For the Love of the Game

After their 31-10 win over Dartmouth this past weekend, Harvard football has extended their winning streak to seven and continues to dominate the Ivy League. This season’s undefeated record places the Crimson at No. 9 in the NCAA Stats Perform FCS rankings and No. 13 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, their highest ranking in program history. 

Head Coach Andrew Aurich is in his second season with the Crimson. Last season, Aurich led the team to its second straight Ivy League title, finishing with an 8-2 record, 5-2 in conference play. The team lost several key players from last season. Notably, Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year wide receiver Cooper Barkate transferred to Duke following last season’s conclusion. Replacing these losses and developing players was a big part of the team’s offseason preparation. 

“If we wanted to be the same or better than we were last year, we had to make some serious improvements at a number of positions. And the guys embraced that,” Aurich said in an interview with the Harvard Independent. “They had a great spring, and then a great summer, and then a great training camp, and put us in a position now where we’re playing at a higher level than maybe we did last year at any point.”

Aurich previously served on the coaching staff in the high-energy Big Ten Conference at Rutgers and as a defensive coaching assistant in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “It’s easy at those places; we had them from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. every single day. It’s impossible not to get all your football done. That doesn’t work here with their class schedules.” 

With conflicting schedules, in order to be an elite player in the Ivy League conference, players must have an internal drive and utilize time outside of the set practice schedule. Luckily for Crimson fans, “we have a bunch of guys who want to be elite,” Coach Aurich noted.

Quarterback Jaden Craig ’26 is among those players making waves this season. This past weekend, Craig threw for 322 yards against Dartmouth, shattering Harvard’s all-time passing touchdown record. His elite play is drawing attention across the league, the NCAA, and the NFL.

Despite the external noise, Craig maintains that Harvard’s success is his number one priority. “All I’ve been focused on this season is uplifting the team first and trying to be as selfless as possible. I’m really just focused on the team,” Craig told the Harvard Independent. “I’m not really worried about anyone who’s looking, anyone who’s out. I’m worried about the team, and just going 1-0 every weekend.”

In his senior season, Craig says that the biggest difference between last season and now is the amount of additional responsibility he has taken on. “I’m definitely taking on more responsibility as a leader and making sure everyone’s doing the right things—they are where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there.”

“I think the best way to lead and bring those guys up is showing people that have fun with it,” said Craig on his leadership style. “I think you can’t complain when you’re six and 0,” he said ahead of the Dartmouth match-up.

The Crimson’s defense has played a large part in their success thus far, holding teams well below their typical scoring averages and generating points themselves this season. While Harvard’s defense is doing their part in the team’s success, Craig thinks the offense has room to improve on their end. “I think the offense is going to execute better and have their back, like they have our back,” said Craig.

A distinctive aspect of the Ivy League conference is its apparent lack of sports culture, which often requires teams to generate a lot of their own energy on the field. Although this can certainly be frustrating for athletes and sports fans of the Ivy League, it sets Ivy League athletes apart because they play their sports out of love for the game alone, rather than recognition or athletic scholarships. 

“The beauty in that is guys play football because they love football… They play the game for just the love of the sport, and not any, any external noise… We play football because we love football,” Craig said.

Craig plays football for the love of the game, but he also represents his grandmother’s alma mater; she earned her master’s degree from Harvard in 1963 and her Ph.D. in 1972. “She’s a trailblazer. She was one of the first Black women here at Radcliffe. I think her story is incredible,” said Craig. “I love my grandma. I just want to do her proud. I want to do my whole family proud and just carry the last name with a lot of pride.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the Crimson have two conference games remaining, Columbia and Penn, before the fabled Harvard-Yale rivalry game. The team is taking its season one week at a time, maintaining consistent preparation regardless of its competition. “Our preparation doesn’t change,” said Craig. “I think that’s why we’ve been so good to this point, is because we’re taking everyone as seriously as possible.”

Crimson fans should be ecstatic to watch the team for the rest of this record-breaking season, as they are currently on track to secure an Ivy League title. “I don’t think we’ve played our best football yet,” said Craig. This sentiment bodes well for Crimson fans, as the best of Harvard football is yet to come. 

Megan Legault ’28 (mlegault@college.harvard.edu) lost her voice ahead of the interviews for this article.