It's Another Must-Win for Big Red As High-Flying Crimson Visits Cornell

Spotted recently in the Yard: a relic from Harvard football's not-so-distant past--a simple white t-shirt, with "We Owe Cornell" printed in red letters on the front.

And what does that cryptic phrase signify? Presumably, the athletic-looking fellow wearing it must either have inherited the valuable garment or have taken a leave of absence; for the explanation, let's go back to one of the Crimson's most miserable Saturdays, October 13, 1979.

In the midst of what will be Harvard's worst season in 10 years, the Crimson journeys to Ithaca, N.Y., only to be pummelled--embarassingly. The visitors start with their third-string quarterback (the top two are already injured) and, when he falls in battle, finish with number four.

With 9000 Cornellians shouting "Good-bye, Harvard" and the score already 34-14, Cornell's own third-stringer pours salt in the Crimson wounds with a 79-yard touchdown pass in the final minute.

"I've never been through this in my life and I've been coaching for 20 years," Harvard Coach Joe Restic says after the gory conclusion of the 41-14 debacle.

Now you can understand why most of the 1980 football team constantly wore that t-shirt, until they had a chance at revenge. And sure enough, Harvard has had its vengeance in the three years since: 20-12, 27-10 and 25-13.

By now, hardly anyone thinks those old grudges will enhance the intensity of today's contest at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field, except perhaps the guy with the old t-shirt, or maybe Big Red Coach Maxie Baughan. Baughan, in his first year as a college coach, has taken a strong liking to ancient Ivy League traditions. "Cornell and Harvard have a super rivalry," he says, "and I'm certain that this game will have the fans on the edge of their seats."

No Bozos

Well, while not to denigrate Baughan's abilities--he was a very successful defensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions last year--his football team is just too awful to reheat the old rivalry today. So far, the Big Red looks like the clear favorite to finish last in the Ivies.

Cornell started off with a 28-7 loss at Penn, moved on to a 60-7 drubbing at the hands of Colgate, and last week fell to Cincinnati, 48-20. Halfback Derrick Harmon, Cornell's only real star, has been solid (242 yards on 55 carries and 19 receptions for 149 yards), but he has to be outstanding for his team to go places. And so far, this squad has gone no place.

So long as the running game fails to carry the Big Red through, quarterback Shawn Maguire will continue going to the air; so far, he has 40 completions in 74 attempts with three interceptions.

To make things worse for Cornell, the Crimson will field a once-again healthy defense, with linemen Barry Ford and Bruno Perdoni, linebackers Joe Azelby and Andy Nolan, and cornerback Brian Bergstrom all back from injuries that kept them sidelined last week.

Harvard, 2-1 after three weeks of the season, has only two big worries going into the game. One is playing on artificial turf, found in the Ivies only at Schoelikopf and Penn's Franklin Field. "It's going to be new to us," says Restic. "The cutting, the starting and stopping is all affected by that. We come out of there with possibly more injuries than anywhere else."

Astroturf is Immoral

One Crimson player in particular who might worry about playing on the fake stuff is center John Francis, who's listed as a probable starter despite a knee injury in last week's win over Army.

The other potential danger for Harvard is the ever-present risk of letting up after a tough victory such as last week's come-from-behind performance against Army. That's combined with Cornell's desperate situation: this is virtually a must-win game for the home team if it hopes to play a part in the Ivy race this year.

It doesn't seem likely, though. The oddsmakers see the Crimson as almost two touchdowns better than Cornell today. Others, like the guy with the old-t-shirt, may have more lopsided scores in mind--41-14, perhaps.

THE NOTEBOOK: Chuck Colombo, who will start again as the Crimson QB, is 24-for-48 with four interceptions in three games.... Mark Vignali, Harvard's leading rusher, has 347 yards so far.... In fairness to Cornell, it did score 20 points off a team that beat Penn St. (Cincinnati), a respectable achievement even with the terrible year the Nittany Lions are having... Brown is the only team that has solved the problem of preparing for away games on artificial turf. It built a full-size artificial turf practice field on top of its main gymnasium.