No More Wally Rutecki

Say goodbye to Wally Rutecki.

And say hello to LaMont Greer and Joe Connolly.

Because Greer and Connolly Saturday became the first Harvard split ends in 33 games to catch a touchdown pass.

Not since Rutecki scored on a 25-yd. toss from Don Allard on Oct. 17, 1982 had a Crimson wide receiver hauled in a scoring pass.

But Saturday at Fitton Field in Worcester, with 2:34 remaining to play, Greer ended one of the most baffling streaks in Harvard history by snagging a 27-yd. scoring strike.

Then, just 28 seconds later, Connolly doubled the number of times a Crimson split end had found the end zone in the last three years.

All of which led Greer and Connolly to say in unison in the lockerroom after the game, "No more Wally Rutecki."

* * *

The touchdown receptions of Greer and Connolly keyed the biggest fourth quarter comeback victory in Harvard history.

With 10:33 remaining to play Saturday, Holy Cross added a 27-yd. field goal that put the Crusaders on top, 20-7.

But that only set the stage for Harvard's biggest comeback in 112 years of gridiron play.

Never before had the Crimson--which came away with a 28-20 victory--trailed by as many in the fourth quarter and come back to win. In fact, no other Crimson team had trailed by as many as 10 points entering the fourth quarter and still come away with a win.

The biggest previous Harvard comeback took place in 1954, when the Crimson overcame a nine-point deficit in the final period to sneak by Yale, 13-9.

What's more, Harvard's shocking victory Saturday marked the 16th time since 1924 that the Crimson had rallied to win after entering the fourth quarter on the short end of the score.

* * *

Harvard will meet Jerry Berndt's Penn squad--the Ivy Team of the '80s--at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Stadium in the most important game of the season for both squads.

The Quakers--who need only win one of their final two games to snag a share of their fourth straight Ivy title--will tote a 6-1-1 overall mark and 5-0 Ivy record into the showdown at the summit, which will be televised on Channel 44 as the Ivy Game of the Week.

A Penn victory would give them sole possession of the crown for the second straight year. It would mark the first time this decade that a school has won outright back-to-back titles. Yale--the Team of the '70s--was the last to do it, in both 1979 and 1980.

Harvard (6-2 overall, 4-1 Ivy) must win Saturday, and then at least match Penn's performance against Dartmouth on the final weekend to at least share the title.

The Crimson can win the crown outright only if it wins Saturday, wins The Game the following weekend, and Penn ties or loses at home to Dartmouth.

To do that, though, Harvard this weekend will have to upset a Penn team that hasn't lost a Division 1-AA game in 17 outings and hasn't lost an Ivy game in 13 outings.

Interestingly, the last time Penn lost either a Division 1-AA or Ivy game was exactly two years ago this Saturday. The opponent was Harvard and the site was the Stadium.

That was also the last time Penn--17-1-1 in the Ivy League in the last three years--failed to score a point.

* * *

The Crimson has a 2-2 record against Jerry Berndt-coached Penn teams. Harvard is the only Ivy school that does not have a losing record against the Quakers since Berndt took over.

* * *

Five reasons why Harvard will beat Penn:

*The Crimson is 3-0 this season in games that start at 1 p.m.

*The Crimson is 2-0 this season in games that have been televised.

*The Crimson hasn't lost at home against the Quakers since 1972.

*The Crimson, which earlier this season lost to Princeton in the Stadium, hasn't lost more than one Ivy game at home in a single season since 1979.

*The Crimson, which took a 38-7 drubbing at the hands of Penn a year ago, hasn't lost two straight to the Quakers since the 1941-42 seasons.

* * *

One reason why Penn will beat Harvard:

*Jerry Berndt.

* * *

By the way, Princeton is the only other team in the running for the 1985 Ivy title. But it would take a miracle for the Tigers to cop the crown.

To do so, Princeton would have to win its final two, Penn would have to lose its final two, and Harvard would have to beat Penn and lose to Yale.

* * *

At 6-2 overall and 4-1 Ivy, Harvard has a shot to post its best overall record since the Ivy title season of 1968 and its best Ivy mark since the 1975 season, when Harvard won its only outright league crown.

Two season-ending wins would give the Crimson its first-eight-win season since John Yovicsin's 1968 troops went 8-0-1. They also would give the Crimson its first six-win Ivy campaign since Restic's championship year of 1975.

Keep in mind, though, that a Joe Restic-coached Harvard squad has never won its last three games of the season. The last time the Crimson won its final three was 1970, when Yoviscin's squad finished 7-2.

* * *

Anyone who thinks the split end reverse and the halfback option are trick plays in the Harvard playbook is crazy.

