W & M Superior, But Does It Matter?

Flashback: September 28, 1991. Having just barely escaped a loss to feeble Columbia the week before, the Harvard football team marched into Michie Stadium 29 point underdogs against Army.

But the Cadets got a shock they wouldn't soon forget. Harvard pounded and pounded, defensively on the line and offensively on the ground and in the air, pushing the Crimson to a 20-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.

With 35,000 plus military personnel, eager parents and nostalgic exvets rocking the stadium, Division I-A Army finally woke up, realized it was playing a Division I-AA team and scraped its way to a 21-20 victory.

Harvard left West Point with the `L'; but it also left with a little `P' and `C': pride and confidence.

Today, against William & Mary, Harvard faces a task much like that of a year ago.

The Tribe is bigger. Man-for-man, it's no contest. One W&M right tackle, Wally Vale, tips the scales at 290 pounds.

The Tribe is more experienced. It returns 17 starters (compared to nine for Harvard) from a team that had the second-hardest schedule in Division I-AA.

And the Tribe is just plain better. It's 14th in the nation. (Las Vegas isn't even laying a line down on the game.)

Entering today's contest with all that baggage (about two tons of Virginia's finest), you think Harvard is thinking about it's almost-miracle against Army a year ago?

"I've definitely thought about that," said senior linebacker Monte Giese. "They're a team that's a lot bigger than us, but we can't get down. We can play with these guys, because we did it last year [against Army]."

Harvard quarterback Mike Giardi, who passed for 151 yards (10 of 15) against a swarming Columbia last week, also thinks the Crimson could confound the experts.

"We were 29 point underdogs against Army. We went in saying we have nothing to lose and we gave them a run," the Mather sophomore said. "If we just do the things we have to do, we can take them."

Things to Do

Ahh, "the things we have to do." Unfortunately for the Crimson, there's a list of those as long as the Mass Pike.

To pick up its first non-Ivy win in two years, Harvard will need a good dose of luck today (a little valium in the Tribe water bottles wouldn't hurt either). But given that, Harvard has a few important tasks in particular to carry out.

Take advantage of the Multiflex: It's a given that Harvard's offense, minus the line, is in synch.

Outside of Giardi, who looked like a veteran last year, the rest of the group is seniors, each experienced in the countless options the Multiplex offers.

W & M hasn't seen the `Flex since 1986, so with creative coaching and on-field decision-making, Harvard could keep the Tribe defense in a state of perpetual confusion and run up the score. It's happened before.

Tune up the offensive line: The Multiflex won't flex much if Giardi's on his back or running for his life. Columbia was enough of a problem for the young line, but the Crimson will have to give everything it has against the more seasoned Tribe trenchmen. W & M held Boston University to only 13 rushing yards last week in a 31-21 win.

Be sparing on the blitz: W & M quarterback Shawn Knight is a skilled scrambler and a deft passer. Harvard should concert its efforts on defending the Tribe's potentially potent aerial attack.

The most important task, of course, is mental. The Columbia game was disheartening, but the glorious memory of Army still lingers.

"More important for us than winning is setting the tone for the Ivy season," Giese said. "We want to show that Harvard is a team to be reckoned with. Maybe we can turn some heads and maybe we can get some respect."

Maybe.