But no matter which quarterback earns the starting nod, he will have the luxury of a talented and experienced group of returning wideouts and running backs.

Lorditch and junior Marco Iannuzzi—who had five catches for 18 yards to go with a pair of 30-plus yard kick returns—stood out among the pack on Saturday, while sophomore Adam Chrissis will also be called upon often.

On the ground, top tailbacks junior Gino Gordon and freshman Treavor Scales are back, with Scales scoring the first offensive touchdown of the evening on a two-yard run.

“That’s a luxury,” Murphy said of his running backs. “They’re both very athletic, very smart, very competitive kids...Gino’s become an outstanding leader for the football team.”

But for the pair of running backs to have the same sort of production they enjoyed last season, the new-look offensive line will have to step up.

With only one athlete—junior Brent Osborne—returning from last year’s vaunted offensive line, the Crimson has some work to do up front.

“The biggest part of the issue is anytime you have to replace four guys at a very labor-intensive position, it really takes a long time to become a unit,” Murphy said. “That’s your big concern. We have the talent, we have to find out if we can develop the leadership and the cohesiveness.”

With a solid defensive core in place and a group of experienced offensive starters coming back, it seems likely that Harvard will once again find itself among the Ancient Eight’s elite.

And Murphy emphasized that the Crimson isn’t counting on any rookie faces to carry the team.

“We’ve got to get this thing done with the guys we have here,” he said. “If we can’t get it done with these guys, then we’re not going to be a championship-caliber team.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.