Harvard Meets Big Green in Crucial Ivy Contest

It's a cliche. Kubacki says it's a cliche. Curry says it's a cliche. But no one will deny it. "You throw out all the statistics when Dartmouth comes to town."

Regardless of how favored the Crimson may be, the Big Green always seems to play beyond its capabilities against Harvard. The results have been agonizing for Harvard fans. Two years ago, Dartmouth upset a highly-favored Crimson squad. Last year, Harvard barely managed to eke out a win. Out of the past seven matches, Dartmouth has stolen six.

This year's contest figures to be another knock-down, drag-out affair. Both Harvard and Dartmouth are undefeated in Ivy play. The Crimson is coming off its best game of the year against Cornell last week, while the Big Green tied Ivy favorite Brown last week. The victor of today's game will clearly be the top contender for the Ivy title, and both teams want it, need it, badly.

"Dartmouth comes to hit," said Harvard's no-longer-Cinderella quarterback, Jim Kubacki, Friday. "We're going to hit. I'm expecting a very brutal game."

The game shapes up as a battle between Harvard's potent offense and Dartmouth's highly-touted defense. Jim Kubacki, who is second in the nation in total yardage per game, commands an offense that has scored 69 points in its last two encounters. His main operatives are halfback Tommy Wynn and wide receiver Jim Curry.

Wynn has gained 210 yards in 43 attempts, almost five yards a carry, and has scored four touchdowns. Curry is the Crimson's leading receiver with 12 receptions for 316 yards.

Offense Tells

Said Kubacki, "The offense has really started to jell. In the past two weeks it's been a lot smoother. Our passing game is really good, and our running backs are solid. I think we have the best offense in the league by far."

But, in the Dartmouth defense, Harvard will face its toughest challenge so far. The major strength of the Big Green defense is its linebacking corps, led by one-man wrecking crew middle linebacker Reggie Williams. The 6 ft. 1 in., 215-pound Williams is all-everything: All-Ivy, All-East and potential All-American.

But Williams is just the keystone in the Green defensive wall.

Around him there is a strong supporting cast: All-Ivy linebacker Skip Cummings and Kevin Young.

Exploit Weakness

The big Green front line is also tough, allowing opponents only 119 yards per game. If there is any weakness, it's in the Dartmouth secondary, which Kubacki and company hope to exploit.

"They're really strong against the run," said Kubacki. "If we can move the ball, we're in good shape. Our whole thing is that we can take anything they give us and work with that. We know we're going to have to control them, but there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to. I say that not because we underestimate Dartmouth, but because I have a lot of confidence in our line."

The Dartmouth offense is not one of the strongest around. The kind of slashing running backs that inspired the big Green fight song "As the backs go tearing by" are missing in the Dartmouth attack this year.

Work Horse

The work horse of the Big Green running game is senior halfback Bob Friedl who has rushed for 293 yards on 68 carries, most of which has come inside.

The Dartmouth passing attack shouldn't pose too much of a threat to the Crimson's improving secondary, especially if Big Green split end Tom Fleming is out of action. The fleet Fleming represents Dartmouth's only long-ball threat and his absence will restrict the Big Green to a short passing game.

"From the Brown films, Dartmouth looks like a really well-coached ball club, said linebacker Eric Kursweil. "They use good plays and good series. Although their passing game won't be that great if Fleming doesn't play, they'll still be the first real test defensively for us."

Emotion and Rivalry

So another Harvard-Dartmouth game is upon us. The emotion, the rivalry, the psych will be obvious on Soldier's Field today. For both teams, it's the pivotal contest of the year.

Said Kubacki yesterday, "Dartmouth is the obstacle, they're standing right in our way. We have total control of our future. We're going to take them to move on. That's the big thing.