The last time the Harvard football team lined up opposite intrastate rival Holy Cross, the Crimson dominated through three quarters of play, surrendering just 10 points.

But the Crusaders’ offense was roused from its slumber when it mattered, lighting up the Harvard defense for 13 points in the final frame and pulling to within five before ultimately falling just short, 28-23.

The Crimson had better not be counting on a similar slow start this time around.

In its opening two contests this year, Holy Cross (1-1, 1-1 Patriot) has posted a whopping total of 62 points—42 of them coming in last week’s victory over Georgetown.

And that’s a number that would likely be higher had sophomore quarterback John O’Neill not been temporarily forced from the team’s opener, leaving the game for a quarter after being badly shaken up.

There were no signs of lingering damage last week though, as O’Neill threw for 270 yards and four scores, improving his quarterback rating to an almost unheard of 177.71—good enough for the New England Sports Writers Gold Helmet Award as Division I-AA player of the week.

“We’re gonna blitz him quite often just to throw him off early,” senior cornerback Benny Butler said. “They like to throw a lot of timing routes.”

Complementing that effort up front, the secondary will focus on slowing down receivers early on, jamming them to prevent them from getting off the line of scrimmage.

Frequently running three wide receiver sets with a single man in the backfield, the Crusaders look to spread the defensive backfield and exploit blown coverage for big plays.

Against the Hoyas, O’Neill connected with his receivers for three touchdown strikes of 46 yards or more.

Harvard presents a unique challenge to this strategy, however.

In many three receiver sets, a safety is forced to defend the third wideout, though their coverage skills are usually not as refined as those of cornerbacks. Opposing quarterbacks often try to take advantage of the mismatch, expecting a defensive miscue.

But senior Chris Raftery, who moved to free safety after starting last season at cornerback, is the likely choice to guard the third receiver, bringing with him the technical skill many others at his position lack.

“Chris is a good athlete [and] he definitely has helped our defense,” junior cornerback Gary Sonkur said. “He can play corner or free safety. He can go one on one with anybody. He’s probably the fastest free safety we’ve had in a while.”

While this negates a small disadvantage, a talented Holy Cross trio still threatens to wreak havoc downfield.