Drawing Blanks

Most of you know by now that the Harvard football team's 3-0 loss to Cornell Saturday was the squad's third consecutive shutout loss--representing the first time in the history of Crimson football that the gridders have failed to score in a three-game stretch.

The last time the gridders were shut out three times in a season--let alone three consecutive times--was in 1941, when Penn, Cornell, and Navy all blanked the Crimson.

Ironically, despite those three shutouts (which, like the three so far this season, came in the first four weeks), the Crimson finished the year with a 5-2-1 mark and outscored its opponents, 70-43.

By the way, the 1941 Navy game resulted in a 0-0 tie, so to find the last time Harvard lost three shutout games in a season, one must go all the way back to 1935, when Holy Cross, Army, and Princeton all turned the trick.

This year's 1-3 start marks the Crimson's worst season opening since 1979. It has also been seven years since the gridders last had a three-game losing streak.

Saturday's game was the lowest-scoring contest the gridders have been involved since 1983, when they registered a 3-3 tie with--you guessed it--Cornell.

One of Harvard's many problems Saturday was field position. The gridders' four first-quarter drives started at their own 19, 20, 11 and six-yard lines respectively.

The Crimson's first five drives of the contest all consisted of three plays from scrimmage followed by a Brian O'Neil punt. The gridders entered Big Red territory just once the entire first half--and only managed to reach the visitors' 39.

The most disappointing effort of the afternoon, though, was turned in by Cornell signal-caller Marty Stallion, reputed to be one of the top Ivy BBS. Stallion was a horrendous 4-for-20 on the afternoon, for 31 yards and an interception. He rushed nine times for negative-37 yards.

Despite the loss to the Big Red--which broke a six-year Crimson unbeaten streak--Harvard still owns a 30-19-2 series edge over Cornell.

Saturday's Cornell game was the 997th in the history of the Harvard football program, which means that the Crimson's November 1 match-up with Brown at the Stadium will be the school's glorious 1000th. No special events are currently planned.

Just because of the recent hard times, Harvard football fans shouldn't despair--help is on the way. Suffice it to say that this Saturday the Crimson visits Hanover, N.H., and faces the Dartmouth football squad.

The Big Green, currently 0-4 (0-1 Ivy), has lost its last three "battles" by scores of 66-12, 45-0 and 48-7. With the Harvard defense playing as well as it has of late (three points surrendered in the last six quarters), there just might be another shutout--maybe even a double shutout, come to think of it.

The last time the Crimson participated in five consecutive shutouts at the start of the season was 67 years ago. In 1919, Harvard captured its first six games of the season en route to a 9-0-1 mark--and its first and only appearance bowl appearance.

This week's trivia question: Whom did the Crimson face in that memorable bowl game?

Trivia answer: Harvard beat Oregon, 7-6.