Harvard's defense comes off of what may have been its best performance of the season, a 24-0 blanking of defending Ivy champion Dartmouth (5-2, 3-1 Ivy). The secondary held the Big Green to just 16 of 40 passing and intercepted five passes.
"I think we're a better defense than last year," Jackson said. "Last year against Brown, we made mistakes. We're going to eliminate as many of them as we can."
Furthermore, the return of sophomore safety Aron Natale from a hamstring injury last week seemed to give the defense a spark.
"Aron's an outstanding football player," Murphy said. "He definitely helps our pass defense because he's a great open field tackler and can cover. Plus, he rarely makes a mental mistake."
Offensively, Harvard matches up well against Brown, especially along the line. It will be important for the Crimson to run well and keep the ball away from the Bears' offense.
"They are a really good defense and lead the league in forced turnovers," Menick said. "But their linebackers are small. The biggest one is maybe 200 pounds.
"Our offensive line outweighs them, and we feel confident we can run well," he added.
Last week, the offense struck for two long scoring plays, a 45-yard bomb and a 62-yard reverse by sophomore wide receiver Terence Patterson. This could be a sign that the effective Crimson running game is making defenses overcommit to the line of scrimmage.
"We have some really athletic guys, and Terence was due for a big play," said Menick, who has rushed for 822 yards and eight touchdowns this season. "Our running and passing complement each other."
Harvard's offense has put up numbers just as impressive as Brown's: 32 points and 436 yards per game. Quarterback Rich Linden has completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,579 yards, already the fourth highest single-season total in school history.
Weather could become a factor, however, since the forecast is for rain both today and tomorrow. The last time the Crimson played in mud was a 14-12 nailbiter over Princeton two weeks ago in which the offense failed to score a touchdown.
"We obviously like a fast track," Murphy said. "But we'll play on whatever field there is."
Tomorrow's game in Providence has major implications for the Ivy race. A Harvard victory would mean the Crimson has to win just one of its last two to clinch a share of the title, while the Bears would be mathematically eliminated from contention.
Despite recent problems against Brown, Harvard has made a living in defying history this year in beating Cornell for the first time in 11 years and shutting out Dartmouth. The Crimson is also 3-0 on the road.
"We're not the same team as the last two years," Murphy said. "I'm not worried." Read more in Sports
