For the first time in any active Penn football player's career, the Penn-Harvard game will not have immediate Ivy League titleimplications.
The Quakers and Crimson have won the last four league championships, but that streak is likely to end.
In fact, tomorrow's game in Boston will be the first time since 1999 that the Penn football team will take the field working on a two-game Ivy League losing streak.
And, as the Quakers have struggled recently, the Crimson (5-3, 3-2 Ivy) seems to be peaking after October losses to Cornell and Princeton.
"Harvard has got some weapons," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "They seem to be playing better now. They've got a little bit more consistency in all three phases of the game."
In the Crimson's last two games -- 42-14 and 55-7 victories over Dartmouth and Columbia, respectively -- sophomore quarterback Liam O'Hagan has put up numbers that would make Michael Vick jealous.
The Minnetonka, Minn., native has done it in the air, passing for 326 yards and three touchdowns. He has also done it on the ground, rushing for 94 yards and three scores combined against the Big Green and the Lions.
And, as impressive as O'Hagan has been, he's not even the Crimson's primary weapon.
Junior running back Clifton Dawson -- already Harvard's most prolific career rusher with 3,395 yards -- will be the focus of the Quakers' defense.
"They like to run the ball, that's the main option, so we just key in on that," junior linebacker Kory Gedin said.
Though Harvard possesses several offensive weapons, Crimson coach Tim Murphy believes points will ultimately be hard to come by.
"I think the strength of both teams are our defense," he said.
Harvard ranks fourth in I-AA in rushing yards allowed, giving up only 86.1 per game. This could diminish the effect of Penn's rushing tandem of senior Sam Mathews and junior Joe Sandberg.
"They're going to try to minimize the touches the Mathews and Sandbergs of the world will get," Bagnoli said.
Given the poor health of the seniors on the Quakers' offensive line -- Don Snyder is out for the year and Keith Walewski and Greg Williams are injured -- Mathews and Sandberg will face an even tougher challenge.
Though Bagnoli refused to use injuries as an excuse, he did lament that all of the significant ones have affected the Red and Blue's running attack.
"Everybody has injuries -- you just hope they don't get concentrated in one area," he said.
Bagnoli predicted that Harvard will jam the box with eight defenders, putting pressure on quarterback Pat McDermott and the passing game.
The good news, according to Bagnoli, is that McDermott's shoulder is close to 100 percent and he has taken all the practice reps this week.
"He's prepared a little bit better, he's a little bit healthier and maybe we can scare them a little bit throwing the ball," Bagnoli said.
And, even though this year's Harvard-Penn tilt may not be for the Ivy League title, no one involved believes there will be an absence of effort tomorrow.
"I think we're similar teams in similar circumstances," Murphy said. "Even if it was a championship game, it all comes down to pride. I see that as a positive thing."
Gedin agreed that there is still much at stake for the Quakers.
"We can't dwell on what happened before," he said. "We just have to concentrate on the next two games and play as hard as we can to get victories."
