Dylan Goodman

football
10/01/2024 8:57:00 AM

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Crimson welcomes nationally ranked New Hampshire to Harvard Stadium for the first time on Friday. This is the renewal of a series that began in 1929. The night game will be the eighth all-time meeting and the first between the two programs since 1939. NESN and ESPN+ will broadcast the action live starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Quick hits

– Harvard faces a Wildcats team that has won three straight games and hasn’t played since a 38-17 win over Bryant on Sept. 21. In fact, UNH hasn’t left Durham since a 21-20 road win at Holy Cross Sept. 7. The Crimson, meanwhile, enters the non-conference phase with a short break looking to bounce back from a 31-28 road loss at Brown last Saturday.

– Senior wide receiver Cooper Barkate posted season highs in receptions (6) and receiving yards (90) and scored two touchdowns at Brown. Barkate enters the UNH game with three TDs on the year, a number that matches his total for the 2023 season. The California native leads the team with 10 catches, 166 yards, three touchdowns and an 83.0 yards per outing average.

– Marcus Alexander led all players with a career-high 11 tackles at Brown and was one of 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 HendersonHe now had three PBUs of his own and four tackles, as well as 1.0 TFL – the best of his career. Henderson’s PBU total against the Bears matched his 2023 total.

– Harvard will look to end its losing streak at one. The Crimson has done a good job of not losing two games in a row lately, responding to a loss with a win on its last seven occasions, including the season opener against Stetson (Harvard lost its 2023 finale at Yale). The last time Harvard lost two games in a row was on October 23, 2021 (at No. 17/22 Princeton; 5ot-L, 16-18) and October 30, 2021 (vs. Dartmouth; L, 17-20 ). .

– The turf the Crimson will play on will be there to help them get back in the win column. Since 2001, Harvard has the fourth-best home winning percentage (.800; 92-23) among current FCS schools (at least 20 home games played) and will enter UNH competition on a seven-game home winning streak.

– During Harvard’s current seven-game home winning streak, the Crimson averaged 35.0 points per game and 227.9 rushing yards. On the other hand, Harvard was strong, allowing just 15.1 points and 90.7 yards on the ground. In the 35-0 season-opening win over Stetson, the Crimson allowed 85 yards passing, the 10th-fewest yards allowed since 1996 (5.67 yards per completion was the 14th-fewest allowed in the FCS that season), and 16 rushing yards .

– Harvard will host a national team for the first time since Oct. 21, 2022, when it fell to No. 23/– (Coach/Media) Princeton by a score of 37-10. The last time a non-Ivy ranked team was welcomed to campus was early in the 2022 campaign when it fell to No. 11/10 Holy Cross with a 30-21 decision. However, the Crimson won their last game against a nationally ranked opponent after defeating No. 5/6 Holy Cross 38-28 last season at Polar Park, home of the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate Worcester WooSox .