Gridders Face Pass-Happy Bears

If Harvard's tie with Dartmouth last week made you want to scream, imagine what Brown football fans felt like after the Bruins' 20-17 loss to Cornell.

Brown, winless in seven tries this season, seemingly had the game won against the Big Red.

Thirty-seven seconds? What can you do in 37 seconds? If you are Cornell, 37 seconds is just enough time to march 65 yards down the field and score a game-winning touchdown.

Feeling a little better about having a last-second field-goal attempt being blocked? You should. At least Harvard didn't lose. At least the Crimson is still in the race for the Ivy title. You could have gone to Brown, where Coach Mickey Kwiatkowski has not been able to buy a win all season and when it finally looks like the Bruins might be able to pull one out, they lose with THIRTY-SEVEN SECONDS LEFT in the game.

It will be two teams looking to take out some frustrations this afternoon when Harvard (2-4-1 overall, 2-1-1 Ivy) travels to Providence, R.I. to take on Brown (0-7 overall, 0-4 Ivy).

Taking Out Frustrations

There is no question that Harvard is better prepared to take out its frustrations on Brown than vice-versa. Strange things happen, though, when Harvard leaves Cambridge. The Crimson has not won a road game all season. All three of its road losses have been of the frustration-breeding variety. Remember Army? Fordham? Cornell?

The last time Harvard triumphed away from home was against Princeton in the sixth week of last season.

Then again, the last time Brown won at all was the last game of the 1990 season. And if you're not counting wins against Columbia, you have to go all the way back to October 20, 1990, when the Bruins surprised Pennsylvania, 24-17.

In spite of the fact that it has not been overly successful, Brown has proven that it can be a fun team to watch. Kwiatkowski's Delaware Wing-T offense has its quarterback taking to the air 32 times a game. Last week Bruins QB Nick Richardson passed for 262 yards, the ninth-best passing performance in school history.

Richardson may have earned himself another start with that performance, even though the Bruins other signal-caller, Jeff Barrett is ranked second in total offense in the Ancient Eight, averaging 223.3 yards per game.

Torbert Sidelined

The Brown offense has been slowed by injuries especially one to Captain Rodd Torbert, who broke his leg two weeks ago against Penn. Although he did not play last week, Torbert's six receptions and 90.5 yards receiving per game ranks him eight and 11th, respectively, in Division 1-AA.

Brown's pass-happy offense should be a good test for the Crimson defense, in particular the secondary. Last week, after picking apart the Harvard 'D', Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler said he thought "Harvard was playing a little too loose with its secondary." Another game of the secondary playing "too loose", and Harvard just might lose.

With Torbert out of the lineup, the Bruins have looked to fullback Brett Brown to pick up the slack. Not only is he Brown's leading active receiver, but he is the Bruins main rushing threat, having gained 539 yards on 135 carries for a 4.0 average this season.

Robb Hirsch wears the same two hats for the Crimson. Hirsch's 30 receptions for 423 yards and 81 carries for 364 yards leads Harvard in both categories. It looked like Hirsch would emerge as the Crimson's main ground threat when the junior halfback ran for 99 yards against Princeton two weeks ago. It was Matt Johnson, however, whom Harvard Coach Joe Restic looked to last week, and Johnson responded with 130 yards on 23 carries.

The Crimson also needs a big game from Mike Giardi, who ranks 17th nationally in scoring and 22nd nationally in passing efficiency.