Harvard Eleven Sputters to 3-3 Tie; Running Attack Fails Against Cornell

ITHACA, N.Y., Oct. 16-Before the game, Coach John Yovicsin had said that today's game against Cornell would tell him just how good the Harvard football team is. Now he knows.

The Crimson sputtered to a 3-3 tie with the Big Red, and it was obvious that despite its wealth of backfield talent and its brilliant defense, something is very wrong with the Crimson football team. They can't move the ball.

Harvard's Maury Dullea kicked a 36-yard field goal in the first period, and Cornell's Pete Zogby booted a 38-yarder early in the second quarter. That was all the scoring, and neither team was able to penetrate its opponent's 20-yard line in the defense-dominated contest.

Harvard, which now has a 3-0-1 season record, probably should have won the game. With their star quarterback Marty Sponaugle injured, Cornell's offense was ineffective. The Crimson defense (which has given up fewer points per game than any team in the country) was able to hold them without undue difficulty. Cornell's punting, furthermore, was utterly wrenched - they averaged 24 yards on eight kicks - so the Crimson had good field position most of the time. But they could not capitalize on it.

Harvard got its first break early in the game. On Cornell's second play from scrimmage, quarterback Bill Abel went back to pass and spotted end Stu Fullerton on the right sideline. The pass was perfect and Fullerton appeared in the clear. But at the last second cornerback Bill Cobb jumped in front of the receiver, intercepted the pass, and dashed 13 yards to the Cornell 36. It was a brilliant defensive play.

Quarterback John McCluskey passed nine yard to Dan Calderwood, and Wally Grant then went three yards up the middle for a first down at the Red 24. Monday morning quarterbacking is patently unfair, but if McCluskey had called three running plays and moved the ball within field goal range, Harvard would have won the game. On first down he threw an incomplete pass; on second down Grant carried the ball three yards; on third down McCluskey threw an errant pass in the direction of Dan Calderwood.

Offensive Interference

Though the pass was overthrown, Calderwood virtually tackled the Cornell defender. The red flag went down and the offensive interference penalty moved the bail back to the 26 yard line. From this point Jim Babooch attempted a 53 yard field goal, which predictably failed.

Cornell took over on their own 20, and moved two yards in three plays. Joe Homics punted to the Crimson 43. Harvard began to grind out yardages, the big play being an 18-yard pass from McCluskey to Bobby Leo. But with a first down on the Cornell 20, Harvard's drive fizzled. After three unsuccessful running plays, Dullea kicked his field goal, giving the Crimson a 3-0 lead.

That lead didn't last long. After the kickoff Cornell ground out yardage from their own 32 to Harvard's 21 in 14 plays. The big gun on the drive was halfback Pete Larson, who had entered the game with a 7.9 ward rushing average. He accounted for 37 yards on the march, including a 26-yard run. But when Cornell had a first down on the 26, the Crimson's defense held. At 1:18 of the period Zogby kicked the field goal which tied the game.

Midway through the period Harvard had another good scoring opportunity - and blew it. After a 32-yard Cornell punt. Harvard took over on its own 44. Wally Grant's running gave the Crimson two first downs to the Big Red 34.

Fumble

After Grant had run for three yards, McCluskey rolled around right end - apparently for a fair gain. But when he was hit the ball squirted out of his hands. Dullea recovered, but Harvard was faced with third down and eleven yards to go.

For other teams, this would be a natural passing situation, but Wally Grant scampered around left end - and was hit three yards short of a first down.

On the crucial fourth down play, Bobby Leo smashed over right tackle, but was stopped a yard short of the first down.

In the third quarter, nothing happened. Harvard amassed 12 yards in 12 plays, and Cornell didn't do much better. But the final period made up for this dullness with 15 minutes of tension and frustration for supporters of both teams.

Since McCluskey had been ineffective all afternoon, Yovicsin put in second stringer John Shevlin to try to move the team. With about eight minutes to go, Harvard ground out yardage from its own 44 to the Cornell 28. Then the Big Red defense had its finest hour. Grant was stopped for a one yard loss, and Leo was hit behind the line on an end sweep. Shevlin tried to pass on third down, but the throw was battered down by the onrushing Cornell line. There was little Harvard could do by try a desperation field goal, and Dullea's 47-yard kick was at least five yards short.

Cornell Coach Tom Harp had called on third-stringer Bill Hinman to try to move his team, and Hinman almost succeeded in leading Cornell to a last-minute score. After Cornell took over Hinman completed a 25-yard pass to Fullerton on first down, and then completed thrown of six and nine yards.

Trouble for Crimson

When Larson swept around left end for eleven yards, Harvard was in big trouble; the ball was on the 29, and Cornell was clearly moving within field goal range. Larson went up the middle for one yard, and then Hinman tried to stop the clock by throwing the ball out of bounds. The referee, however, ruled his throw a backward pass, and Cornell was saddled with a seven-yard loss. On third down Larson swept around left end for six yards, but the Big Red was still 30 yards away from the end zone. Zogby attempted a field goal with 30 seconds to play, but it was slightly to the left.

No Passing-No Victory

Being held to a tie by Cornell was no disgrace, of course; In fact, the Crimson had gone into the game a two-point underdog. The game was distressing because it showed for the first time this year how much Harvard needs some semblance of a passing attack. Even though the Crimson's passing (six for fifteen, 87 yards) was better than it had been all season, it still wasn't good enough to scare Cornell much. The Ithacans were able to stack their defense and hold Harvard to 112 yards rushing. Without a passing attack to keep the defenses honest. Harvard may be able to look good against teams like Columbia and Holy Cross, but against a tough defense like Cornell's, the lack of a versatile offense was fatal