Crimson at Mid-Season: Will Love Be Requited?

There are few enough ideals in which today's college youth can have faith. By this time the meaningfulness of Sania Claus has waned, and Motherhood is better left unmentioned. But for Harvard football fans, there are always one certainty in an age of unbelief: Bill Grana would come through in the clutch.

Quarterback Mike Bassett had faith with the rest. Last Saturday when the Crimson charged to the Columbia 10-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Bassett called on number 34. On the first play Grana broke through to the 2, and then blasted to the 1. On third down he lunged over the toiling behemoths in the line, and for a second appeared to have scored.

But some miscreant in light blue took aim at the football and punched it loose from Grana's grasp. It bounded free in the end zone and another child of darkness scooped it up. Only Columbia's recklessness and center Brad Stephens' alertness saved Harvard from total humiliation in the last minute of play.

Grana was not the only idol who emerged from Saturday's game slightly furnished. Usually dependable halfbacks Scott Harshbarger and Wally Grant each made a crucial fumble, and promising sophomore end Ken Boyda dropped two of Bassett's passes. And Bassett himself could not infuse the necessary drive and energy into the Crimson offense.

But Grana's unfortunate bobble stands out, because it epitomizes the Harvard team at mid-season. The Crimson is like a guy in love with a girl who has beauty, brains, and a monstrous boyfriend. Every time our hero goes to make a move, he thinks of his rival, turns to jelly, and slinks away unrequited. Grana's fumble was just such a failure. If the Harvard team ever manages to finish what it starts so bravely the varsity is quite capable of winning the day, its hulking adverserios notwithstanding.

This is all to say I think the Crimson can still win the Ivy League championship. There are problems--primarily the Dartmouth and Princeton teams--but Harvard has shown enough promise, in its erratic way, to lend substance to dreams of future conquest.

The major failure thus far has been a marked inability to present a sustained and imaginative offense. An observer last week could not help but notice the difference between the deft variety of the Columbia attack, and the predictable Crimson offense.

Archie Roberts, whose mistake in the last minute obscured a brilliant quarter-backing job, said after the game that Harvard could have won if it had passed more often. Columbia was set for the Crimson ground game; Grant off-tackle, Grana up the middle, power sweep to the right, etc. When the varsity did open up--as when Tom Bilodeau threw his halfback pass to Frank Ulcickas--the Lions couldn't stop it.

Harvard gets excellent blocking for its rushing plays. Grana is indispensable, and linemen like Tom Stephenson and Jeff Pochop hit their men with singular aggressiveness. Bassett, too is a fine blocker. But a long march which relies almost exclusively on fairly short-gaining runs can too easily be stopped: by a penalty, a fumble, a missed block.

Despite its rather meager production of 52 points in four games, the Crimson offense has occasionally been very impressive. Wally Grant has displayed an unusual combination of quickness and power in his runs, and could become one of Harvard's greatest football players. John Dockery, a less-publicized sophomore, runs the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds and performs the rather startling maneuver of catching passes thrown to him. Grana, solid as a blocker and defensive player, once in awhile runs with the irresistable character he manifested as a sophomore. Bassett has had too many passes dropped by his receivers to be a happy man, but he remains the coolest quarterback in the Temperate Zone.

A little more imagination, a little more consistency, a little more adhesiveness to footballs thrown and handed off, and the Crimson could be a fearsome offensive team.

There are fewer things wrong with the defense. It has allowed 17 points in four games, and no opponent has managed anything approaching a sustained drive. Brad Stephens is extraordinary as a linebacker and signal caller. Jeff Pochop is big and mean, but with Neal Curtin hurt the other tackle spot is dangerously thin. Various other linemen have also been outstanding for the defense: Stephenson, before he was hurt, and Boyda at ends; Capt. Bill Southmayd and Bob Barrett, a tremendous sophomore prospect, at guards.

The defensive backfield had its weak moments against Roberts' passes, but so does everybody else. Rick Beizer, Jerry Mechling. Tom Bilodeau, and Grana--the regular quartet--have made few mistakes (one of the grosser ones being the 78-yard Cornell touchdown) and many fine plays.

And so our would-be lover, saddled with a growing list of failures of nerve, prepares to make his final assault on the citadel of his lady's virtue. The next five weeks could produce some of the most exciting, and frustrating, football a Harvard team has played in many a year