After seeing its championship hopes vanish with a pair of heartbreaking losses to Brown and Pennsylvania, Harvard heads into the 116th playing of The Game with the chance to do the same to Yale and spoil its bid for the Ivy title.

Harvard (5-4, 3-3 Ivy) officially bowed out of the Ivy race with a 21-17 last minute loss to Penn on Saturday, while Yale (8-1, 5-1 Ivy) kept its hopes alive with a dramatic, 23-21 win over Princeton.

With the victory, Yale remains locked in a first-place tie with Brown heading into the final week of the season.

"We know that we can win this thing," Yale junior free safety Than Merrill said. "We're on a roll and next week...we're going to continue to roll."

With an offense that averages 33 points per game--second only to Brown in the Ivy League--Yale's confidence is well founded.

However, after registering one of its worst offensive performances against the Tigers, the second worst defense in the league, the Elis may be in for a rude awakening when they take the field against Harvard's number one ranked defense.

The Crimson defense has allowed Ivy opponents to score an average of only 16 points per game, effectively nullifying the opposition's rush, holding running backs to an average of just 51 yards per game on the ground.

More importantly, the senior-laden Crimson defensive line has shown no signs of cracking under the pressure of must win games against the Ivy's best offenses down the stretch.

With its title hopes on the line over the past three weeks, the Crimson defense has held its opponents to an average of only 21 yards rushing per game, surrendering only 64 yards on 77 attempts, an average of less than a yard per carry.

Holding Brown to 30 yards on the ground two weeks ago and limiting Penn to 19 yards, Harvard has shown that it can stop the first and third ranked offenses in the Ivy with ease--at least on the ground.

Yale's number two-ranked offensive attack should find similar difficulties running the ball, despite boasting the Ivy's third best tailback, Rashad Bartholomew.

With 810 total yards rushing, Bartholomew has been a workhorse for the Bulldogs out of the backfield, leading the Ivy with 10 rushing touchdowns.

More dangerous than Bartholomew, however, will be the scrambling of senior quarterback Joe Walland.

He has burned team's all year when they allow him room in the pocket gaining 360 yards on the ground and four rushing touchdowns--tops among Ivy quarterbacks.

Walland's ability to scramble out of the backfield when under pressure may present a new challenge to a Harvard defense that hasn't seen a mobile quarterback as prolific as Walland all season.

"Yale's got a good rushing attack, but they have a different approach than we do," Harvard senior running back Chris Menick said. "I mean our quarterback's a good runner too, but their quarterback is a great runner. They can get to you and burn you with either the quarterback or the running back."