He’s putting himself in a great position to be where the ball is going to be.”

Saturday’s matchup will be the 77th overall between the in-state rivals since first meeting in 1904, with Harvard holding the advantage 48-26-2. Aurich is 2-0 in his two games against the Crusaders, including a 35-34 thriller at Harvard Stadium in 2024, which saw Holy Cross fail a game-winning two-point conversion attempt with no time remaining. Last season’s matchup proved less exciting as the Crimson led 38-3 at halftime and, ultimately, won 59-24.

The teams face off this Saturday at Harvard Stadium, with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m. EDT. The game can be streamed live on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Maxwell P. Friedman can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Samuel S. Rudavsky can be reached at [email protected].