QUICK HITS

Senior wide receiver Brian Edwards is tops in Division I-AA football in punt return average with 43.5 yards per game on the strength of his 87-yard touchdown return last weekend against Holy Cross....This will be the second week straight that the Crimson shares the field with a Balestracci not named Dante. Thomas Balestracci, the younger brother of former Harvard captain Dante ’04, will start at flanker for the Bears. The roster of the Crimson’s previous opponent, Holy Cross, boasts middle child Mark Balestracci, a defensive back....Tomorrow’s game conflicts with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for observant Jews. Harvard will not lose any players for the holiday, however. Sophomore defensive tackle Michael Berg said that though he usually attends Yom Kippur services while at home, he decided to remain with his teammates for tomorrow’s game. “I felt I had a commitment to the team, and I felt I would be letting the team down,” Berg said. The other Jewish player in the rotation, sophomore Andrew Brecher, is out this week with a sprained ankle but will still be watching the game from the stands....There will be a halftime ceremony honoring Brown tri-captain Lawrence Ruvida, who is suffering from bone cancer. Bears coach Phil Estes will present him with the first donation to a trust in Ruvida’s name....Brown is sporting new uniforms this season. As a welcome change from their traditional muddy, monochromatic outfits, the Bears will be wearing silver helmets with a red stripe and the Brown logo, silver pants and brown jerseys.

—THE CRIMSON STAFF