But just like the opening of its season, Harvard will finish its schedule with a bang: the rematch against the 2009 Ivy League champion, Penn, on Nov. 13, and of course, The Game against Yale.

In its win over the Crimson last year, the Quakers were in control of the game from the opening drive and held a commanding 17-0 lead at halftime.

Harvard was able to get on the scoreboard in the third quarter, but the effort was not enough to capture the Ivy League title.

Notably, Penn led the nation in scoring defense and had the strongest defensive line in the Ivy League in 2009.

From a title rematch to its most celebrated rivalry, the Crimson will cap off conference play and the season in traditional fashion with the 127th playing of The Game, held in Cambridge.

Harvard won the matchup last year after a fourth-quarter comeback and is currently on a three-year winning streak. But the Bulldogs lead the all-time rivalry with 65 victories to the Crimson’s 53.

The road to the title and an undefeated season will not be an easy one, as Harvard faces difficult opponents both within and outside its conference.

“I don’t see any team in the [Ivy] League getting weaker,” Murphy says. “They’re all going to be challenging.”

Aside from its tough schedule, the Crimson has to deal with struggles within the team, such as graduating four players from its offensive line and losing its starting quarterback, senior Collier Winters, to a preseason injury.

But with senior LSU transfer quarterback Andrew Hatch, returning running backs Gordon and Scales, and returning safety and captain Collin Zych, Harvard has a chance to overcome its personnel obstacles and contend for the title that eluded it last year.

“All of us are very competitive—we want to get the season started and just get going,” Gordon says. “We feel like we have a lot to prove—we didn’t win the championship last year. Every year that we don’t win a championship, it’s just not good enough.”

Beginning with Holy Cross, the run for another Ivy championship and an undefeated season begins.

—Staff writer B. Marjorie Gullick can be reached at gullick@college.harvard.edu.