Dartmouth Moves Closer to Ivy Title; Crimson Readying for Balanced Tigers

Mathematical elimination from the Ivy title race may still be a game or two, perhaps even three, away for Harvard's football team, but it became unmistakably clear Saturday that only a major catastrophe will prevent Dartmouth from earning the championship.

In contrast to the Harvard-Dartmouth game last week, the Indians got off to a slow start against Yale in New Haven, trailing, 7-0, then 14-7. Some spectators were probably even convinced that the Elis were on their way to a sure upset and another league title.

But then the Indians ran right over a rushing defense that was supposed to be one of the best in the nation. Yale had been allowing less than 100 yards each game on the ground, but Dartmouth proved to be a bit better than earlier opposition and gained 322 yards.

That statistic should be encouraging for Harvard. If Yale were indeed invulnerable to a rushing attack, as previous statistics had indicated, the Crimson would have even more reason for concern. Passing is not Harvard's strongpoint.

Worrying

The main item that should now worry the Crimson is Princeton. When Rutgers crushed the Tigers; 29-0, in late September, people tended to think that the Tigers weren't the contenders they were supposed to be. But now Princeton is 4-0 in the league, including a 42-0 win over Penn and a 33-6 thrashing of Brown the last two Saturdays.

In the past. Harvard has always busied itself the week before the Princeton game preparing for the single wing and the powerful running attack it featured. This fall, however, the Crimson will find Princeton less predictable, with a balanced offense.

In their last two games, the Tigers have gained as many yards passing as rushing, almost to the yard. Quarterback Scott MacBean has adapted nicely to the new pro-set T formation and is completing over 60 per cent of his passes. Harvard has appeared to be somewhat susceptible to a short passing attack, and if Princeton can exploit this situation, the Crimson could experience difficulties.

Cornell did not have one of its better days Saturday, winning by only seven points over Columbia. The most interesting part of that game was probably the continuing development of the Lions' running back, 152-pound John Sefcik. He gained 128 yards, only 22 yards short of Ed Marinaro's output Saturday.