Yovicsin Must Choose Quarterback

Harvard has lost two football games this year. One the Crimson should never have lost, the other should have been much closer. There is, unfortunately, one striking similarity between the two defeats-Harvard was outcoached.

When Columbia scored a quick touchdown in the third period to go ahead, 14-7, Harvard coach John Yovicsin reverted to a tactic that had worked well in the season opener against Northeastern-he changed quarterbacks.

Sophomore Rod Foster, who had played only one series in the second half, was replaced by classmate Eric Crone. But Columbia was not Northeastern, a team that Harvard should have beaten with ease, but didn't.

When Yovicsin replaced Foster, there was a very subtle but important change in the offense. It seemed that some of the team's spunk was lost in the transition from one quarterback to another, and Columbia took full advantage of the Crimson's sag in morale.

This is not to say that the offensive unit has less confidence in Crone than in Foster. But as one offensive starter put it. "When you change quarterbacks like that, there's a slight feeling of a lack of confidence in the whole offensive process."

This, indeed, is the essential point. To win consistently, a coach has to choose one quarterback and stick with him all the way, win or lose. Not one established football power in the country has the least bit of uncertainty about who is its starting-and finishing-quarterback.

Football is a team sport, and it demands the unity and direction which can only be provided by strong leadership. The team captain, of course, is a natural leader. But the quarterback is the man who directs the offense, and he is therefore an unspoken co-leader.

There are few, if any, examples of football teams winning without a quarterback who commands the respect and confidence of his teammates. This give-and-take relationship between quarterback and team is one which takes time to develop. It is also one which can be easily disrupted.

Certainly there were other factors that contributed to the loss to Columbia. The Crimson was forced to miss its scheduled practice, session on Friday, and the team arrived in New York tired and unsettled on Friday night due to travel difficulties.

The fact is, however, that Harvard kept pace with Columbia through the first half. At halftime the score was 7-7, and the feeling was that Harvard would simply outlast the Lions in the second half. The converse proved to be true.

Harvard has been notorious over the past several seasons for its endless shuffling of quarterbacks. Partly this has been due to a lack of talent-a problem which clearly does not exist this year-and partly to the coaches' hesitancy to go all the way with one man at quarterback.

Of course, there have been exceptions. Frank Champi came on in the last minutes against Yale to salvage a preposterous 29-29 tie, but another quarterback directed the Crimson to that final confrontation of undefeated teams.

George Lalich had quarterbacked eight straight victories for Harvard. Only in the direst situation was he replaced, and Champi's performance can only be termed miraculous.

Last year, Harvard managed to run through five quarterbacks in one season. No one ever knew who to expect to be calling signals on any given Saturday, and not surprisingly, only two of those quarterbacks put up with the uncertainty.

The same problem exists this season, only the differences and dissension are more pronounced. Foster and Crone "alternate" at quarterback during the week, and the offense is never quite sure of (1) who is starting on Saturday, or (2) who is the team leader.

Two other quarterbacks have been lost in the confusion. Rex Blankenship, a junior, has virtually disappeared from the scene after starting the Northeastern game, and Bill Kelly, a senior, gave up and switched to split end.

Still another quarterback is sophomore Frank Guerra, who has been largely discounted by the coaches because of his size even though he may be the team's sharpest strategist.

The most discouraging aspect of this mess is that the quarterbacks themselves are never sure where they stand. Yovicsin admists he is an organizer first and says that the nature of his job "forces him [Yovicsin] to detach himself from the players."

Leaving aside the pitfalls of this strategy, even a coach who envisions himself as an organizer must sooner or later face up to the decision between any number of quarterback candidates. And the sooner he does, the better.

The Contenders

At this moment, Harvard has three very confused and unhappy men playing quarterback-Foster, Crone, and Blankenship. Judging from performances so far this Fall, Foster probably should start.

Foster was reinstated against Cornell and went all the way. He drove Harvard to scores when it counted and the team backed him up. He also came on against Northeastern and averted an embarrassing loss.

Crone has done extremely well at times, but always in situations devoid of pressure. He piled up yards and points against Northeastern and Rutgers, but was off-target when he could not afford to be against Columbia.

Blankenship, more than anything else, has been ignored. Since the Northeastern game, he has not played a single down in a game situation. Given time, he could develop into a competent and efficient leader. No one seems willing to give him that chance.

The offensive team that is guided by one of these three is nearly as confused as the quarterbacks. They never know who is going to turn up in the huddle-or when. Different quarterbacks call different games. And a game plan-like a good quarterback-takes time to develop.

This, as much as anything, explains the Crimson's ineffectiveness against Columbia and Dartmouth. Following the first half at Columbia, Foster had in mind a strategy for the second half. When he didn't score on his first series, he was replaced by Crone and a wholly new plan of attack.

Similarly, Foster was faced with an extremely good Dartmouth defense last Saturday. Not only did he not have time to develop the Crimson attack before he was pulled, but each time he had the ball he was deep in his own territory.

A bad punt by Foster led to Dartmouth's first score. A bad pass by Crone led to their second. The difference between the two mistakes is that one has only partly to do with quarterbacking, the other has everything to do with it.

Perhaps the most incomprehensible aspect of Harvard's game of musical quarterbacks has been its persistence. Quarterbacks are not changed once during the course of a game, but several times.

Against Columbia, Foster went out, came back in, and then was taken out once more. The case was the same against Dartmouth.

The consensus of the offensive unit seems to be that they would prefer to go with one quarterback to the end. There is not as much agreement as to which quarterback it should be, but Foster has been most effective in the clutch. The quarterbacks themselves are fed up with the whole situation.

A 7-2 record is not entirely out of reach this season. Yovicsin says he wants to go out a winner, and he probably will no matter how many quarterbacks he plays. But if he wants to go out a big winner, and if he cares about the next two years of Harvard football, he had better pick just one.