Crimson Narrowly Favored Over Quaker Eleven Today

Harvard's football team hasn't had to worry too much about the Penn game over the last ten years. The Crimson has lost only once to the Quakers in the last decade, and that was a fluke.

Harvard will have to worry about Penn today. If Harvard wins, it will probably mean a winning season, if not a successful season. If Harvard loses, it will mean another disastrous season.

Harvard will probably win, but the margin of victory will not be overwhelming. Princeton barely escaped losing to Penn last weekend in a sloppy game. If Harvard, like Princeton, fails to recover from Dartmouth, the Crimson will lose.

The Quakers are not exactly overpowering. They have beaten poor Lafayette and Lehigh teams, barely edged the worst team in the Ivy League, Brown, and lost to both Cornell and Princeton by close scores. Penn was originally expected to have a miserable season, but the Quakers seem to have worked their way up to mediocrity.

Quarterback Pancho Micir is the player responsible for Penn's survival. He has completed 44 of 90 passes for 555 yards, and he scrambles effectively. Playing with a leg injury against Princeton, he fired three interceptions in the last three minutes, but still almost succeeded in taking advantage of the Tigers' ineptness before failing, 22-16.

Micir likes to run the roll-out and balance his running game, alternating between sending his runners up the middle and working to the outside. He has a good halfback in Bob Hoffman, who is averaging 4.6 yards a carry.

Big Line

The Quakers' offensive line has not been outstanding, but is big. Penn will outweigh Harvard by an average of 16 pounds per man at the line of scrimmage.

Micir's short passing game could work against the Harvard secondary. The Crimson's defensive backs have been consistently beaten on short passes this season.

Harvard should be able to handle Penn's offense, however. Dartmouth was too well balanced for the Crimson defense, but Harvard will be able to concentrate on Micir today. Furthermore, Micir will still be hampered by his injured leg.

Captain Gary Farneti will be able to pick the defense up from the Dartmouth rout. Starting quarterback Rod Foster, on the other hand, may not be able to give the same lift to the offense.

Harvard's offense lacks confidence. The quarterback situation is still unsolved, with neither-Foster nor his replacement Eric Crone showing too much in the way of inspiration for the offense.

In the Air

Harvard may once again have trouble developing a passing game. Penn's secondary has allowed only one touchdown through the air and less than 100 yards a game in passing.

Foster will have to balance his offense and vary his running plays. The running game is not very certain either. Harvard's offensive line has not looked strong, and Steve Harrison has been inconsistent at halfback.

Although Harrison's inconsistency is probably more the product of bad blocking than bad running, he will not start Saturday. Teddy DeMars, a sophomore who has made a habit of breaking loose when the second strings battle it out in the final minutes, will take Harrison's place, at least temporarily. DeMars will be the third halfback to try to find a hole in the opposition's defensive line.

Injuries will hurt the Crimson. Harvard's weak offensive line will be weaker if tackle Eric Honick is benched with a bruised knee. Harvard's defense may be missing cornerback Rick Frisbie and tackle Mark Steiner. Frisbie will probably play, and even if he doesn't, Barry Malinowski will be available to move into the starting line-up. Steiner is more seriously injured, and more irreplaceable.

Penn is also suffering from injuries. Micir's injured leg may be the difference between winning and losing, and linebacker Phil Adams will miss the game.

Kicking

Both teams have excellent kickers. Harvard's Richie Szaro is within a point of scoring more points than any other Harvard kicker Penn's Eliot Berry has been one of the best kickers in the league for three years.

Player-coach feelings have beenstrained on both teams. Four players, including the Quakers' most promising running back, quit the Penn team, while relations between coach John Yovicsin and quarterback Foster reportedly have not been good.

Only one black player, Walt Johnson, showed up at practice on Tuesday, although all the blacks were back by Wednesday.

Foster has a chance to establish himself at quarterback with an outstanding game against the Quakers. A shaky beginning will probably bring Crone into the game, and the quarterback question will continue to be unresolved.

A poor game from the quarterbacks will probably result in a defeat for Harvard. A loss for Harvard will almost definitely mean a losing season.