Any time your defense outscores the other team's offense, it's a good sign.

It's not a new story, however. Harvard's (8-1,6-0 Ivy) defense has keyed its charge from cellar dweller four years ago to at least Ivy co-champions.

The Crimson defense has completely taken over in league play with two shutouts and only three touchdowns allowed in six games.

"Our guys were on a mission," said Harvard Coach Tim Murphy. "The bottom line is we didn't need 33 points to win the football game today. That's how well the defense played. That's how well we've played all season in league."

Yesterday against Penn, the defense established its dominance early. The Quakers couldn't even move the ball in the first half. And when they tried, it only seemed to infuriate Harvard's defense.

Harvard forced three-and-outs on Penn's first six possessions. Eighteen offensive plays yielded only seven yards overall.

"It was just a great defensive effort we put together against one of the best offenses in the league," said senior defensive tackle Chris Smith. "We shut down their run, which is always our first objective. That forced them to pass, and our d-backs just had a terrific game."

Finally 22 minutes and 47 seconds into the game, Penn got a first down. In fact it d got a relative slew of them--three in one drive. Then on fourth and four from the Crimson 27-yard line, Penn threw a swing pass to running back Jim Finn. Sophomore safety Aron Natale forced the ball to pop out and junior cornerback Glenn Jackson grabbed the ball in midair and ran untouched 67 yards for the touchdown.

That score, which put the Crimson up 20-0, essentially sealed Penn's fate. And Harvard's championship.

"He just had a terrific play on that. That's a big momentum swing," Smith said. "It was what we needed".

The statistics told the story of today's game. Penn finished with a pitiful nine first downs on 144 total yards of offense. As usual, Harvard stopped the run first, as the Quakers gained only 25 yards on 32 rushing attempts. Passing didn't go much better for Penn, which completed only 11 of 33 attempts for 119 yards and three interceptions.

Of course, it's kind of hard to pass when a defensive lineman is about to crush you and Harvard registered six sacks. Smith's one-and-a-half sacks raised his career total to 19, setting a Harvard record.

"We were actually kind of surprised because, at least before the game, we didn't think the field conditions would be conducive to getting a good pass rush," Smith said. "But as it turns out, their style of play gave us an opportunity to close the pocket on them."

"It was just a struggle all day long," said Penn quarterback Matt Rader. "We never did have the answers. We knew they had a great defensive line, and they showed it today. Their defense totally dominated us."

Besides the sacks, tack on nine tackles for loss which added up to 56 yards and three more runs for no gain. That means 40 of Penn's 65 offensive plays went for zero or negative yards.