Time Runs Out on the Quakers......But Kick Flags Down Harvard, 23-21

PHIL ADELPHIA Penn placekicker Dave Shulman had hit only five of 10 field goal attempts going into Saturday a Ivy League championship match up at Franklin Field Bat in the end Penn 23-21 win hinged on Shulman's foot, and the Quaker kicker went three for three on field goal tries.

Or three for four depending on your point of view.

With just three seconds remaining in the game. Shulman came out for his third and longest attempt of the afternoon, a 38-yard try against the 21-mile-per-hour wind. The ball traveled just half the necessary distance.

The clock read 00; the scoreboard had Harvard winning, 21-20, and the Crimson squad was leaping and slapping hands in celebration of the team's first Ivy League championship since 1975.

And then, Shulman got the fourth shot that a lot of people thought he didn't deserve.

Saying that a Harvard player roughed the Penn placekicker on the unsuccessful attempt, referee Bob Lynch spotted the ball at the Harvard 11 and let Shulman aim for the uprights again.

This time, the Penn junior got off a 27-yard kick that sailed through the goalposts, securing for the Quakers at least a share of the Ivy League championship. Penn's first since 1959, as well as its first win over Harvard since 1972.

The Harvard coaches and players argued that Shulman was never hit, but the refs let the roughing penalty and the three-pointer stand.

"I got killed." Shulman said later. "I've never been so happy to get hit in my whole life."

The win ups the Quakers season record to 5-1 in the Ivies and 6-2 overall, while the Crimson falls to 4-2 in the league and 6-3 overall. Both Harvard and Dartmouth, also 4-2 by virtue of its 22-16 win over Brown Saturday, still have a chance to grab a share of the title if Cornell can upset Penn in Ithaca this weekend.

Although Harvard had a one-point lead when time officially ran out. Penn appeared to be on its way to a 20-0 rout with only 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Quakers owed much of their advantage to the Harvard offense, which fumbled the ball in its own territory twice in the first three quarters, setting up a Penn field goal and a ID.

The type of defense we play promotes turnovers. Penn center and team Co Captain Chris DiMaria said. To be honest I was surprised there weren't more turnovers with the wind the way it was."

In addition, the Crimson relinquished possession in the first quarter when a member of the Harvard line jumped off sides on a Quaker punt from midfield.

Given so many opportunities, the Penn offense moved the ball well against a normally unyielding Crimson defense. Tailback Steve Flacco rushed for 69 yards on the afternoon--more than any back has against Harvard since Dartmouth's Sean Maher had 77--and contributed 15 yards to a 54-yard Quaker TD drive that followed the offsides penalty.

"Their offense was a lot better than I expected." Crimson linebacker Joe Azelby said. "I thought their backs ran harder than any backs I've seen this year."

But Azelby and his defensive mates deserve credit for keeping the Crimson in the game. In the second quarter, the Quakers reached first and goal at the three, and after four straight running plays, the Harvard defense had stopped them cold at the one-yard line. In addition, Penn quarterback Gary Vura twice guided his team to a first down within the Harvard 12 and was forced to settle for a Shulman field goal each time.

And late in the second quarter, Crimson cornerback John Dailey hauled in a Vura pass, in the end zone for his seventh interception of the year and the team's 23rd, to tie a school mark set by the 1967 Harvard squad. The record fell in the third quarter, when Azelby picked off another errant Vura delivery at the goal line.

It wasn't until the final 10 minutes that the Multiflex did anything except cause trouble for the Crimson defense. But in those last minutes, the Harvard team staged perhaps the most dramatic Ivy League comeback effort since the 1968 squad tied Yale, 29-29 in The Game.

Capitalizing on Penn miscues similar to those Harvard had committed earlier, the Crimson scored three TDs within seven-and-a-half minutes to take a 21-20 lead with just 1:28 left to play.

After Bruno Perdoni recovered a Steve Rubin fumble at the Penn 27. Allard (11 complete in 21 attempts for 115 yards passing) drove his team to the three-yard line in four plays and then tossed the ball to tight end Peter Quartararo in the end zone for the Crimson's first TD.

A minute and 16 seconds later, adjuster Louis Varsames fell on a partially blocked Quaker punt at the Penn 43 to set up another quick scoring drive that ended with a four-yard Allard pass to wingback Steve Ernst.

The Quakers nearly halted Harvard's final drive. A seven-play series, featuring a spectacular one-handed catch by split end John O'Brien for a 24-yard gain, brought the Crimson to first and goal at the Penn two. But three plays later. Penn had moved Harvard back to the three.

On fourth down, Allard rolled right, taking fullback Mike Granger with him on the option Granger, who busted through Quaker tackles all afternoon for 92 yards on 15 carries, took the pitch from Allard and bulled his way into the end zone to tie the game. Jim Villanueva's extra point made it 21-20, Harvard.

"It was something to be proud of," Harvard team Captain Greg Brown said later of the comeback. "We played like champions."