Harvard’s offense is spearheaded by field general Collier Winters, who went 22-for-37 for 195 yards and two TD’s in last Saturday’s 27-20 loss against Holy Cross. Winters will make his first start tonight at Harvard Stadium in the annual night game agains

Harvard students often save the fanatical football fan in them for Harvard-Yale, but there’s no need to wait for November for a fierce rivalry. Tonight, the Crimson (0-1) faces Brown, with whom they shared last year’s Ivy League title. The Bears (1-0) handed Harvard its only loss last season, stopping a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game in the final minute.

“They do a good job with their scheme, they’re well coached, and they’re hungry,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “They’re like anybody else, they love to play Harvard. So it will be another battle for sure.”

The most intriguing match-up of the game is between Brown’s defensive line and Harvard’s triple punch at running back.

“They like putting a lot of people in the box to stop the run,” said senior running back Cheng Ho. “They want to make us beat them with our passing game...We want to establish the running game, control the tempo of the game, control the clock.”

Going against a Bears D that boasts nine seniors—including James Develin and David Howard, who at 6’3, 290 earned himself a preseason All-American nod and pro looks—and two juniors, the Crimson offense will likely have its hands full.

“This is the same team that led the Ivy League in rushing defense a year ago,” Murphy said. “So that’ll be our biggest challenge offensively.”

Responding to that challenge will be junior Gino Gordon, freshman Treavor Scales, as well as Ho. Gordon and Ho were named second-team All Ivy in 2008 and 2007, respectively. Scales averaged 4.4 yards per carry in the season opener against Holy Cross.

“For the first time in a long time, we’ve got a lot of depth there,” Murphy said. “And to get through this season, I think we’re going to need them all to be successful.”

Last year, Brown managed to curb Harvard’s run, shutting down Gordon’s push to put his team over the top in the Crimson’s final possession.

But even if the Bears force Harvard to air the ball out, the receiving corps is ready to step up according to junior receiver Marco Iannuzzi.

“We have six guys who can play at any moment,” Iannuzzi said. “It’s probably a strain on the coaches in terms of who’s going to go in. But for the players it’s great because we get to have fresh legs.”

Leading the pack is senior standout Matt Luft, a preseason All-American who racked up 875 yards last season.

But the question still remains whether or not junior quarterback Collier Winters can get the ball to those receivers.

“I guess he’s new to starting, but he got a lot of reps last year, and he’s not that new to the team,” Iannuzzi said. “He’s been making great decisions.”

But going into tonight’s contest, Brown finds itself in a similar situation.

All-Ivy receivers Buddy Farnham and Bobby Sewall combined for 1,764 yards last year and make up the biggest threats, provided that new quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero can run an efficient passing game.

After Michael Dougherty, the Bears’ previous quarterback and semifinalist for the Draddy Award (which Peyton Manning won in college), Newhall-Caballero is fairly untested but connected with Farnham for 121 yards on 12 catches in the team’s opening loss to Stony Brook.

Farnham and Sewell will have to contend with the Crimson’s strong secondary of Derrick Barker, Ryan Barnes, Matthew Hanson, and Collin Zych. Cornerbacks Barker and Hanson have both been named preseason All-Americans, and Hanson was the 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Barnes recorded 50 tackles last season, and Zych was named to the this year’s preseason All-Ivy team.

“They’re lockdown kind of guys,” captain Carl Ehrlich said. “We have a really good defensive backfield.”

As both teams take the field under the Friday night lights, they do so with question marks up and down their depth charts. The defending co-Ivy League champions are a far cry from their title teams, but both are looking to make headway in this Ivy schedule opener.