Nevertheless, Cornell still has a lot of work to do on that side of the ball. If a free safety makes the majority of a team’s tackles, the defensive linemen and linebackers are probably not doing the job.

“Right now we’re still looking for our strengths on defense,” Pendergast said.

This bodes well for a Crimson offense that will have to overcome the latest in a series of injuries. Junior Max McKibben became the fourth offensive lineman to sustain an injury this season when he sprained his right MCL in practice this week. He will be inactive for tomorrow’s contest.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries to our line,” Murphy said. “It’s kind of unprecedented.”

Duplicating the routs of the last two years would be ideal, but as with every game, all Harvard wants is a ‘W’.

“This is a little different Cornell team,” Murphy said. “We just want to keep going with a win.”