It's Friday Night Lights this weekend when Cornell Football hosts Harvard on Friday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. on national television. The Crimson is hunting for its first Ivy win after dropping its conference opener to Brown on the Road, but after upsetting #16/#21 New Hampshire last weekend, Harvard has new momentum.

A look at Harvard: 

• Harvard comes into this weekend at 2-1, most recently besting #16/#21 New Hampshire Maine, 28-23, on Friday evening at Harvard Stadium.
• Despite dropping its Ivy League opener to Brown on Saturday, September 28, the Crimson is receiving votes in both the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, the national polls for FCS football.
• Junior Jaden Craig has completed 34-of-66 passes for 599 yards and 6 touchdowns. He threw just one pick so far this season, coming in the Ivy battle against Brown. Craig did not see action in 2022, and in 2023 did not become a mainstay at quarterback until November 4th at Columbia.
• In the meeting between the Big Red and the Crimson last season, the Cornell defense primarily went up against then-junior Charles DePrima, who is still rostered with Harvard but serves more as an athlete now, totaling 17 rushes and a reception, in addition to a touchdown.
• Sophomore Xaviah Bascon and senior Shane McLaughlin are the primary rushers for the Crimson. Bascon has totaled 148 yards on 34 rushes including two scores. McLaughlin, who missed the game against New Hampshire, has accumulated 116 yards on 29 attempts and two house calls. DePrima is the third-leading rusher with 67 yards and a score already this season.
• Junior Cooper Barkate is the favorite target of the Crimson's offense, catching 13 passes for 244 yards and a trio of touchdowns. He was honored in 2023 as an All-Ivy honorable mention. Senior Scott Woods II follows with 9 targets for 177 yards and two scores.
• Harvard returns 2023 All-Ivy honorees Austin Gentle and Mike Entwistle on the offensive line.
• Senior linebackers Michell Gonser and Marcus Alexander lead the Crimson defense with 21 tackles apiece. Gonser has posted a pass breakup and interception this season, while Alexander has a sack for 10 yards.
• Freshman defensive back Xaden Benson has also grabbed an interception.
• Seniors Jacob Psyk and Gavin Shipman have each forced a fumble. Senior linebacker Eric Little has the lone fumble recovery for the Crimson.
• Punter Sebastien Tasko has punted 16 times for 670 yards for an average of 41.88 yards per boot. He sent away a season-high 55-yarder last weekend against New Hampshire. Lawson is a junior transfer from Arkansas. He appeared in 20 games for the Razorbacks as a punter.
• Freshman kicker Kieran Corr is a perfect 12-for-12 on PAT attempts but has yet to attempt a field goal this season. Corr's last lineup at a field goal was with 45 seconds left in the game against Brown. With a chance to ice the game against the Bears, a bad snap turned into a turnover, and Brown converted on its first play from scrimmage for a touchdown, securing the winning points with 21 seconds left.

The Series: 

• Harvard holds the edge in the series, leading 51-34-2. The Crimson, have won the last four meetings.
• In the last meeting, Harvard went wire-to-wire in a 41-23 meeting in Cornell's first-ever Cornell football appearance on ESPN2.
• Harvard entered the contest ranked 21st in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and 19th in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll.
• Cornell has won just four out of 23 meetings since 2000. Three of the four meetings happened on Schoellkopf Field.
• In 2017 and 2018, Cornell bested Harvard in back-to-back meetings, each with the Big Red posting second-half comebacks, and scoring the winning points in the fourth quarter.
• Harvard has a one-game advantage in the all-time record at Schoellkopf Field, leading 18-17-2. 

2024 Harvard Head Coach: 

Head Coach: Andrew Aurich (Princeton '06)

     Record at Harvard: 2-1, first season

     Overall Record: 2-1, first season

     Ivy record: 0-1  

     Ivy Titles: N/A

2024 Harvard Football Information: 

Captain(s): running back Shane McLaughlin

2024 Record: 2-1

     Home/Away/Neutral: 2-0/0-1/0-0

2023 Ivy Record/Finish: 5-2/T-1st

Starters Returning/Lost: 13-9

Harvard Football Historical Information: 

Overall All-Time Record: 903-412-50

Overall Ivy Record: 292-170-9