Flubbidy-Dub-Dub

PRINCETON, N.J.--It wasn't raining here Saturday, but the football game looked like it was being played underwater.

Princeton won a ho-hum error-fest in the heart of New Jersey, slipping in two touchdowns among a downpour of fumbles, miscues and general ineptitude.

But the real story was a tragedy of errors.

Although the Crimson ran 25 more offensive plays than the Tigers, far too many of those plays were doomed at the start.

Harvard finished with six fumbles, three interceptions and four penalties. But it was quality, not quantity, that killed the Crimson--most of its miscues occurred at the worst possible time.

Fumbles set up both Princeton touchdowns. An apparent Harvard touchdown was called back because of a penalty. And several Crimson comeback quests were cut short by gridiron blunders.

Sophomore signalcaller Tom Yohe was given the starting call for Harvard, but he led the offense to a lackluster afternoon. "I just didn't get it done," said Yohe, who was suffering from a nagging groin injury.

Quarterback Dave Landau, who twice replaced Yohe during the contest, threatened to power the Crimson to a dramatic victory, but Landau-led drives were twice stopped by critical turnovers, including a fumble in Princeton territory in the fourth period.

The most frustrating turnover for Landau was a tipped-pass-pickoff on the Princeton 12-yard line late in the first half. "When deflections don't go your way, it's tough luck. But in a game like this, you've got to make your luck," a dejected Landau said.

The second half was less a tragedy of errors than a tedium of errors.

Both teams resorted to a pattern of stalemated screw-ups. "You clash, you bang, you come together, and then you settle in," Princeton Coach Ron Rogerson said afterwards. And once the Tiger defense settled, "it became a game of punts, turnovers, and penalties."

"It seemed like the ball was flipping up in the air all the time," Harvard Captain Scott Collins said. "There was a time when the ball was turned over every second play."

He's right. During two particularly excruciating minutes in the second half, the Ivy League foes strung together four fumbles in eight plays. This volleyball match came in the middle of a 23-play stretch when nearly half the plays were fumbles, interceptions, penalties or punts.

Mercifully, the game ended in time for the Red Sox' World Series victory, a flawlessly played masterpiece.

Oh no, wait a minute.