There's a Meaning in Here Somewhere

Harvard senior quarterback Brian White completed eight passes in Saturday's 25-17 come-from-behind victory over Brown.

And each of them was caught by a different receiver, marking the first time in more than three years that eight Crimson pass catchers caught a pass in a single game.

Not since Ron Cuccia, Don Allard and Jack Riordan combined to complete 14 passes to eight different receivers in a 27-16 victory over Columbia on September 18, 1982 had so many Crimson gridders hauled in a pass.

Split ends Mike Madden, Joe Connolly and Chuck Shirey all tallied the first receptions of their Harvard careers in the game, and tight end Jim Morris registered his first touchdown catch in the Crimson's come-from-behind effort.

But Harvard split ends continue to be stymied in their attempt to find the end zone.

A Harvard wide out has not caught a touchdown pass since October 2, 1982, 33 games ago.

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If a Harvard wide receiver does find his way to the end zone this season, it's a pretty safe bet he won't do so in the first half.

Of the Crimson's 141 points, only 32--or 22.7 percent of its total points--have come in the opening 30 minutes of each game.

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But don't be fooled by the Crimson's second-half comeback ability.

Harvard's come-from-behind win Saturday in Providence, R.I. marked the first time in exactly two years that the Crimson entered the final quarter trailing and came out with a win.

Not since Brown took a 7-0 lead into the fourth quarter two years ago last Saturday, and Harvard emerged with a last-minute 17-10 victory, had the Crimson fought back so valiantly.

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All of which makes one wonder: if eight Harvard pass catchers caught one pass apiece in the fourth quarter, with the Crimson trailing, would Harvard win?

Just wondering.

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By the way, what ever happened to junior Terry Denson?

The Webster, N.Y. native served notice last month that he might be a force to reckon with, when he hauled in a 60-yd. touchdown pass that proved the difference in Harvard's 10-3 win over UMass.

Since then, the junior wing back hasn't caught a thing.

And what about Mike McConnell, who picked up 17 yards on five carries in the Crimson's first game of the year but who hasn't been seen since?

Just wondering again.

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From the not that it matters, but file: Harvard (5-2 overall, 4-1 Ivy) is 1-1 in non-Ivy games this year, and will close out its non-league schedule Saturday at Holy Cross.

If Harvard wins, it will mark the first time since 1973 that the Crimson has compiled a winning mark against non-league opponents in a year ending with an odd number.

If Harvard loses, it will mark the first time in the Joe Restic era that the Crimson has suffered back-to-back losing campaigns against non-Ivy foes.

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Holy Cross will enter Saturday's showdown at Fitton Field with a 3-4-1 record. Harvard leads the series between the two clubs, 25-12-2.

The series started with a 28-5 Crimson win in 1904, and Harvard went on to win the first nine games before a 7-6 Crusader victory in 1925.

The teams have played each of the last five years and have each won two games. Holy Cross won last year after a 10-10 tie in 1983. The last Harvard win was a 24-17 win in 1982 in the only game the Crimson has ever played at Fitton Field.

Neither team has won by more than 14 points in the last 13 games dating back to 1960. The average margin of victory in that period has been 8.4 points.

As far as shutouts are concerned, the last series shutout by Harvard occurred in 1969, 13-0. Holy Cross's last shutout came 50 years ago by the same 13-0 score.

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From this week's trivia file comes the following: in 1968, Harvard faced Yale in The Game that featured two unbeaten Ivy squads. But it almost wasn't so.

Harvard had to score 15 points in the final quarter against Holy Cross to take a 27-20 decision in the season opener. The hero of that game was the same man who would be replaced by Frank Champi against Yale.

Name him.

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From the not that it matters, but file part II: of the eight times since 1952 that Harvard has opened its season 5-2, it has gone on to win the eighth game of the season seven times.

The only time it dropped the eighth game in that scenario was last year, when the Crimson fell at Penn, 38-7.

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There's a meaning in here somewhere: in the last three years, Harvard and Holy Cross have a 1-1-1 record against each other.

What's more, the Crusaders this year are 1-1-1 against the three teams common to Harvard's 1985 schedule.

