Harvard Squeaks by Bruins, 17-16

Safety Mike Jacobs deflected Brown quarterback Larry Carbone's pass for a two-point conversion with 1:53 remaining in the game to give Harvard a 17-16 victory over the Bruins before 16,000 fans today at Harvard Stadium.

Senior quarterback Brian Buckley's pair of screen pass touchdown tosses to Paul Conners and Tom Beatrice gave Harvard its triumph. Rick Villella's 25-yd. run highlighted an 88-yd. Brown scoring march late in the fourth quarter, but Brown coach John Anderson chose to go for the victory instead of the tie.

The Bruins twice came from behind to tie the score at 3-3 and 10-10, but Beatrice's touchdown with 10:40 remaining in the fourth quarter put the Crimson ahead to stay.

On Brown's second possesion of the game, Harvard's defense--its most effective weapon in its opening four victories--resurfaced, specifically cornerback Rocky Delgadillo. Brown quarterback Larry Carbone went back to pass on second down and look for flanker Mitch Metz on a short down-and-out pattern at the Brown 27. He found him, but Delgadillo simply grabbed the ball out of the Bruin's hands and took it back to the 25.

The golden opportunity to score seemed to go for nought when Paul Connors lunged into the line and went nowhere and Buckley missed on a pair of passes--the second a strike to tight end Linus O'Donnell, which he dropped.

But kicker Dave Cody came in and nailed a 42-yd. field goal, equalling his longest ever. The boot gave Harvard a 3-0 lead with 8:35 remaining in the first quarter.

The breaks kept coming Harvard's way. After a perfect Steve Flach punt pinned the Bruins at their 5, Brown's highly-touted running back Rich Villella then came up with his third fumble of the first quarter--Brown recovered the other two--and Dave Otto's recovery gave the Crimson the ball at the Bruin 13.

But Buckley coughed the ball up on second down, recalling the lost to Princeton last week when the Crimson repeatedly failed to take advantage on opportunities.

The deja vu became even more vivid when Buckley led another drive deep into Brown territory, and then threw an interception. He went back to pass on second-and-ten, a minute into the second quarter

The deja vu became even more vivid when Buckley led another drive deep into Brown territory, then threw an interception. He went back to pass on second-and-ten, scrambled look for a receiver and fired the ball directly to Brown's Mike Audie, whose interception killed the drive at the 18.

The interception seemed to invigorate the Brown offense, entirely ineffective to this point. Carbone made a perfect fake to Villella and bootlegged around right end for 26 yards to the Harvard 41.

But Mike Jacobs broke up a potential Brown TD in the endzone and Brown had to settle for a 42-yd. Bob Granfors field goal and a tie score halfway through the second quarter.

The similarities to the Princeton game ended there. With ten minutes remaining in the half. Carbone went back to pass at his own 30, and under heavy pressure, lofted a feeble screen towards Villella. Linebacker Brad Stinn, playing his best game of the season, picked it off.

With the third turnover of the half, Brown had to know it would have to pay soon. On second down, Buckley and Paul Connors made sure the Bruins did.

Under heavy pressure at the Bruin 27, Buckley unloaded a delicate screen pass to Conoors, who set off down the right sideline. Shucking two tackles along the way, the halfback found paydirt with 4:51 to go, to seal the Crimson's 10-3 halftime lead.

Buckley seemed a touch tentative in the first half despite his impressive stats, 8 for 12 for 79 yards. He moved cautiously behind the line and didn't try to go long, evidence that the three weeks off with a knee injury had taken its toll. So coach Joe Restic decided to shift the burden to Connors, who carried the ball ten times for 29 yards, a less impressive pace than at Princeton, where he collected 86 yards. Surprisingly, fullback Jim Callinan, outstanding in his 100-yd. rushing performance last week, carried the ball only three times for a total of 24 yards.

With the three Brown turnovers--all in Bruin territory--Harvard could have blown the game open, but any show of offense was satisfying to the recently point-starved Crimson.

Brown came out smoking at the start of the second half. Carbone moved his team down the field smartly after the kickoff, using the short pass effectively.

He hit tight end Steve Jordan on a 26-yd. sideline pattern for a first down at the Harvard 11. The drive stalled and Granfors came in for a 28-yd. field goal attempt. His line drive kick banged flush into the crossbar, bounced straight up in the air, and landed directly in front. No good.

But the 10-3 lead soon disappeared. A Connors fumble gave Brown the ball at the Harvard 19. The defense pushed the Bruins back to the 25 put a crucial pass interference call against cornerback Pete Coppinger on third-and-16 gave Brown a first down at the eight. One play later, halfback Steve Curtin lugged it over for a tie score.

Despite a Mike Jacob's interception on the first play of the fourth quarter, the Harvard offense stalled. But Steve Flach's punt was down at the Bruin eight and Brown had to punt out of its own endzone.

Then Buckley calmly led an eight-play scoring drive. Big runs by Beatrice, Callinan and a 24-yd beauty by Jim Acheson set up the pass at the 13. Buckley found Beatrice on a screen to the right side and the rugged senior bulled past three tacklers and into the endzone for a 17-10 Harvard lead.