Ivy League Amends '76 Grid Schedule

The athletic directors of the Ivy League have approved a new football schedule for 1976 which will eliminate season openers against teams outside of the league.

Ivy teams will meet each other, rather than confront non-league squads, which have had a chance to jell in earlier games.

These games will be played a week earlier than in previous seasons.

Baaron B. Pittenger, associate director of Athletics said yesterday that the league should avoid last year's embarassment when Harvard was the only Ivy team to capture its first contest.

"Most other teams are on an eleven-game schedule; the Ivys play nine," Pittenger said. "U.Mass. had three games behind them before they played us."

He added that the early schedule will allow Ivy teams to scrimmage non-league opponents, since practice schedules will coincide.

Football coach Joe Restic said he was "very pleased" with the decision. "This is the direction we must go. We were at a disadvantage with no spring practice or game experience. This way we start against a team like us," Restic said.

For other Ivy schools whose academic calendar starts early, the schedule has an added advantage. The season ends a week earlier and gives students more time to prepare for pre-Christmas exams.

When asked to comment on the schedule Columbia's football coach William Cambell said yesterday, "How the hell would you feel if you had to open your season against Harvard at Harvard stadium."

'A Real Plus'

"It's too bad we have to play such a critical game that early, but I think it's a real plus for the league," he said.

Dartmouth's football coach Jake Crouthamel said yesterday that he was concerned about opening avainst an Ivy League opponent. "Sure we're all on an equal basis, but we don't know enough about our own personnel to start our best team," he said.

Crouthamel said that games against nationally-prominent teams like Army, Navy, and Boston College would give the Ivies a chance to speculate on their national ranking.

He added, "The league title is our main concern. A victory over a non-league team is no feather in our cap."