And finally, Holy Cross is 1-1-1 this season against Ivy opponents. It beat Dartmouth, lost to Yale and tied Brown.

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Fans at last Saturday's Penn-Princeton showdown were witness to one of the most bizarre plays in recent Ivy history.

With just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Tigers on their way to what would have been the biggest upset in the Ivy League this year, Princeton punter Rob DiGiacomo sent a booming kick deep into Tiger territory.

Quaker Chris Flynn signaled for a fair catch, but let the ball bounce instead. A Princeton player subsequently tried to down the ball, touched it, but failed to control it. As Princeton players trudged off the field--thinking the ball had been downed--the pigskin continued to bounce freely.

Flynn, meanwhile, picked up the loose ball and raced 79 yards untouched for a touchdown that knotted the score at 21-21 and propelled Penn to an eventual 31-21 win.

The officials immediately called back the touchdown. But after a five second conference, they signaled a score.

Ruling that a ball must be controlled to be considered down, and ruling that once a ball is touched the fair call signal is nullified, the officials correctly allowed the touchdown.

All of which is a perfect example of the heads-up play that has propelled Penn to three straight Ivy League crowns and which has made them a favorite to wrest their fourth straight.

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The Quakers are all alone in first place in the Ancient Eight, holders of a 5-0 mark.

Only Penn, Harvard, Yale and Princeton--the top four teams in the league--are still in contention for the 1985 title, though it would take a minor miracle for either the Bulldogs or the Tigers to wrest the crown.

If Penn beats or ties Harvard in two weeks, it will assure itself of at least a tie for a record fourth crown.

For Harvard even to share the crown, it will have to defeat the Quakers in the Stadium in two weeks.

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In the record book watch, White has moved into fourth place on the all-time Harvard pass yardage list with 1941 yards. He bypassed Don Allard '83, and needs 157 yards to pass Jim Stoekel '74 for third place.

White has 2260 yards total offense and needs 12 yards to move into fifth place in career total offense and 91 yards to take fourth place.

Senior kicker Rob Steinberg, meanwhile, has moved into fifth place on the all-time kick-scoring list with 81 points.

He needs eight points to pass Mike Lynch '77 for fourth place.

And finally, senior fullback Robert Santiago needs 233 yards to become the fifth leading rusher in Crimson hsitory and 245 yards to become the fourth leading rusher.

He needs 256 yards to join White among the top five all-time on the total offense list.

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Funny line of the week came from Harvard Coach Joe Restic, who said after Saturday's 25-17 win at Brown that there was absolutely "no question" Chris Ingerslev's field goal attempt with 5:09 remaining to play was no good.

The officials ruled that the Bruin kicker's attempt--which hit the uprights and bounced off--was wide. That set off a furious protest from the entire Bruin squad, and raised the eyebrows of almost everyone in the stadium.

Except, of course, for Joe Restic.

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Answer to this week's trivia question: Frank Champi replaced George Lalich--who threw for a touchdown and a conversion and ran for another touchdown to spark the victory over Holy Cross--in The Game.

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THE NOTEBOOK'S NOTEBOOK: Harvard has won all three of its games that started at 1 p.m. It is 2-2 in games that started at 1:30 p.m...Three season-ending victories would give Harvard eight victories in one season for the first time since the Ivy championship season of 1968...The Crimson has not won the eighth game of the season in each of the last two seasons...Harvard is 3-0 against the teams Holy Cross is 1-1-1 against this year...The Crimson has converted 40 of 113 third down conversion attempts for a 35.4 percentage...Harvard will face its first 1000-yd. rusher of the season Saturday in Crusader Gill Fenerty...Santiago scored two rushing touchdowns Saturday. That was the first time since the season opener at Columbia last season that he had pulled that feat...Brent Wilkinson recorded his second career interception Saturday, and his first since that same Columbia game last year.

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THE PICKS: Harvard over Holy Cross, William & Mary over Princeton, Penn over Colgate, Richmond over Brown, Dartmouth over Columbia, Yale over Cornell. Last Week: 4-0. Season to Date: 30-7.

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The Football Notebook Appears Every Tuesday in The Harvard Crimson.