Army Deadly on Ground Despite Lack of Air Force

In last year's 27 13 win over Harvard. Army halfback Gerald Walker put on a performance that invited comparison with the exploits of a certain Georgia running back with the same surname.

Rushing for 153 yards. Walker scored twice to help his teammates avenge a shocking 15-10 upset Harvard had dealt the Cadets in the fall of 1980

By the end of the season, the junior halfback had totalled 1,056 yards rushing and had made very clear that in 1982 the Army offense would revolve around Gerald Walker.

And for a while it did

Walker opened the season with a 90 said rushing effort in the Cadets 23 10 loss to Missouri And on the following weekend, he carried the ball 57 yards in the first halt of a 26 20 win over Lafayette But in that game. Walker injured his shoulder and went to the sidelines after only 30 minutes of play

After sitting out his team's humiliating 62 8 defeat to North Carolina last week. Walker has mended and is scheduled to play in today's match-up with Harvard at Michie Stadium However, it remains to be seen whether he can repeat last year's success against a Crimson defense that kept UMass All-American Garry Pearson under control and out of the endzono last Saturday

Unfortunately for Harvard, the Army rushing attack does not end with Walker. Junior halfback Andre Cuerington ran for 110 yards against Lafayette, and fullback Art Zarone has picked up 72 yards on 16 carries. Even starting quarterback Nate Sassaman has collected substantial yardage on the ground. going 62 yards on 16 carries. In addition, last year's starting fullback Warren Waldorff has recovered from an ankle injury and is expected to reclaim his position this afternoon.

With such a large group of potential ball carriers. Sassaman seldom puts the ball up. Although he has earned the starting job. Sassaman is only a sophomore, and when the situation calls for successive passing plays. Army Coach Ed Cavanaugh usually sends in either junior Rich Laughlin or classmate Bryan Allem.

As a group, the three QBs have hit just 32 of 66 passes for only 353 yards and two TDs in three contests, and an array of injuries will keep most of the Cadets first string receivers cut of today's game further curtailing the aerial drives

Meanwhile, Harvard enters the game with a squad that sustained some heavy hitting in the UMass game and yet emerged without a serious injury

Ron Cuccia is still ailing from an injury suffered in the opener with Columbia--but Donnie Allard Secured the starting position with his record breaking 358 yard showing against UMass

Cuccia's injury, once thought to be a hippointer or bruised rib in fact a fractured rib. which may keep him out of this afternoon's has altogether It so Harvard Coach Joe Restic will have Crimson's single game passing record holder directing the multiflex for the entirely

Allard may not be able to guide the Crimson through five-play 80-yard drives as he did against the Minutemen, but the Army defense has proved somewhat porous in its three earlier outings UNC rushed for 421 yards against the Cadets, not a shocking statistic given the match-up, unless you consider that Tar Heel running back and Heisman candidate Kelvin Bryant didn't play a single down when Army visited Chapel Hill. Still, Crimson halfbacks Tim McGugan--today's starter--and Scott McCabe should be aware that the Cadets held Lafayette to 46 yards on the ground, when they look for the holes the UNC backs found last weekend.

If McGugan and McCabe have as much trouble as they did with UMass last week. Allard need only equal the average passing yardage of Army opponent--224 per game, one figure the Tar Heels (229) did not pad--to amass substantial totals.

THE NOTEBOOK: Apparently, the unruly Harvard band offended some of the higher-ups at the Academy during its 1980 halftime performance. Today, only the Army band will take the field: the Crimson marchers were not invited to return...After playing before crowds of 8500 and 12,500 at Harvard Stadium, the Crimson will be surrounded by an estimated gathering of 40,000 at Michie...Allard is currently ranked first in the nation in Division I-AA passing efficiency with 23 completions in 38 attempts, two IN and four TDs.