Yale, as a defense, has only 14 sacks and just seven interceptions. Junior defensive end Don Smith’s a good player and senior lineman Bryant Dieffenbacher has a cool name, but the Bulldogs just don’t match up here.

Edge: Harvard

LINEBACKERS

Senior Dante Balestracci. Junior Bobby Everett. Honestly, that’s all that needs to be said. The Crimson’s two best defensive players are both linebackers. Balestracci leads the Ivy League in both sacks (8) and tackles for loss (17). Everett leads the team in tackles throughout the past five contests, averaging better than 12 a game. Balestracci is an NFL-candidate. Everett might be the team MVP. The duo has a combined 170 tackles this season—again, tops in the Ivy League for a tandem.

Yale’s got great linebackers too, in senior Ken Estrera and junior Ben Breunig, the team’s two leading tacklers. But Estrera is hurt after leaving last weekend’s game against Princeton. Breunig can’t carry the unit by himself.

Edge: Harvard

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Senior Benny Butler is probably an All-Ivy candidate. He leads the Ivy League in interceptions with five and has recorded a career high 53 tackles this season. Senior Chris Raftery is a monster hitter and has four interceptions of his own.

But if there’s a weakness on this Harvard team, it’s the secondary. Raftery is the tallest member of a unit which, unfortunately, is mightily undersized. Butler is 5’8, junior Gary Sonkur is 5’9 and senior Mante Dzakuma is 5’9. Yale senior Steve Ehekian is a three-year varsity starter. Senior Greg Owens is only 5’9 himself and junior Fred Jelks is a stunning 5’5.

So, with small corners all around, we look to the stats. Harvard’s passing defense has given up more yards than any team in the Ivies, including 344 to Dartmouth, 253 to Columbia and 277 to Penn. Though Yale is nearly as bad, Harvard’s smaller receivers will not be able to exploit Yale’s lack of size like the bigger Eli targets.

Edge: Yale

SPECIAL TEAMS

Harvard is three-for-ten on field goals this year and has missed six extra points. Yale junior kicker John Troost might be the team’s best player. He is 13-for-16 on field goals, with a long of 44 yards. Harvard’s long is 33-yards. Adam Kingston can blast kickoffs out of the end zone but has been inconsistent.

Lawrie, Yale’s huge tight end, also handles the team’s punting duties. His average is a meager 35 yards, but Troost’s kicking ability gives Yale the kicking advantage.

Edwards handles Harvard’s punt return duties and is dangerous when the ball is in his hands. But he clearly studied from the return school of Carl Morris ’03, ignoring the “fair catch” rule without regard for the amount of defenders in his face. Carr does Yale’s kickoff duties and has returned one for a touchdown this year.