The 400-Foot Linebacker

For almost any other Harvard sporting event, 1250 fans would be a large if not astounding crowd. But for the Crimson football team, 1250 may be a historical low.

One thousand, two hundred and fifty was the official tally at last Saturday's Stadium tilt between Harvard and Massachusetts--and a generous estimate at best. The combination of a steady downpour, a late-season non-conference game and a slumping Crimson squad (2-6 overall after falling to the Minutemen, 17-7) kept fans away in droves.

Official attendance records only exist for the past 25 years of Harvard football. And during those 25 years, last weekend's crowd was, by far, the smallest single gathering to watch the Crimson gridders.

Since 1962, the previous smallest home crowds recorded were 6000 (vs. Cornell in 1978), 6500 (vs. William & Mary in 1985), 7534 (vs. Columbia earlier this year) and 8000 (vs. Cornell in 1982 and Holy Cross in 1983).

The smallest road crowd to see Harvard since 1962 was the 3710 who gathered in Providence, R.I. to see the Crimson take on Brown in 1971.

Incidentally, Harvard now sports a 2-3-1 record in front of Stadium crowds of 8000 or less since 1962.

Yes, he really is that big: The 1986 Harvard football media guide shows a cut-out picture of Crimson Captain Scott Collins towering over the Stadium. At the pre-season press conference, Collins was introduced as, "Harvard's 113th captain, who's not really as big as he appears on the media guide."

No longer true. Linebacker Collins has made an incredible 36 tackles the past two weeks--including a career-high 20 against UMass--despite sitting out some third-and-short situations.

Collins now has 89 tackles on the year and is a cinch to break the school single-season record of 101 set by Brent Wilkinson last year (the stat has only recently been kept).

To opposing ball-carriers this season, Collins really must seem 400 feet tall.

Most notable, unnoted play of the week: This week's award goes to Tom Yohe and two of his receivers for a pair of nifty completions during a fourth-quarter drive. The drive eventually stalled--and came up empty on Andy Maretz's fourth missed field goal of the game--but for a while showcased excellent Crimson execution.

The first play came on a fourth-and-12 situation on the Mass 43. Yohe dropped back, and found a falling Joe Pusateri at the 30 for a 13-yd. completion and first down. On the very next play, Yohe hit Neil Phillips on the far sideline, and Phillips managed to get his feet down before skipping out of bounds.

Maretz's miss rendered the plays meaningless, but for a brief, shining moment Harvard didn't look like a 2-6 football team.

Same time, last year: Harvard travels to Philadelphia Saturday to take on the mighty Penn Quakers (8-0 overall, 5-0 Ivy). Penn has won an unprecedented 19 of its last 20 Ivy games, with the only loss coming in Cambridge last year.

Harvard dominated the 1985 showdown, taking a 17-0 lead in the third quarter and holding on for a hard-fought 17-6 victory. The win, highlighted by Robert Santiago's 108 yards rushing and Connolly and White TD scampers, temporarily moved Harvard into a first-place tie with Penn in the Ivies.

The Crimson's title hopes were dashed the following weekend, however, as it fell in The Game and Penn beat Dartmouth.

The Quakers, in a quest for a record-tying fifth consecutive Ivy title, are currently tied with Cornell atop the Ancient Eight. Add this incentive to the revenge motive, and you've got a mighty fired-up Penn squad out on Franklin Field Saturday morning.