Gridders Seek Revenge After Last Year's Dispute

There are, in fact, reasons to care about this afternoon's football game that have nothing to do with the field goal, the penalty or the score of 23-21.

A win today at the Stadium would pull Harvard (3-1-1 in the Ivies, 4-2-2 overall) into a tie with Penn (4-0-1 and 5-2-1). And if Brown should pull an upset at Dartmouth today, that would be a first-place tie, among the three co-champions from last year.

And, of course, if that weren't enough incentive for the Crimson, it's had a year to mull over Dave Shulman's second-chance field goal with no time showing on the clock that ultimately cost Harvard its first undisputed Ivy title since 1975.

The infamous Mr. Shulman, now a senior, will be on hand today--though it may give the home team some satisfaction to know that he's had a horrible season so far. He has connected on only two of his nine field goal attempts this year, missing three in Penn's 24-24 tie with Brown.

Other Quakers have a better chance of denying Harvard its revenge.

Last year, Penn was the only team to score 20 points against the Crimson: this year, a local hero, junior John McGeehan, has quarterbacked another powerful Quaker attack. Penn has scored at least four touchdowns in half its games this year.

Philadelphia Story

The Philadelphian has an impressive receiver corps to work with. Tight end Lal Heneghan has 17 catches and fullback Chuck Nolan 10. Senior split end Karl Hall specializes in the bomb. He has only nine receptions this fall, but he scored touchdowns on four of them and averages 27.2 yards per catch. McGeehan's favorite target, however, may not play: wide receiver Rich Syrek suffered a knee injury two weeks ago, missed last Saturday's game and is questionable for today.

McGeehan has no clear favorite when it comes to handing the ball off. The Quaker rushing game is well-balanced, with Stan Koss and Steve Ortman--juniors alternating at tailback--and Nolan each averaging four yards per carry.

But the defense Penn faces will be perhaps the toughest it sees all year. A week ago it brought a Holy Cross attack down from a 77-point performance the previous Saturday to a 10-10 tie. Harvard sacked the Crusader QB four times. Linebacker Andy Nolan, fully recovered from his pre-season thigh injury, had 10 tackles: though cornerback John Dailey was still out with a knee injury, his replacement, Ken Tarczy, had 10 tackles of his own. The defense has been strongest against the run, allowing 130.5 yards per game.

If the Quakers find the secret to the Crimson defense, as they did last year, they can put Harvard out of the Ivy race, turning next week's Dartmouth-at-Penn showdown into the league championship game.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard Placekicker Bob Steinberg will substitute for Jim Villanueva, who injured himself on a fake field goal last week... The star of the Penn secondary is second-team all-Ivy cornerback Tim Chambers...Harvard safety Mike Dixon matches Chambers's interception total with three... Yellow flags have favored Penn this year, costing its opponents 105 more yards than it took from the Quakers. Harvard has lost 101 more yards to penalties than its opponents.