Junior Chris Raftery has made unbelievable strides from the Holy Cross game at the season’s beginning. At the outset of the season, Raftery was fighting for a starting job. Now, he is a candidate to win an All-Ivy award in some capacity. Raftery won Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week in Harvard’s 24-17 win against Princeton, intercepting a pass and making 12 tackles. He and senior safety Xavier Goss each have 63 tackles on the year, good for third overall on the team. Junior cornerback Benny Butler is undersized but makes up for it with lightning quickness. Senior strong safeties Juano Queen and Niall Murphy are big play guys who can create turnovers and sack the quarterback on a blitz.

Nevertheless, Harvard has had trouble containing opposing team’s number one receivers all year. Brown’s Chas Gessner, Penn’s Rob Milanese, Cornell’s Keith Ferguson and Dartmouth’s Casey Cramer have all racked up over 135 receiving yards against Harvard’s secondary and each hauled in at least one touchdown against the Crimson.

While Harvard has given up more yards through the air than every Ivy League squad except Dartmouth, Yale has allowed the least. The key match-up of the Game will likely be how well Yale’s cornerbacks, senior Owen Gilbert, junior Greg Owens and sophomore James Beck, can contain Morris and company.

Edge: Yale

Special Teams

Just as last year, Harvard has struggled with making field goals all year. The team is 2-of-7 on field goals, although senior Anders Blewett has never missed an extra point in his three-year varsity career. Junior punter Adam Kingston is solid, possessing the ability to both kick the ball long and pooch it out-of-bounds inside the twenty yard-line. Sophomores Rodney Byrnes and Gary Sonkur have the ability to return a kick for a touchdown—Byrnes already returned one for an 89-yard score against Cornell. Morris, who has never met a punt he hasn’t wanted to return, is always dangerous with the ball in hands despite his nerve-wracking tendency to avoid fair catches at all costs.

“I think he has a punt return [touchdown] in him still,” Murphy says. “It’s probably the only thing at Harvard Carl still hasn’t done.” Yale’s kicker, John Troost, is only 4-of-7 this season with a long of 35 yards. However, Yale’s special teams return unit is tops in the Ivies, averaging a league-high 23.7 yards a kickoff (Harvard is second with a 20.6 average) while holding opponents to a league-low 14.3 yards a return. Yale’s punter Chad Henley, however, is worst in the league with a 31.2-yard average.

Edge: Yale

Intangibles

Harvard will be angry and anxious on Saturday after an embarrassing loss last week. Rose, Morris, Palazzo, Soriano, and all the other seniors will be on top of their games as they play one last time in front of 31,000 cheering fans in Harvard Stadium. Expect Rose and Morris to have huge games. If Harvard wins and Penn loses, the Crimson can still win a share of the Ivy Championship. If the Harvard defense has as much success stopping Carr as it has had stopping other Ivy runners this season, the Crimson should finish the season on a high.

Edge: Harvard

Nevertheless, Harvard has had trouble containing opposing team’s number one receivers all year. Brown’s Chas Gessner, Penn’s Rob Milanese, Cornell’s Keith Ferguson and Dartmouth’s Casey Cramer have all racked up over 135 receiving yards against Harvard’s secondary and each hauled in at least one touchdown against the Crimson.

While Harvard has given up more yards through the air than every Ivy League squad except Dartmouth, Yale has allowed the least. The key match-up of the Game will likely be how well Yale’s cornerbacks, senior Owen Gilbert, junior Greg Owens and sophomore James Beck, can contain Morris and company.

Edge: Yale

Special Teams