“Coaches drew up a great scheme for us, just like they do for every team,” Brown said. “We’re trying to go out and execute that scheme.”
The defensive line has played a steady role. Paced by sophomore defensive end D.J. Bailey, the Crimson leads the Ancient Eight with 22 sacks. But injuries have forced the linebacker core to depend on raw talent, and talented quarterbacks have sometimes picked apart the secondary.
Can Harvard clamp down on the Torgersen-Watson-Solomon triumvirate? If so, then the achievement would rank as the defensive feat of the year.
Penn’s defense has weaknesses of its own. The bad news started in week five, when senior linebacker and predicted tackle leader Donald Panciello went down with an injury.
Linebacker Colton Moskal (75 tackles) has played well in his teammate’s absence, but collectively the Quakers sit sixth in the Ivy League in yardage allowed. A toothless defensive line has combined for nine sacks—worse than all conference foes.
This week, Penn confronts a Harvard offense that has performed effectively, if not efficiently. After eight weeks, the Crimson has committed 18 turnovers; only Cornell has matched that total.
But the athleticism of senior quarterback Joe Viviano has compensated for any struggles. He averages 231 yards per game and has tossed 13 touchdowns.
Shelton-Mosley and Firkser have grabbed eight of these scores. The two targets both average over 75 yards a game. Recently sophomore Adam Scott has joined the mix: Last week he was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week after recording 109 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Especially in 2016, however, these two football teams are more than the sums of their parts. More accurately, they are the sums of their histories—long narratives that include a combined 34 Ancient Eight titles.
Tonight Harvard has an opportunity to add one more.
“We know this is the biggest test of the year right now,” Firkser said. “Our team is definitely mentally prepared.”
—Staff writer Sam Danello can be reached at sam.danello@thecrimson.com.