Elis Humble Listless Gridders, 28-0, Tie Dartmouth for Ivy League Title

NEW HAVEN--Reality came crashing down on the Harvard football team at the Yale Bowl this afternoon, as 75,300 fans watched a superior Yale squad shut down the Crimson and roll to a 28-0 victory en route to its third consecutive Ivy League title, a co-championship with Dartmouth.

The Green defeated Penn, in Philadelphia, to earn the title of co champion with a 6-1 Ivy record.

Despite limiting the nation's fifth-leading rusher, Rich Diana, to under 100 yards and moving the ball on the vaunted Eli defense, Harvard was unable to score on Yale for the second consecutive year. The bulldogs punched over 14 points in a span of 79 seconds early in the game and held on to beat the gridders for the 54th time in the 98-year history of The Game (eight games have been tied).

And so the upset hopes of the Crimson, which was still in the running for the Ivy title entering the game, despite a loss and a tie, were quashed for another season. Harvard finishes the year with a 5-4-1 record (4-2-1 in the Ivies), while Yale is 9-1 (6-1 Ivy) for the second consecutive year.

The game culminated outstanding seasons and careers for players on both sides. With his second carry of the day Jim Callinan became the first player in Harvard history to rush for 1000 vards in a single season.

Dynamic

Later in the game, Callinan also broke the Crimson single season record for rushing attempts.

And with his touchdown reception in the first minute of the second quarter, Yale split end Curtis Grieve passed Gary Fencik to set a school mark for reception yardage in a season.

Yale bolted to a 14-0 lead in the game's first 16 minutes, scoring on a 32-yard John Rogan swing pass to Rich Diana at 14:21 of the first quarter. And 79 seconds later, after a Jim Callinan fumble, a 25-yard Rogan-to-Curt Grieve pass and a PAT put another seven points on the board for the Elis. The fumble, Callinan's second and Harvard's third of the afternoon, gave the Elis the ball on the Crimson 25, and it took Rogan just one play--a spiral to Grieve--to increase the lead to two touchdowns.

Earlier, Harvard had penetrated to the Yale 48 on five running plays spanning 22 yards before Callinan fumbled and Bulldog Greg Burkus recovered at midfield to douse the threat. The teams traded punts before Yale drove 46 yards in five plays, ending in the Rogan-to-Diana connection in a third-and-13 situation.

With seven minutes left in the second quarter, Harvard was awarded its best field position of the day, when Pat Fleming sacked Rogan on the Yale five yard line and the ensuring Tony Jones punt was downed on the Harvard 36.

But two plays later, the Crimson found itself back on the other side of midfield. Callinan lost four yards on a pitch, and then Yale's Serge Mahaly sacked Cuccia on the Harvard 49 for a loss of nine. Jim Villanueva punted on fourth and 23, but when Mahaly hit the sophomore after the punt, the Crimson picked up an automatic first down on the roughing-the-kicker penalty.

Two plays later, Donnie Allard hit Callinan for a 24-yard gain off the quarterback-in-motion play to move the ball to the Yale 16, but Harvard go no closer. After an intentional grounding call on Cuccia and an illegal procedure penalty set up a fourth-and-23 situation. Villanueva punted into the end zone and Yale took over on its 20.

After Diana scampered ten yards up the left sideline, a late-hit penalty on Harvard and a 15-yard Rogan-to-Bob Burkitt pass moved the Elis deep into Crimson territory.

But this time the Harvard defense held. With time winding down, Fleming sacked Rogan for a five-yard loss to move the ball back to the 38--out of field goal range--and when Rogan overthrew Grieves near the end zone on fourth and 12, the gridders recovered the ball on downs. One play later time ran out with the score at the half 14-0.

Both teams opened the second half seeking to establish some kind of running attack after rushing for a total of 88 yards in the first stanza, but both were initially unsuccessful. After three Diana carries, Tony Jones punted to Rocky Delgadillo at midfield, but two Callinan attempts and a Callinan-to-Scott McCabe reverse were equally inefficient, and the gridders punted back four minutes into the half.

