Harvard First in Defense; Offense Plunges to Third

Too bad, fans, but 21 points a game just isn't enough to stay on top of the national total offense charts. So Harvard has plunged way down to third this week behind UCLA and Notre Dame.

But it's really not so terrible. We're now first in defense.

The Crimson is miles ahead of anybody in rushing offense, too, with 333 yards per game. Tulane is second with 263.8. Guess who's third. That's right--Dartmouth with 256.5.

Dartmouth has done pretty well in other areas too. The Greenmen are 11th in total offense, and they have the 18th best punter in the nation, Tom Pyles.

Harvard has let up the least number of points per game--3.5, up from fourth last week. The Crimson ranks fourth in average yards allowed per game (169.8), up from sixth. Less than half of that distance (82.3 yards) was on passes, and the boys are seventh (15th last week) in that department.

Crimson Goes Down

UCLA banged out 49 points last Saturday and Notre Dame piled up 32 against weakling North Carolina. So Harvard--the only high-ranking team with a tough game--got pushed down. The Crimson dropped from first to fourth in points scored. The average is now 32.5 points a contest. UCLA leads with 37.6.

In individual statistics, Harvard runners aren't so high up as you might think. Bobby Leo's 384 yards in four games is only good for 21st place this week. His running mate Vic Gatto is 24th, 12 yards behind. Leo was 11th last week.

Even more surprising that the low standing of Crimson runners is the high standing of a Cornell runner--Pete Larson--remember him. Larson was thoroughly throttled by the Harvard defense. He only gained 39 yards in 13 carries. But this week the Big Red halfback only dropped a notch, from fifth in the nation to sixth.

Leo, Gatto, and Larson have only played four games while everyone else on the total yardage list has played five.

Other Ivy League players are doing well in the national standings, too. Cabot Knowlton of Penn (the next Crimson opponent after Dartmouth) is tied for first in the country in total points scored.

Knowlton Ties For Lead

Knowlton is in pretty fast company too. He's tied with Perry Williams of Purdue for the lead with 54, and he's leading such big shots as Gary Beban and Mel Farr of UCLA (third and fourth), Floyd Little of Syracuse (fifth), and Lenny Snow of Georgia Tech (seventh).

Knowlton is also eighth in the nation in individual rushing.

Doug James of Princeton (two weeks from Saturday) is leading the country in punt returns. James has run back 10 kicks for 268 yards.

In team statistics, Penn is ninth in total offense, 11th in pass offense, and 11th in scoring. Yale is fourth in rushing defense with only 56 yards allowed per game.

The Ivy League is looking pretty classy in its old age.