Soaking Up the Bennies

Brian Dowling is gone. Marty Domres is gone. Even George Lalich is gone. There is clearly no quarterback in the Ivy League this year, barring significant surprises, as good as either Dowling or Domres.

Perhaps the best quarterback in the league is Bernic Zbrzeznj, who at 5'9" is probably the smallest person at his position among Ivy teams, was one of the important factors in Penn's very long awaited winning season. Last year as a junior, he ranked second in the league in passing, third in total offense, and was honorable mention All-Ivy.

Since halfback Jerry Santini is no longer at Penn, and since the Quakers' two best ends are back, the litle quarterback, who is no relation to Alex Zbrezrj, is likely to throw even more this fall.

Another dependable quarterback is, surprisingly enough, at Brown. Bryan Marini throws hard, accurate passes and teamed well with end Greg Kontos last year. Kontos has been graduated, and Brown's ends are not a strong point this year, so Marini might find it wiser to concentrate more on a ground game. He has good backs behind him and is a good runner himself. Marini's greatest contribution, however, may be as an experienced signal-caller for the Bruins' sophomore-laden team.

The most interesting situation seems to be at Dartmouth, where the fall foliage season promises to be a good one. There are now two good quarterbacks competing for the starting job after sharing it almost evenly last year. Bill Koenig is a senior who throws exceptionally well, especially to deep receivers. His colleague is junior Jim Chasey, who throws accurately, but not as hard and as far as Koenig. Neither has been consistent enough to be a star for coach Bob Blackman, who is at least as well known as Smoky the Bear in Hanover.

Koenig was a slight preseason favorite to be the number one quarterback, but at this point. Chasey is the top man and will start against New Hampshire Saturday. One reason for Chasey's recent rise is Koenig's thumb, which he jammed a week ago. Because of the injury. Chasey played almost the entire scrimmage against Boston College Saturday when the aroused Indians won. 42-6. Chasey has always been known as a runner, while Koenig is only adequate, but Chasey's passing was at its best Saturday. He completed 11 of 13 attempted passes.

Despite Chasey's edge right now, the two will probably share the duties again unless something drastic happens. Koenig, who most say has a stronger arm than former Dartmouth standout Mickey Beard, is the better signal caller.

It's difficult to talk about Princeton's quarterback since in the past he has been only a signal caller and a blocker in the single wing. This year's offense will be different, but it is a fairly well-kept secret in what ways it will change. At any rate, it can safely be said that Princeton's backfield is one of the best, and probably the best, in the league. Another undisputable fact is that Scott MacBean and Brian McCullough can both run and pass extremely well.

Cornell has Bill Arthur, who is not exactly another Gary Wood. He is not a strong passer, but should contribute significantly to the ground attack. Also a possible replacement for the graduated Bill Robertson is Rick Furbish, a former end. Clearly, there is not another Brian Dowling at Yale. Probably there is not another Brian Dowling anywhere, whatever that means. His primary backup man. Bob Bayless, is no longer at Yale for academic reasons. At the moment, the two top candidates are Joe Massey and Chuck Sizemore. Massey earned experience on the junior varsity last year. Sizemore, a sophomore, passes well, but is not known as a strong runner.

John Yovicsin also intends to put a quarterback on the field this fall. Frank Champi, another of Harvard's many quarterbacks trained on the junior varsity, is number one right now. Champi throws well, at any rate, and on at least one occasion, performed well under pressure. There is good depth with Dave Smith and Joe Roda. To predict that Harvard will be strong at quarterback would be a risk. Then there was George Lalich.