Harvard Football Hunts for Revenge Against Brown in Ivy League Season Opener

As students prepare to pack Harvard Stadium on a Saturday night for the first time in a decade, only one thing is on the mind of the Harvard football team: avenging a gut-wrenching loss at the paws of Brown just a year ago.

Last year, a failed Crimson field goal in the final quarter gave the Bears — the definitive underdogs of the game — the opportunity to clinch a surprising victory against Harvard for the first time since 2010.

Now, Harvard has the opportunity to avenge its loss. But Brown, in the biggest game of its season, won’t be an easy opponent.

After dominating Stetson last Saturday in a 59-7 blowout, the Crimson (1-0, 0-0 Ivy) opens conference play against the Bears (1-0, 0-0) in what will be Harvard’s first Saturday night home game in 10 years.

The matchup will also be the first conference game that has implications for the FCS playoffs, as this is the first year that the Ivy League will participate in the tournament. The conference champion will receive an automatic bid, with the first round taking place the week of Thanksgiving.

The game — which kicks off at 6 p.m. at Harvard Stadium — will be an opportunity for Harvard to avenge last year’s heartbreaking 28-31 loss to the Bears, where a late comeback from Brown ended up costing Harvard sole possession of the Ivy title.

Last year, the loss to Brown marked a turning point for Harvard head coach Andrew Aurich, as he settled on a bold and often risky coaching style going forward, refusing to “play not to lose.”

“It was one of those games where we had too many mistakes that were within our control,” Aurich said.

“We don’t have to have that type of game happen for us to understand the only way you can guarantee the ultimate result in this season is to win every single Ivy League game,” he added.

This weekend, Harvard will look to make amends for the past mistake and prove the validity of Aurich’s new approach.

The game will also be an opportunity for the Crimson to honor its past as they unveil the brand new Tim Murphy field at their home stadium.

Murphy, who won 10 Ivy League titles between 1994 and 2023 as Harvard’s head coach and is the winningest coach all-time in the conference, will be honored at the game after retiring from coaching in January of last year.

“It’s been great to follow Coach Murphy because there was a standard that was set here for a long time,” Aurich said. “I considered it a really big blessing to be able to take over for him.”

Looking to spoil the ceremony are the Bears, who toppled the Georgetown Hoyas in their first game of the season via a 40-plus point victory — Brown’s first since 2013.

The Bears are now looking to maintain one of the top offenses in the Ivy League while orchestrating a new defense under first-year defensive coordinator Dan Mulrooney. In last week’s game, their defense allowed just 183 yards, their lowest since 2012.

Brown returns many key pieces from last season, including junior quarterback James Murphy, who sat behind the conference’s second leading passer, and senior linebacker John Perdue, who finished on the All-Ivy second team.

After a disappointing season in which the team went 3-7 (2-5 Ivy), sixth-year head coach James Perry hopes the Bears — a team he led to a conference championship in 1999 as quarterback — can build on their strengths and become a real Ivy contender for the first time in his tenure.

In last week’s contest, Harvard jumped out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter, ending the half up 45-0. With its starters resting the second half, the Crimson ended up pulling away to a final score of 59-7.

Harvard’s squad had multiple stellar performances from returning stars and newcomers alike in a game where more than sixty players played at least one snap.

In just one half of play, senior quarterback Jaden Craig threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns, orchestrating a much different group of skill players from last season as the offense continues to mold its identity.

On the defensive side, with new faces in the linebacker and defensive line room, safety captain Ty Bartrum forced a fumble, and junior defensive back Damien Henderson had a fumble recovery and an interception. Overall, the defense had three turnovers to go along with two stops on fourth down, allowing just 205 yards to the Stetson offense.

Even with the uncertainties in the group, the leaders don’t seem phased by the newcomers.

“If we’ve got 11 hungry guys on defense, 11 hungry guys on offense, I think the turnovers will come to us,” said Bartrum. “I think just dissecting as much as we can, trusting in what we see, trust in our coaching, and then going out there and letting it loose.”

While this is a rare Saturday night game for the Crimson, for the players, it is just one step on their way to a third straight Ivy League title.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t change anything for us. We’re just worried about going 1-0 this week,” Bartrum said.

– Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at connor.castaneda@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @castanedasports

—Staff writer Elyse C. Goncalves can be reached at elyse.goncalves@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @e1ysegoncalves.

—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.