Gridders Up Against Big Red Machine

Throw the Columbia game out the window. Toss the last two massacres into bay. This week it's for real.

Following its opening day, training camp-like exercise against the forever-hapless Lions and back-to-back blankings at the hands of two nationally ranked, non-league superiors, the Harvard football team gets its first meaningful challenge of the 1986 campaign today.

Cornell (2-1 overall, 1-0 Ivies), which invades the Stadium this afternoon at 1 p.m. (in a game that will be televised by PBS as the network's Ivy League Game of the Week), boasts what is arguably the top defense in the Ivies and what is unquestionably one of the leading passers in the Ancient Eight.

Meanwhile, Harvard (1-2, 1-0) has not scored a point in nine quarters and will have to play without its number one quarterback for the second straight week.

With David Landau still nursing an injured shoulder, senior signal-caller Bill Koehler is likely to get the starting nod again from Crimson Coach Joe Restic.

Koehler was relatively impressive in last week's 24-0 loss at William & Mary, completing 11 of 20 passes in his first-ever collegiate start. Koehler's biggest problem today could be his lack of experience.

The Big Red, which knocked off Princeton by a 39-8 count in its only other Ivy action to this point, is led by senior quarterback Marty Stallone (42-for-74, 481 yards, five touchdowns, four interceptions). His favorite target is Jeff Johnson out of the backfield, while wide receivers Shaun Hawkins and Chris Hahn pose deep threats.

Stallone's numbers appear all the more impressive when stacked up against those of the Harvard QB's. Overall, Harvard quarterbacks have completed 29 of 61 passes for 315 yards, 11 interceptions, and zero touchdowns on the year.

Harvard leads the overall series with Cornell, 30-18-2, and has not lost to the Big Red in the last six meetings. But while the visitors from Ithaca have outscored their opponents 82-53--a difference of 29 points--in their three games to date, the Crimson has been outscored 65-34, a differential of minus-31.

The status of Crimson fullback Brian O'Neil (separated shoulder against Columbia) is still questionable, so the Harvard running attack will once again rely on Joe Pusateri (21 rushes for 90 yards and one touchdown) and George Sorbara (32-for-88 yards, two TDs).

Junior Dave Bunning (16 attempts, 82 yards) had a good outing against the Tribe last Saturday, racking up 47 yards on 10 carries, and he should see more playing time this afternoon.

The Crimson defensive line is looking to follow up its strong effort of a week ago, when four different players recorded sacks, and defensive tackle Jim Bell twice nailed Tribe ball-carries behind the line of scrimmage for losses.

Cornerback Don Heberle and linebacker Scott Collins (who leads all Crimson defenders in tackles) represent the heart and soul of the Harvard defensive unit, though, and strong efforts from both players will be needed for the gridders' to maintain their unblemished league mark.

Cornell's defense also is spearheaded by a pair of linbackers. Ward Johnson and Captain Tom Bernardo lead the Big Red in tackles with 39 and 29 respectively. The line and backfield are experienced, and cornerback Jim Frontero already has two interceptions on the year.

In last year's Harvard-Cornell battle in Ithaca, Rob Steinberg booted a 27-yd. field goal with nine seconds remaining to give the Crimson a 20-17 victory--the squad's third come-from-behind win in the first four weeks of the 1985 season.

With Steinberg lost to graduation, the placekicking spotlight shifts this year to the Big Red's Tom Aug, who tied the school record for field goals in a game last weekend against Lafayette. Aug connected from distances of 24,43, and a career-best 46 yards in Cornell's 33-22 loss.

Today's contest could well be decided by a field goal or less, so the experience of the Cornell defense and the recent success of Aug could play an especially important role.