Red Raiders Invade Stadium Today

Last year the name Colgate was a hissing and a byword throughout the East Coast Athletic Conference as the Red Raiders terrorized opponents on their way to a 10-0 record before losing their last game of the season to the Delaware Blue Hens.

That was the best record in Colgate history but the team that spent last night at the Sheraton Yankee Drummer motel in Auburn, Ma. has a lot less to be cheerful about. With the graduation of crafty quarterback Bob Relph and leading rusher Henry White, Colgate is 0-3 this season.

Still, none of the Crimson gridders are expecting the New Yorkers to play the role of whipping boy today in Harvard Stadium. Harvard captain Steve Potysman says, "0 and 3 can be awful misleading. I think they're a damn good team. They run an offense where there is a lot of movement and misdirection and if you make a mistake you can get lost in the shuffle."

Coach Joe Restic provides the following thumbnail diagnosis of Colgate's woes to date: "They run the same type offense as last year but they just don't have the same type people. The thing that has plagued them more than anything else is turnovers."

The people Colgate does have are workhorse running backs Bruce Malverty and Jim Comforti and wide receiver and co-captain Dick Slenker, who grabbed 44 passes last year. The linch pin of the defense is linebacker and co-captain Doug Curtis.

Don't expect Harvard to play the same quick-hitting, gung-ho type defense that bottled up UMass last week. Colgate tends to camouflage its running plays with a rollout pass option attack directed by quarterback Alex Mancini, who is from Fonda, N.Y. "We need discipline on defense," Restic says, "we have to read and then not commit quickly and then find the football."

Bad blood

As for Harvard's offense, quarterback Larry Brown says "I'm sure you'll see a little of everything."

One thing at stake in today's game is professional pride. Restic and assistant coaches Bob Horan and George Clemens all at one time coached and Colgate and were neighbors in Hamilton.

Besides personal ties, there's a bit of mutual bad blood going into today's game. "We really want this one," says Potysman. "They were leading 38-21 last year and they still threw on us and tried to run up the score and no team appreciates that."