Let’s rewind to the end of September.

On the same day, sophomore kicker Owen Zalc’s heroics helped Dartmouth escape North Andover, Massachusetts, with a 16-14 victory over Merrimack, and Harvard kicker Kieran Corr lined up for a routine 27-yard field goal down the right sideline . With 45 seconds left in the Crimson’s game against Brown, it was reasonable to expect Corr to bury the chip shot, giving Harvard a 31-23 lead and likely the victory.

Only Corr never got the chance to kick it.

The blast sailed over the head of the Crimson’s holder, Sebastien Tasko. Harvard’s two special team members give chase to the loose ball, a bunch of brown jerseys in hot pursuit. When Corr tried unsuccessfully to jump on the ball near midfield, the Bears’ Nick Hudson picked it up.

Tasko’s subsequent full-extension, diving strike to Hudson’s ankle caused Brown’s defensive back to stumble. As Hudson fell to the turf, he appeared to attempt to send the ball to his teammate but failed. Instead, the ball bounced across the field and through the hands of players from both teams before Hudson picked it up again and was eventually tackled inside the Harvard 30-yard line.

It took just one play for the Bears to score the eventual winning touchdown, handing Harvard its first and only loss of the 2024 campaign.

That brings us to the present. The No. 22 Big Green, owners of a 6-0 record for the first time since 2019, will host the Crimson, winners in four straight games, at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for homecoming weekend.

If not for that late and disastrous special teams mistake in Providence, RI, it’s fair to suggest that this Week 7 matchup could, would or should have been a contest between the Ivy League’s two undefeated players. Fans in Hanover will simply have to settle for a matchup between No. 1 and No. 2 this weekend, an afternoon nap between the top two teams in the Ivy League standings.

Here are three storylines you can follow before the game:

Harvard offense “firing on all cylinders:” According to coach Sammy McCorkle, limiting explosive plays and residual command noise have been and will continue to be the keys to Dartmouth’s defensive success this season. By forgoing the 44-43 shootout at Yale in mid-October, defensive coordinator Don Dobes’ unit has held opponents to 21 or fewer points in the Big Green’s other five wins.

That group, which ranks third in the Ivy in scoring defense and passing defense, will — needless to say — need to deliver another strong performance against the conference’s top-scoring offense this season in Harvard.

Harvard quarterback Jaden Craig ranks second in the FCS in passing efficiency (185.1) and has thrown a league-high 17 touchdowns against just two interceptions. He is tied with his favorite target, Cooper Barkate, the Ivy leader in receiving yards and touchdowns, for eight of those scores.

McCorkle believes Craig has “got better with every game” and praised the sophomore’s ability to run the Crimson offense, a unit that is “firing on all cylinders” in Saturday’s game.

“They can mix it up really well,” McCorkle said of the Harvard attack. “They involve a lot of players offensively. That puts a lot of pressure on you defensively. … We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. We can’t give them an easy game. We have to make them work for everything, and that is our plan for the future.”

Expect punishment, or lack thereof, to play a role: Dartmouth was penalized eight times for 77 yards in the second half of its 24-21 win over Columbia last Saturday.

The game never felt as close as the score would suggest, but the Big Green flirted with disaster in the final minutes of regulation, nearly allowing the Lions to pull off a comeback victory because of those penalties, which came in the form of unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike behavior. conducting and pre-processing conversations. After being penalized nine times against Columbia, Dartmouth remains the most-marked team in the Ivies, averaging nine penalties per game and 68.7 penalty yards per game.

Harvard, meanwhile, ranks first nationally in fewest penalties (16) and fewest penalties per game (2.67), and second in the FCS in fewest penalties per game (27.5).

McCorkle has talked ad nauseam at times this season about his team’s penchant for taking penalties. This week is no different.

“You just can’t allow the attacks to continue offensively,” McCorkle said of the Crimson. “They have a good offense, and the last thing you want is for them to keep the ball. And then of course you can’t go backwards against their defenses. You don’t want to put yourself in a long range situation because they are a very good defense that can hurt you if you do.

“So we have to keep it clean. “We have to do everything we can to make sure we play a clean game and don’t give them easy chances on both sides of the ball and also on special teams.”

Is Saturday destined to be an exciting battle? Recent history and current play indicate this: This weekend’s Dartmouth-Harvard meeting in Hanover marks the 24th clash between the two storied programs this century. The Big Green have won just four of those games; however, three of those wins have come in the last five meetings.

Eight of the last 10 meetings between the two teams, dating back to 2013, have been decided by eight or fewer points, matching Dartmouth’s recent one-score games this fall. Since a 45-13 loss to a depleted Fordham team in the season opener, McCorkle’s team has won each of its last five games by no more than four points.

“Hard to win,” McCorkle said. “In practice we have worked with many different scenarios; we talk about it all the time; we talk about keeping your composure and playing until the end. … You want to be in a situation where, “Hey, you have an opportunity to close or finish this thing.” Go do it.’ And fortunately we are too.”

Harvard doesn’t appear to share the Big Green’s enthusiasm for winning tight games, at least not to the same extent. The Crimson’s average margin of victory in their five wins is 18.2 points, although their two non-conference wins – home victories over then-No. 16 New Hampshire and Holy Cross – came by five points or less. Harvard’s two wins over Ancient Eight opponents and convincing victories over Cornell and Princeton are worth 18 and 32 points, respectively.

Will Dartmouth play another game within a four-point margin, or will Harvard’s success in the Ivies in October continue into November? It’s anyone’s guess.

Alex Cervantes can be reached at [email protected] or 603-727-7302.