No. 20/22 Harvard Prepares For Ranked Clash With No. 22/20 Colgate in Home Opener

As No. 22/20 Colgate makes the trip from Hamilton, N.Y., to take on No. 20/22 Harvard in its home opener this Saturday night, the Crimson’s young, scrappy, and hungry squad hopes not to throw away its shot at a perfect season.

This weekend’s clash between Harvard (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League) and the Raiders (4-1, 3-0 Patriot League) pits two defensive juggernauts against each other. The game also marks the first time two ranked opponents have met at Harvard Stadium since Oct. 30, 2015, when then-No. 15 Harvard defeated then-No. 22 Dartmouth 14-13 to improve to 7-0.

Fittingly, the game will be played under the lights in the 123-year-old venue. For the second straight year, the Crimson will kick off its home opener at 7 p.m., marking a clear change of pace for a program that went a decade without playing on Saturday nights until last year’s matchup against Brown.

Despite the anticipation surrounding the out-of-conference showdown, head coach Andrew Aurich and his squad have looked to ignore the noise, preparing for this matchup the same way they have for every other opponent.

“Every game is of the utmost importance because it’s just so few games we get, so whether it’s non-conference or Ivy, these guys go about their business the right way and prepare the right way,” Aurich said. “We have a way we go about our business, and these guys have done it this week.”

“It’s definitely going to be a familiar feeling, but we’re super locked in on the assignment, and we know we have a great opponent in front of us,” senior defensive end Josh Fedd remarked. “Feeling the lights in that first touchdown is gonna be special. Seeing the red lights come on, the lights flickering on and off, it’s a feeling you can’t replicate.”

The Raiders are currently undefeated against FCS opponents, with their sole loss coming to FBS program Central Michigan, whose 7-5 regular season last year was enough to qualify for a bowl game. Although Colgate fell 13-10, the Raiders held a 10-0 lead at halftime and temporarily rode a defense that recorded three takeaways and three sacks.

Last week, Colgate defeated its conference rival Villanova 28-21, which returned many players from the same Wildcat team that trounced the Crimson 52-7 in the first round of the FCS playoffs last November. In their matchup last week, Raiders’ senior quarterback Jake Stearney delivered a masterclass, going 15-for-21 for 158 yards and three touchdowns in the road victory.

Harvard, meanwhile, is coming off a 14-10 victory over Brown in which junior defensive back Xaden Benson tied the program record for interceptions in a game with his three. The FCS Defensive Player of the Week also recovered a muffed punt and picked off the Bears’ captain James Murphy with less than two minutes left to seal the victory.

The Crimson’s defense has shined in the team’s first two games, with a stalwart front seven leading the unit to a staggering 8.5 points allowed per game, the lowest mark in all of FCS football by nearly two points (Colgate is fifth at 13 points allowed per game). Even more impressive might be the fact that much of Harvard’s defensive production is coming from players who didn’t see a lot of playing time last season.

“This is a developmental league. We have guys like Sean [Line], [Stephen] Scourtis, even younger guys like Mikhal Johnson, everybody just stepping up,” Fedd said. “Just being a cohesive unit and then seeing each other grow throughout the years, it really has increased the team chemistry to an extent that I can’t even explain.”

The Crimson’s sophomore quarterback Charlie Smith also looked strong against the Bears, throwing for 205 yards and two touchdowns in his second-ever collegiate start. Despite persistent rain throughout the contest, Smith’s 30 completions against Brown tied for the fourth-most in a single game in program history.

Harvard’s run game, however, struggled. Senior starting left tackle Spencer Doan missed the entire second half as a planned precaution after sustaining an injury in the Crimson’s victory over New Hampshire. In the second half, Harvard rushed for a net of just 37 yards. With Doan’s participation a game-time decision for Saturday’s contest, the rest of the offensive line may have to bolster itself without the star senior.

Saturday night will mark the first time that the Crimson has faced Colgate in more than a quarter of a century. Between 1952 and 1999, the teams clashed nine times, but have not met since.

Harvard holds a slight edge in the series with five wins and four losses, but on Oct. 2, 1999, Colgate won the last meeting 24-21 behind an outstanding performance on the ground.

The game is part of a larger trend of the Crimson scheduling tougher out-of-conference opponents to bolster its schedule and improve its odds of earning a high national ranking with the playoffs in mind. In 2027, the Crimson will face UC Davis, which finished last year ranked eighth, and will take on defending FCS champion Montana State in 2028.

“Once the playoffs were on the table, to me, there’s a lot of benefits to [playing tough non-conference opponents],” Aurich said in an interview last month. “There’s the benefit of us knowing what type of team we are, and challenging ourselves early; that’ll help us on the back end. And then there’s the benefit of, you win those games, and you win an Ivy League championship, it’s gonna help you in seeding.”

While the game will not count for conference standings, it will be the biggest test of the season so far for a Crimson squad that hopes to return to the FCS Playoffs in two months. With Colgate entering the game ranked in the top 20 of the AFCA coaches poll, the game offers Harvard a prime chance to add a high-quality ranked win to its resume.

“We felt like we played a good game [last week at Brown], but we knew this one was gonna be the one to really push us,” Fedd explained. “If we want to be like the greats before us — like the 2021 team with Truman Jones and Chris Smith — then we’re gonna have to push ourselves to a different level.”

“This is the start of that journey, especially playing a top-20 team like this,” he added.

Harvard’s home opener will kick off at 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday and will include a halftime fireworks show. A live stream will be available on ESPN+, with an accompanying student radio stream on WHRB 95.3FM Cambridge.

—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].