Bruno Returns to Town, Faces Gridders Today

The last time Brown beat Harvard in football, you were probably in high school

But you might have been in junior high Where were you in 1979?

The Bruins were in Providence, recording a 23-14 victory over the Crimson And John Rosenberg '67 was in State College, Pa., coaching at Penn State.

Today, Rosenberg returns to Cambridge at the helm of the Brown football team (3-3 overall, 3-1 Ivy), but don't expect the visitors--or their coach--to get a particularly warm reception from the Cantabs (4-2, 4-0 Ivy).

"This game is really, really important," says senior Harvard Captain Steve Abbott in what may just be the understatement of the year.

Rosenberg concurs, playing down his return not just to his alma mater but his home. "I really don't have many strong feelings about the return to Harvard as the place," says the Newton native. "My sense of homecoming is more oriented toward the people than the place.

"We've got a very important football game to play."

You can say that again, Coach. It's a must-win situation for both squads--the Bruins are looking just to stay in the race for the Ivy title, while the Crimson's aiming to hang onto its tie for first place in the league.

"They've been at bit inconsistent," Abbott says of the visitors, "but when they've been good, they've been real good."

But they won't have to be that good for that much longer--Brown's next two opponents are winless Dartmouth and winless Columbia.

So a Bruin win today could be the start of a legitimate run at the 1984 Ancient Eight crown.

Harvard, as a result, isn't even thinking much about next week's showdown against league-leading Penn.

"It's a week at a time," says senior offensive guard Ben Thio.

The Crimson will be looking for its third consecutive victory, and senior running back Mark Vignali for his third straight 170-yd.-plus rushing game.

The Bruin defense has been less than stingy, giving up 38 points last week to Holy Cross, a team the Crimson kept to 24. That bodes well for Vignali and junior fullback Robert Santiago, who leads Harvard in rushing with 633 yards on 102 carries.

And when junior signal-caller Brian White takes to the air--which may be more often today than of late, given the fact Brown has put up well against the run this year and the fact that this year's opponents have averaged 244 pasing yards a game--look for Santiago and Abbott on the receiving end.

Opening up the ground for all the fancy footwork is Harvard's highly touted offensive line, where Thio returns from a knee injury that's had him sidelined for three weeks. With that reintroduction, Harvard is miraculously healthy two-deep.

But that's not putting the Cantabs in a careless frame of mind, at least judging by Abbott's attitude. "We're certainly not looking by them, which is definitely what you'd be afraid of with Penn coming up," he says.

There'll certainly be enough to be afraid of on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Junior quarterback Steve Kettleberger runs (71 carries for 315 yards and three touchdowns) as well as he passes (78 of 145 for 992 yards and seven interceptions), and does so a lot more often than Harvard is used to.

And worst of all, at least for the Crimson, will be the return of free safety Keiron Bigby, injured two weeks ago. "He's a great athlete," Rosenberg warns. "If he gets his hands on the football, if he can intercept a pass, you don't know what's going to happen."

Bigby has averaged 72 yards on interceptions in the five contests he's played in, and against Yale, returned two interceptions for TDs. Elsewhere on defense junior linebacker Pat McCormack has racked up 52 tackles in his six contests.

But what it comes down to, for both squads, is one very important fotball game. "It's a must game for us in terms of the Ivy title race," Rosenberg says. "And then we turn around next week and root for you guys."