Testing out the Rushing Theory

There is a theory (perhaps some pro-football-player-turned-color-commentator said it first) that if a team controls the ball on the ground, it usually wins the game.

That bit of wisdom held its ground last Saturday in New York, as the Crimson defeated Columbia, 26-10. Harvard ran the ball 62 times for a whopping total of 325 yards. Simple enough, isn't it?

Last year, the story for Harvard wasn't that much different. Run the football for more yards than your opponent and you'll win. When the Crimson crushed the Lions, 41-7, last year at the Stadium, the rushing attack combined for 179 yards. The Lions managed just 69.

In its only other victory of the 1988 season--a 28-3 romp over Brown on October 29--Harvard collected 288 yards on the ground, while the Bruins ran for only 68.

The Crimson also accumulated more than 200 yards in each of its two final games of the season. Problem was, Penn ate up 340 and defeated Harvard, 52-13, on November 12. And in The Game, Yale munched on 271 yards en route to a 26-17 victory.

Guess that color commentator knows what he's talking about.

Little Cubs: Will someone on the Columbia campus finally admit that its football team has had one of the most pathetic histories of any team in the nation? Not including Kansas State, of course.

Here's one from the files: Since Coach Stuyvesant Fish's 1870 Columbia squad lost to Rutgers, 6-3, in the days of post-Civil War America, the Lions have had 60 losing seasons. They've been over the .500 mark only 31 times.

To add to the futility, Columbia is currently on a 17-year losing season streak. That comes out to 22 wins, 134 losses, and three ties.

Bore, Lions, bore.

Perry Thoughts: If Harvard quarterback Tim Perry runs the offense for the rest of the season like he did against Columbia, the Crimson could be making some noise in the Ivy race.

The senior from Andover completed 10 out of 14 passes for 135 yards. Not bad for someone whom most football "experts" said would not pass the ball.

Remember how Tom Yohe '89 and Brian Barringer '88 made the down-and-out pattern look so easy two years ago? Watching Perry throw to Mark Bianchi (five catches, 88 yards) reminded some Harvard followers in the Columbia press box of those days. Only time will tell how close to those days this year's Harvard squad really is.

The best play of the day for Perry had to be the option flick to Art McMahon for Harvard's first touchdown. Perry held the ball long enough for the defense to react towards him and then tossed it to McMahon, who skirted into the end zone--thanks to a key block by Jim Reidy.

Big D: Skeptics will say it was only Columbia, but for the Harvard defense, last Saturday's game could produce some positive results for the rest of the year.

The Crimson allowed only 213 total yards, as it played the kind of game Coach Joe Restic enjoys: pressure, pressure, pressure.

Harvard blitzed on several downs, causing the out-of-sync Columbia offense to panic. Lion quarterback Bruce Mayhew is still having bad dreams of Harvard defensive end Mike Murphy chasing him.

And if backup Lion signal-caller Russ Scott ever sees Crimson defensive back Jon Lawrence walking down the street, he'll probably find the nearest phone booth to hide in. Lawrence picked off Scott's last two passes of the game, although a penalty nullified the first interception.

Greg Belsher, who also stole one of Scott's passes, almost had another interception earlier in the fourth quarter. But the refs whistled Columbia for illegal motion and the Crimson for holding and clipping on the same play. End result: offsetting penalties, and the down had to be played over.

Holy Crusaders, Batman: They're back. The merciful, gentle Catholics from Worcester, Holy Cross, will visit the Stadium Saturday.

You remember the Crusaders. You know, the guys who try an on-side kick to protect their 30-point leads? And run flea-flickers to widen their 40-point edges?

This year, Holy Cross (2-0) is still winning games. They have averaged 560 yards on offense per game. Ouch.