Rose said the key to beating Penn’s defense is to attack them with short-to-medium range passes.
“We’ll have to nickel and dime them,” Rose said. “They’re going to have problems defending against throws to the sideline.”
The Quaker offense features last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year in Hoffman. This year, he’s not even the team’s best player.
That honor goes to tailback Kris Ryan, the nation’s sixth-leading rusher, averaging more than 140 yards per game. Ryan is a workhouse, capable of handling the ball more than 40 times a game, and he possesses an impressive mix of speed and power.
“He’s about as good as you can get at our level of football,” Murphy said.
While Ryan’s return from an injury-plagued junior season has limited Hoffman’s role on the Penn offense, the quarterback is still capable of putting up monster numbers. Last season, Hoffman—a transfer from Northwestern—threw for more than 3200 yards and completed a remarkable 70 percent of his passes.
Hoffman spreads the ball around—six receivers have at least 10 catches—but his favorite target is Rob Milanese, who has 42 catches on the year.
Harvard’s defense is vastly improved from last year, when it had problems stopping anyone through the air. This year, the Crimson ranks near the top of the league in both rushing and passing defense.
The Crimson will look to its front four to pressure Hoffman and stop the run. The Harvard line is led by senior defensive end Mark Laborsky, who leads the league with nine sacks, and has two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Penn’s weakness is in the kicking game. The Quakers have tried three field goal kickers on the season, and none has made a field goal of more than 30 yards. Combined, they are just 3-for-9.
Harvard may have found its solution for two years of kicking woes. Junior Anders Blewett has looked solid since taking over the job from Wright earlier this year, hitting two of three field goal attempts this season.
To pull off the upset, Harvard will likely have to win the turnover battle against a team equally stingy with the ball. While Harvard leads the nation in turnovers, allowing just seven on the year, Penn is second nationally, having given up the ball just eight times.
“The biggest key to the game will be the turnover ration,” Murphy said. “If we come out with no turnovers, we will have a great chance of winning.”
Even if it takes care of the ball, however, Harvard will have its hands full with one of the most talented Ivy teams in recent memory.
“They’re good. They’re really good,” Laborsky said. “It’s going to take a great effort to beat them.”