The Harvard defense has already proven it can stop a top-flight quarterback. It did an excellent job containing Colgate standout Ryan Vena, a favorite for the Walter Payton Award--Division 1-AA's equivalent of the Heisman.

Kacyvenski, as always led the way with 15 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception.

The other key to the game may be whether or not the Crimson offense, which averages 23.3 points a game, can keep up with the scoring pace of the Big Red offense which averages 31.7 points a game.

"We certainly hope to score a lot," senior quarterback Brad Wilford said. "At the same time we won't have to score that much because I'm confident that the defense will play as well as they always do."

The Crimson offense looks to build upon its fourth quarter against Colgate when it mounted two impressive scoring drives of 50 and 79 yards.

An area of obvious concern for Harvard is the offensive line. A questioned facet of the attack since the pre-season, the offensive line did nothing to quiet its doubters through most of the Colgate game.

Harvard was held to only 53 yards in total offense in the first half of that game due mostly to the offensive line's inability to deal with the Colgate defensive rush.

"I have confidence in the offensive line, because of their performance in the fourth quarter [against Colgate]," Wilford said.