College Football

Harvard offseason has extra motivation

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:39 p.m. ET

(STATS) - Harvard has spent its offseason chewing on a rare losing streak, so there's been extra motivation for the perennial Ivy League power.

The Crimson lost to rivals Penn and Yale to end last season, which ended their bid for a fourth straight league title. The loss to Yale snapped a nine-game winning streak in the series known as "The Game."

Harvard has been preparing for the 2017 season during a spring practice that concludes Saturday night with an intrasquad game.

Starting quarterback Joe Viviano hasn't been in school during the spring semester, but he's due back for fall camp. Tom Stewart, more of a running threat than Viviano, has been handling the No. 1 unit during the spring.

Tim Murphy is entering his 24th season as Harvard's coach, and the Crimson have posted at least seven wins in 16 straight seasons, including 7-3 last year. The Crimson are expected to return 11 starters for a season that kicks off Sept. 16 at Rhode Island.