Harvard Out-Defenses Cornell in 10-0 Win

Cornell's highly-praised defense was outclassed Saturday by Harvard's own defenders, who bottled up Cornell's Bill Robertson to produce the Crimson's 10-0 shutout of the Big Red in Harvard Stadium.

Cornell was in Harvard territory only four times during the game. And Robertson--the Ivy League's best passer last year--never managed to get his team inside the Crimson's 20 yard line. The one time, late in the fourth quarter, Cornell threatened to score, Robertson's pass was intercepted in the end zone.

In the meantime, Harvard quarterback George Lalich and halfback Ray Hornblower were mounting an offensive attack that was far more impressive than the ten points it produced.

Hornblower had the best day of his career, picking up 138 yards rushing in 26 carries. And Lalich, who was a doubtful starter until Saturday morning due to a back injury, looked by far the best he has all season.

The senior quarterback completed 11 of 18 passes for 102 yards, making Robertson look pallid by comparison. Robertson--who averaged well over 100 yards passing per game in Cornell's first three games--was held to only 58 yards (seven completions in 18 attempts) by the Crimson's stingy defense.

Vic Gatto, the Crimson's stocky team captain, became the leading rusher in Harvard football history a little more than halfway through Saturday's game.

Gatto ran for 76 yards in 20 carries to eclipse the record of 1825 yards Dick Clasby set between 1951 and 1953. Gatto's new record is 1855 yards.

Harvard first got on the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on an 80 yard drive after the Crimson defense stopped a Cornell fourth-and-one plunge at the Harvard 21.

Gatto took a pitch-out from Lalich and ripped over left tackle for ten yards. Then Hornblower, on three consecutive hand-offs from Lalich, moved Harvard to the Crimson 41.

Gatto, Hornblower, and fullback Gus Crim penetrated to the Cornell 37 in the next three plays, and then Lalich cocked back and threw a wobbly bomb to sophomore end Bruce Freeman.

Freeman fought off a Cornell defender who was covering him closely and hauled in Lalich's pass at the four, where he was brought down.

On the next play, Lalich pitched to Gatto, who sped over left tackle to score. Temmy Wynne's point-after kick was good.

Wynne--who saved Harvard's shutout with a fourth-quarter interception in the end zone--also produced the Crimson's only other score of the day, when he climaxed a late third-quarter Harvard drive with a 32-yard field goal.

The final score of the game, however, was deceptive. Harvard's offense was working much better than a meager ten points indicates, and only a plethora of offensive penalties kept the Crimson from scoring several times more.

Harvard was penalized ten times--twice as many as Cornell--for a total of 112 yards. On one fourth-quarter series of downs, the Crimson had the ball on the Cornell 19, first-and-ten, only to be called for two offensive holding penalties in a row.

Virtually the entire fourth quarter was played in Big Red territory, but Harvard could never quite sustain a drive.

After Harvard's victory Saturday and Princeton's surprising loss to Colgate, Harvard's chances of finishing well up in the Ivy League standings are looking brighter all the time.