Schedule Getting Tougher

The pressure will only increase for the Harvard football team as its October schedule swings into full gear. Each of the Crimson's next three opponents turned in meaningful performances this weekend:

.Holy Cross lost to Yale, 31-27, on quarterback Steve Mills' touchdown pass to Dave Iwan with just 1:51 to play. The clutch comeback earned Yale its first win and Offensive Player of the Week honors for Mills.

After Yale opened the season without star tailback Keith Price and then lost to Yale 12-3 in the opener, most people wrote the Bulldogs off. But behind Mills and a rejuvenated passing game, Yale is starting to pile up the points while Harvard seems to be in a mini-slump. Harvard's matchup against Holy Cross this weekend provides the best test so far of what fans can expect to see in The Game on November 20.

Three weeks ago, Harvard was the heavy favorite. Now, it's not so clear.

.Princeton. The 24th-ranked Tigers keep running and running behind senior tailback Keith Elias. In Princeton's 34-16 whipping of Brown, Elias ran for 206 yards and two touchdowns--before leaving in the third quarter with a hip pointer.

The offense is balanced, with Joel Foote moving the Tigers through the air as much as Elias rumbles on the ground, and the defense is one of the best in Division I-AA. The November 6 Princeton-Penn matchup in Philadelphia could be for the Ivy title.

.Dartmouth. In quarterback Jay Fiedler's senior season, the offense has not been moving the ball well at all--losing last week to New Hampshire 14-7. The Big Green lost to UNH in 1992, 45-27.

The defending Ivy champions still have a tough defense and one of the top coaching staffs in the league. If Fiedler can come around, Dartmouth will be right back in the race.

NCAA Div. I-AA Poll 1. Idaho (58)  5-0-0  1545 2. Troy St. (3)  6-0-0  1441 3. Marshall  4-1-0  1367 4. Youngstown  4-1-0  1294 5. N.C. A&T  5-0-0  1249 6. Ga. Southern  4-2-1  1180 7. Delaware  4-1-0  1005 8. Montana  5-1-0  991 9. N. lowa  4-2-0  849 10. S.F. Austin  4-1-0  925 17. W & M  3-2-0  565 18. Boston U.  5-0-0  453 24. Princeton  4-0-0  152