Tailbacks Get No Clemens-y

George Clemens wasn't surprised.

Holy Cross entered the Stadium Saturday with an 8-0 record, a 77-point performance the week before and a secondplace ranking nationally in Division I-AA. The Cross won its previous games by an average of 18 points and was favored over Harvard by two touchdowns and a safety.

"They hadn't played Harvard yet," Crimson Defensive Coordinator Clemens said after his players held the Crusaders to 10 points. "We have people come in here with stats all the time. We believe in what we're gonna do and we just go out and do it."

Nobody knows that better than Cross tailback Gil Fenerty. Against Columbia last week, Fenerty set six Holy Cross records, broke a New England record, tied three New England records and tied three Division I-AA records. All he had done was run 337 yards on just 18 carries.

Saturday he gained 60 yards.

"We have a history of taking tailbacks and sending them home with their tails between their legs," Clemens said. This isn't idle talk; Clemens has stopped Larry Csonka, Tony Dorsett, Floyd Little and Chuck Muncie.

In last year's The Game, Yale tailback Paul Andrie needed 45 yards to become the fourth runner in Eli history to gain 1000 yards in one season. Andrie sputtered to 21 yards on 17 carries. (Yes, he's back this year.)

"Coach Clemens has a thing about tailbacks," defensive end Morgan Rector said after Saturday's game. "No tailbacks ever run against us."

Fenerty ran much less than expected. A shot early in the third quarter knocked him out of the game with a bruised shoulder. The story continued as before, only the names were changed to protect the injured.

Sandy McMurty was the new tailback. It didn't make much difference. Holy Cross ran the same plays, and Harvard made the same tackles.

Tailbacks weren't the only targets of the Crimson's defensive wrath. On the first drive of the second half, Holy Cross worked its way to a third and two from the Harvard 28. Clemens had told his forces what to expect. Quarterback Peter Muldoon's sneak left the Cross with a fourth and one. Clemens crowded four tackles and two linebacks into the middle. Muldoon's second sneak lost a yard, and the Cross had been stopped.

"No one's stopped us on short yardage all year," Crusader's Coach Rick Carter said after the game, Harvard did.

"They always run a quarterback sneak on short yardage," tackle Barry Ford said. "We knew what was going to happen."

Clemens makes a habit of knowing what is going to happen. Last year Harvard upset the Crusaders, 24-17, and a tailback named Andy Clivio gained just 18 yards on 13 carries. "You could've shot a cannon through the stadium last year and you wouldn't have hit anyone who thought we'd win it," Clemens remembered.

Clemens wasn't surprised.