The Ivy Plot Thickens

Representatives of Federal Express made important appearances in Cambridge and Philadelphia yesterday, delivering parcels to Harvard football coach Joe Restic and Penn head coach Harry Gamble. It was the vital weekly ritual known as Exchange of Game Films, and both coaching staffs--fresh from exploring films of their own squad's last contest--sat down to pore over the footage of their adversary for this weekend's matchup at Franklin Field.

A year ago, these two teams were mired in desperate tailspins as they prepared to do battle. The Crimson gridders had lost six in a row, the Quakers seven. Harvard won the game, 41-26, went on to glory in New Haven a week later, and ended the season on a high. Penn sunk further into pigskin ignominy, dropping its finale to Cornell, 52-13.

This year, the story is different. The Crimson boasts an impressive 6-2 won-lost record (3-2 Ivies) including victories over Army and William & Mary--two teams rated superior in pre-game prognostications. More important, the gridders retain a chance to share the Ivy crown for the first time since 1975, when they won it outright on a last-minute Mike Lynch field goal at Yale.

For the record, the Crimson has not won as many as six games in a season since 1976, when it tied for third in the Ivies. Despite the gray day at Dartmouth and the frustrating loss at Princeton--a game Harvard should have won--Cornell injected renewed hope into this talent-laden Crimson assemblage when it thwarted Yale at New Haven, 24-6, this weekend. Now, at least, the gridders fate rests with their collective cleats.

Put as simply as possible, the standings look this: Yale has a 4-1 record, and five teams (Harvard, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and Princeton) are locked in second with 3-2 marks. If the Crimson can bean Penn on the road and give 1979 fans a pleasant sense of deja vu against the Elis at Soldiers Field, it is guaranteed a share of the title.

Penn, however, has also undergone a resurrection of sorts, and should prove tough in Philadelphia. The Quakers held Yale to eight points in miserable weather, gave the high-flying Tigers heart palpitations ten days ago, and played respectably Saturday against a Villanova squad that toppled Boston College earlier this fall. Penn runs a wish-bone offense that has not run smoothly in the past, but which is better executed on each successive weekend.

As for the rest of the second-place pack, Cornell has only to face also-rans Columbia and Penn, so if the Big Red avoid an upset, it will waltz into a share of the crown--provided, of course, that Yale loses.

The Elis will have their work cut out for them this weekend at the bowl, where they will face a streaking Princeton squad. If Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell win this weekend, the league lead heading into the final weekend would be shared by five teams--the Elis, the Crimson, the Tigers, the Big Red, and the winner of the Brown-Dartmouth contest in Providence.

Can Harvard win the title outright? An unlikely scenario, but suppose, just suppose, the Brown and Dartmouth tie, Princeton beats Yale but succumbs to the Big Green on the final weekend, Cornell gets upset by either Columbia or Penn, and Harvard wins both its remaining games. Then, the Crimson will stand alone with a 5-2 mark.

If Yale does the expected and bounces back to beat the Tigers, that community college in New Haven will be assured of at least a tie for the championship. The Brown-Dartmouth and Princeton-Dartmouth (in New Jersey) encounters would then have great significance to determine if either the Bruins or the Big Green will grab a share of the title. Brown concludes its season with what should provea routine game with the Lions in New York. And, of course, that extravaganza known only as The Game always possesses an aura all its own; the victor will achieve a moral triumph.

So Ivy League football, despite the skepticism of observers outside the conference with regard to its on-the-field elegance, once again furnishes its followers with the intellectual battle of trying to figure out who will win.