The Big Green offense has combined for 27.2 points per game, second in the Ancient Eight to Harvard’s 29.7.

But the Dartmouth defense has been another story, allowing 22.8 points and a league-high 232.8 passing yards per contest.

These struggles are the reason Dartmouth has already lost two close league games to Penn and Yale. Cornerback Shawn Abuhoff leads Dartmouth with three interceptions.

The Crimson defense, led by captain Collin Zych and defensive end Benjamin Graeff, ranks second in the Ivy after Penn. Graeff leads the conference with five sacks while Zych is fifth with 55 tackles. But the team has allowed nearly 25 points per game in conference play.

“Our concern is not just to stop the run, its to stop their offense,” Murphy said. “We’ve got to be much more disciplined on the back-end of our defense if we’re going to beat Dartmouth.”

The game—which will be televised on NESN—will represent the 114th meeting between the rivals, and Harvard is 12-1 in its previous 13 games against the Big Green. But the Crimson knows that this year’s Dartmouth squad—whose four wins are already its second-most in 13 years—cannot be taken lightly.

“They’re definitely better,” Hanson said. “Just watching the film, they’re a very balanced team. They execute their game plan well. We’ve just got to play our style of football and not make mistakes.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.