The teams traded punts again (Villanueva lofting a 51-yarder, his longest of the day), and when a Rogan pass intended for Tom Kokoska was broken up by Louis Varsames over the middle, Yale kicked and the Crimson took over on the 43.

This time Callinan found running room, ambling nine yards up the right side then picking up a first down up the middle. He tumbled to the Yale 41 off right tackle, but two plays later Eli noseguard Kevin Debasitis tipped a Cuccia pass high in the air. Eli linebacker Jay Snyder intercepted the ball near the sideline handing Harvard its fourth turnover of the afternoon. The Crimson line held again, and Jones drove Delgadillo back to its own 14 with a booming punt and a valiant effort on the return advanced it to the 17. Two Cuccia carries produced a quick first down, and the signal-caller juked--if anyone ever juked--for eight more yards before handing it to Callinan for another five.

But like every other Harvard drive, this one stalled when the Eli defense tightened. All-Ivy end Fred Leone burst through the Crimson line to dump Cuccia for an eight-yard loss, and after two unsuccessful quarterback-in-motion plays, Harvard punted again before time expired in the quarter.

Just 1:20 into the final stanza, Rogan hit Grieve with a 37-yard pass and the senior made a leaping overhead reception on the Harvard one. An illegal procedure penalty drove Yale back five yards, however, and Rogan's bullet to Grieve over the middle in the end zone was too hot to handle. But two plays later, Diana took a Rogan pitch, accelerated outside the Crimson pursuit and sprinted around right end for the touchdown. Jones capped the 49-yard, seven-play drive with the PAT and with 12:39 remaining in the game, Yale led 21-0.

Harvard then started throwing off the quarterback-in-motion, and Allard hit Dirk Killen for a first down to move the ball to the Crimson 31. He passed to Cuccia on the left sideline, but the pass was caught out of bounds. Then, Allard missed a connection with Paul Scheper along the opposite sideline when the senior fell down and watched the pass sail over his head. Allard then underthrew Cuccia on the left side, and Villanueva punted the ball away but could offer only a 17-yard effort.

An Eli touchdown would have put the game away (if that were a question), but the Crimson defense bought time by breaking up a pair of Rogan-to-Grieve bombs. With the ball on the Harvard 45 and Yale facing a fourth-and-12 situation, the ubiquitous Jones drove a low punt into the end zone and Harvard took over.

With a note of desperation in the are, Callinan struggled for four yards, but Allard threw low to Cuccia. On a third and four, Cuccia faked the quarterback-in-motion, took the snap from center and tried to sneak for the first down. His attempt failed, and Villanueva punted again, this time a bounder that settled on the Yale 42.

With Joe Dufek in at quarterback for Yale and the clock showing less than ten minutes, the Elis started to waste some time, keeping the ball on the ground before Jones punted with 8:43 remaining.

Forty-three seconds later, Harvard was in punt formation again, as three quarter-back-in-motion formation plays failed to gain a yard. Villanueva's effort pushed the ball inside the Yale 35, but even without Diana (who had retired to the sidelines earlier to the tune of a semi-standing ovation from the Yale side and silence from the other), the Elis continued to grind down the clock with the rush. Face with a fourth and four, Diana returned but couldn't gain the yardage, and Harvard took over just inside midfield with six minutes left.

Yale finished the scoring with just 1:29 left on a six-yard, Rogan-to-Grieve touchdown pass. With that reception, Grieve tied the Eli career record for receptions held by John Spagnola (88), as well as setting a new single season touchdown mark (12), Scheper caught the ensuing kickoff and returned it to the 25, and Cuccia romped 22 yards to bring the ball near midfield. Allard then raced all the way down to the four yard line, but the play was called back because of a Harvard clip.

Allard hit Cuccia with a 20-yard pass on the next play, and on the following sequence the Crimson seemed to spoil the Yale shutout. Allard hit Cuccia with a lateral pass on the right side, and the quarterback passed to Scheper who skidded into the end zone. But that play was nullified because of a forward lateral. Time ran out, and the shutout was saved.