Passing Away Quickly

Maybe nothing will come of Saturday's game. Maybe the Harvard football team won't profit from the experience they got while UMass earned its first victory of the season, 21-7, at the Stadium.

But there was a lot to learn, and, chances are, the Crimson will learn at least some of it.

The biggest lesson was the importance of a good start. With only nine starters returned from last season's squad, the gridders may have underestimated the importance of getting a jump out of the blocks.

"We just weren't up," Crimson Captain Joe Azelby said. "We were flat. I hope we learn from it."

Harvard got a single first down, then stalled, 3:32 later, UMass had scored, 4:38 later it was 14:0. Three plays later Crimson quarterback Chuck Colombo threw to Minuteman Troy Turner, who made the score 21-0 with over two minutes left in the first quarter.

"That's what happens when you come out flat," middle guard Bruno Perdoni said to summarize the catastrophe.

It happened as quickly as last week's slide by Columbia. In that game, Harvard's defense held on a fourth down play to end the Lions' first drive, and the Crimson offense promptly took the ball into the end zone.

This time, the Harvard offense stalled first.

"I don't know what it was," sophomore fullback Robert Santiago said after the game. "We went out there and didn't get a first down."

The Crimson eventually did get first downs, 19 of them, three more than the Minutemen managed. But lesson number two was that it's hard to come from behind.

"We were moving it. We just seemed to get stuck," running back Mark Vignali said. "It's hard to play catch-up against a good defense."

And if you're going to play catch-up, it helps to have a passing attack, something Harvard seems to be missing. This wasn't news to Coach Joe Restic, who said last week, "We must be able to pass more effectively. If we're going to win down the stretch, we have to improve our passing game."

John O'Brien, who caught nine of the 11 passes Harvard completed against Columbia, found tighter coverage Saturday. He still grabbed four of the Crimson's six completions. But all of the Harvard receivers dropped passes they should have caught, and both Colombo (five for 17) and replacement Brian White (one for three) missed open targets.

The Crimson did show something positive, something that should win a game or two later on. Though it was down three touchdowns for most of the game, the Crimson didn't fold.

Most teams start sitting when they fall behind, but the gridders kept crowding the sidelines. If this team ever gets a passing game, it'll be capable of winning some comeback thrillers.

Until then, though, the Harvard football team needs a respectable first quarter.