Heck, they're mainstays.

The Crimson has used both the split end reverse and the halfback option seven times each this season.

That's an average of almost once a game for each. That's not tricky. That's silly.

What's more, the Crimson reportedly is practicing the next logical alternative: a combination of those two plays, a split end reverse option pass.

* * *

If there's a trademark of this year's Harvard football team, it's that the offense doesn't show up for the first three quarters.

Four times this season, Harvard has pulled out a victory in the fourth quarter.

Of its 169 points, the Crimson--which has scored less than one-fourth of its points in the first half--has scored 80 of them in the final period.

That's almost half of its total, and that's causing plenty of ulcers on the Crimson sideline. And in the stands.

* * *

Pleasant Surprise Player of the Year honor goes to right cornerback Lee Oldenburg.

The senior is tied for the team lead with five interceptions, and his fourth quarter tackle of Holy Cross running back Gill Fenerty that saved at touchdown and made the Cross settle for its final field goal might just have been the biggest play of the game.

If it wasn't his return for a touchdown of Dave Wiley's pass after Connolly's go-ahead score might very well have been.

* * *

Checking the Saint's File, senior fullback Robert Santiago is about to rewrite the Harvard record book.

His 185-yd. performance Saturday at Holy Cross marked the fifth best rushing day in Harvard history.

Santiago is now only the third player in Crimson history to appear twice on the Top 10 one-game rushing list. His 204-yd. effort last fall at Columbia put him in second place on the list.

The Saint--with 1659 career rushing yards--now needs 49 yards to crack fifth place on the Crimson's all-time career rushing list and 61 yards to hit fourth place.

He needs 21 yards to crack the Top 10 on the single-season rushing list and needs 104 yards to climb all the way to fifth place.

When he adds his name to that list, Santiago--whose 822 yards a year ago put him in fourth place on the list--will become only the second player in history to appear on it twice. The legendary Vic Gatto--who is currently on there three times but who will be bumped out by Santiago--is the other.

What's more, the Texas native needs six receptions to crack ninth place on the single-season receiving list. If he does that, he'll become the first running back to appear on the list.

Finally, the Saint has established himself as the first triple threat in recent Crimson history. His running and catching abilities have long been known, but his throwing abilities only came to light with his game-winning toss Saturday at the Cross.

However, Santiago's career passing statistics still read like a nightmare. The Saint has completed five of nine passes. Unfortunately, three of them have landed in the hands of Harvard opponents.

* * *

Like Santiago, senior quarterback Brian White is assaulting the Harvard record book.

With 2087 career passing yards, White needs just 10 yards to take third place on the career pass yardage list and 131 yards to take second place.

By the way, the Mass, native is now in fourth place on the career total offense list--which, includes passing and rushing yards--with 2436 yards.

* * *

Funny line of the week comes from Columbia Coach Jim Garrett, who said after his squad fell to Dartmouth Saturday for its 66th loss in its last 71 games that, "I really believe we don't lose. We just don't win."

That's for sure.

* * *

THE NOTEBOOK'S NOTEBOOK: 1982 marked the only time Harvard has beaten Holy Cross and then played Penn the following weekend. The Quakers won that year, 23-21....The Crimson leads the Penn series, 35-18-2...In the past 15 contests between Harvard and Penn, the winning team has scored at least 21 points 13 times...Since the turn of the century, Harvard is 3-3 in games against the Quakers decided by less than seven points...If Penn wins its will set a league record with 14 straight Ivy wins...White's percentage completion this year is still a lowly 444...Santiago's 75-yd. dash Saturday at the Cross was the longest run of his career...Greer's and Connolly's touchdown catches were the first of their careers...Harvard has picked up the ball via turnovers 12 more times than it has given it away...Through eight games, Harvard has picked up four more total yards than its opponents...Despite its 6-2 mark, Harvard's opponents have picked up eight more first downs than the Crimson...Harvard is the only Ivy team with a winning non-league record this year...With two games to go, Harvard has three more interceptions this year than it had all of last year...Oldenburg and Cecil Cox each has five interceptions, marking the first time since 1982 that two Harvard players have reached that total in the same season...Injured halfback Rufus Jones resumed practicing yesterday...This is only the second time in history that Penn has been 5-0 in the Ivies. The other time was last year.

* * *

THE PICKS: Harvard over Penn, Cornell over Columbia, Princeton over Yale, Brown over Dartmouth. Last Week: 4-1. Season to Date: 33-7.

The Football Notebook Appears Tuesdays in The Harvard Crimson. Except this week. And two weeks ago.