The time of possession victory should have been a sure path to success for the Lions, who boast the Ivy League's most dynamic rusher, junior tailback Jonathon Reese, Reese is Columbia's all-time rushing leader and the first Lion to gain 1,000 yards in a season, and his 1,052 yards leads the Ivy League. He had posted six 100-yard games in a row, erupting for 236 on 25 carries and 4 touchdowns against Dartmouth two weeks ago.

Having said that, Yale's most impressive stat on the day was holding Reese to 86 yards.

"Yale did a great job against Reese," Murphy said. "But he came out of the game early. He can be a serious threat at any point. But we have a tough defense, and we're excited for the game"

Harvard's defense has been on fire recently. The Crimson shut Dartmouth down, allowing the Big Green to pass for only 113 yards. Harvard was also able to generate some offense from its defense, as freshman linebacker Dante Balestracci picked off two Big Green passes and returned them both for six.

"We had a solid game against Dartmouth," Balestracci said. "I think it showed that our defense can really play."

Harvard, however, will be more concerned with stopping the run against Reese and the Lions. The cold, windy conditions at Dartmouth left the run as the only option, allowing the Harvard defense to focus its attention there. With different conditions, things could change against Columbia.

"Our run defense has been playing well," said Balestracci. "We're going to put some more pressure up front against Reese. He's a big kid and a strong runner with great numbers, but we're looking forward to the challenge."