CAMBRIDGE – The 2023 and 2024 Ivy League banners now hang alongside the others in historic Harvard Stadium.

But, the Crimson still aren’t satisfied.

After sharing the league title each of the last two seasons, there’s an eye towards winning it outright in 2025. It showed during an intense two-hour scrimmage on a frigid, raw Saturday morning.

Here’s a handful of things that stood out when it comes to the Crimson…

Craig still the guy at QB, especially after losing DePrima

Jaden Craig is back for one final year, which means Harvard’s all set at the most important position. He was sitting out Saturday, but still took mental reps in the backfield while sophomore DJ Gordon, classmates Sam Kaiser and Ty Fein (Middlesex) and junior Dante Torres all had an opportunity to showcase what they can do. Late in the morning, Kaiser had a dime for a TD to BB&N junior Isaiah Kacyvenski Jr. in the back left corner. Losing DePrima hurts in terms of not being able to completely flip the script on a defense in the snap of a finger, but it’s a good group and Craig can do a lot of things.

Depth at RB and WR despite loss of Barkate

Losing one of – if not the fastest – receiver in the country is a void one guy can’t fill. However, there are still familiar faces like seniors Dean Boyd, Caydon Coffman and Jordan Dotson, Kacyvenski, sophomore Brady Blackburn, junior Ryan Mooney, sophomores Camren Ware and Luke Travaglinin (Belmont Hill) that all saw the field a signifiant amount and all showed flashes. Dotson had a TD on a screen from like, 30-yards out on Saturday. It’s a deep room.

As far as the backs, the same goes as it has for seemingly the last 5-6 seasons, if not more. Junior Xavian Bascon is technically the ‘top’ guy, but there’s a whole bunch of athletes in the room that are going to get the ball. Senior Jordan Harris, junior Kyle Johnson, senior Isaiah Abbey, sophomore Max Reid and senior Mekhi Moore all made contributions. Abbey and Harris sort of led the way with Bascon resting and Abbey had a TD on the day.

Overall team speed

The speed combined of those two position groups just stands out. The game is getting faster and faster and Harvard’s offense – at least in March – feels like it will once again be hard to keep up with.

Offensive line (particularly in the run game)

The holes in the run game were gaping at times. The Harvard D-line is very good and not made up of small human beings by any means, but the O-line allowed RB’s the ability to hit holes freely or make a cut a large potion of the practice. QB’s didn’t have a ton of time to throw though, which was a good sign for the DL. That back and forth is ultimately what you’d like to see instead of pure dominance one way or another at this point in the year. Seniors Derek Osman, Max Bowman, Carter Daly, and Jackson Newille are back for one more run, so there’s a lot of experience in the room. Junior Spencer Doan also really stands out as well as an extremely large (6’7,” 260lbs.) human. Classmate Thomas O’Brien (Reading) did too as he continues to get better and better. Good, big, strong group as usual.

Secondary very active

Guys were flying around and ball hawking constantly. There were two dropped INT’s, but they tackle well in the open field and made life tough on the speedy receive group. Sophomore Trey Thomas had arguably the most impressive play for the unit on the day, making a big stick on a screen at one point, drawing a big ‘oooh’ from the defensive sideline. They’re going to be a frustrating group to go against of the rest of the league. Aj Lopez is the only senior left in the room, but the Crimson are still junior-heavy with John Chung, Damien Henderson, Langston Rogers, Jack Donahoe and Austin-Jake Guillory. There’s a bunch of talented sophomores, including Thomas as well.

Again, it’s only March, but it’s hard to find many reasons why Harvard won’t be right back in the hunt for another league title in those final couple weeks of the regular season. And don’t forget, there’s a playoff spot on the line now too.