Both teams have depth at the tailback position.

Junior Jay Schulze leads a talented trio of backs for the Elis. Schulze, who struggled with injuries in the beginning of the season, has emerged as Yale’s most reliable tailback. He rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns against Fordham early in the season and tallied Yale’s only two touchdowns against Princeton last week.

The Bulldogs’ leading rusher during its last two weeks, however, was Hyland. The senior rushed for 139 yards in Yale’s 37-34 loss to Brown two weeks ago and piled up 111 yards against the Tigers. Hyland may see action against Harvard but probably will not throw the ball too much—he has thrown nine interceptions in 82 attempts this season.

Promising freshman tailback Robert Carr, who rushed for 185 yards on 29 carries in Yale’s 32-27 loss to Dartmouth, has been sidelined by injuries as of late. Sophomore Pat Bydume has substituted for Carr as Yale’s secondary option in the backfield and has had decent success, rushing for 60 yards on 11 carries in a 28-14 loss to Columbia on October 27.

Whoever Yale decides to play, expect marginal success.

Harvard, on the other hand, boasts the Ivy League’s top rushing attack.

Last week against Penn, the Crimson’s backfield was in top form. Informally dubbed “thunder and lightning,” senior Josh Staph and junior Nick Palazzo rushed for a combined 142 yards against a vaunted Quaker defense that yielded only 27 yards per game prior to last Saturday.

Harvard Coach Tim Murphy wanted to run the ball against the Quakers as much as possible, “because we’ve done that all year and we know it’s a strength of our team.”

Both backs are finally healthy after struggling with leg injuries during mid-season. Staph, a bruising fullback-turned-tailback, showed his potential in Harvard’s opener, rushing for 152 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-20 victory against Brown. Palazzo, a 5’6 dart, has been superb, averaging 5.1 yards per carry and rushing for seven touchdowns this year. ADVANTAGE: HARVARD

RECEIVER

This one’s no contest. To the Bulldogs’ credit, Yale boasts one of the top wide receivers in the Ivy League in Billy Brown. He has 59 catches and six touchdowns on the year for 828 yards, and average of 103.5 yards per game. Brown will surely be Lee’s primary target on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Elis, the Crimson has far and away the best receiving core in the Ivy League.

Junior wide-out Carl Morris is the best receiver in school history, bar none. He has every major school record except career touchdowns—and he has another year in the Crimson uniform.

Morris is unquestionably the best receiver in the Ivy League and cannot be contained by any number of defenders. Morris has caught 66 balls for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns this year, dwarfing Brown in all three categories.