Brown Trips Faltering Crimson, 16-14

It was one of those football Saturdays filled with subtle ironies. Like Harvard's offense crumbling before the very same defense it annihilated one year ago. Brown sunffing Harvard's championship hopes the same way the Crimson squelched those of the Bruins late last season. And senior Jim Kubacki setting Harvard's all-time career total passing record in the midst of what was possibly his most ineffective performance in a Crimson uniform.

However ironic certain aspects were, the game at Soldiers Field had a deceptively simple message to deliver at the end of 60 minutes of plays. The message is that Harvard is no longer a contender for a second straight undisputed Ivy League champioship. A 16-14 Brown victory on Saturday has seen to that.

Though a possible four-way tie for the title still hangs in the balance of the season, the Crimson's role in the chase was redefined from "favorite" to "one of many" by virtue of the loss. It was a big game, but one that literally slipped away in a mass of fumbles and poorly thrown passes.

Harvard fans spent much of the game giving thanks for small favors, such as the failure of Brown defenders to intercept Kubacki aerials which floated into their hands and the occasional Crimson recovery of its own fumbles. The Bruins had their own problems as well in the first two quarters, but those were ironed out by the time the third quarter began.

For fleeting moments in the first half, it appeared that the Crimson might assume control of the tight game and repeat last year's display of offensive firepower against Brown. Unfortunately for Kubacki and the rest of the Crimson offense, the ingredients never meshed completely and the game eventually got out of hand.

Sneaky Jim

Kubacki put the first points of the contest on the board himself early in the second quarter, sneaking over center for a one-yard dive and a 7-0 lead. A 31-yard jaunt around left end by halfback Bob Kinchen two plays earlier set up the score at 1:48 of the period.

The touchdown drive, 73 yards in nine plays, was sparked by Kubacki's first pass completion of the afternoon, a 19-yard effort to Larry Hobdy. The senior signalcaller had severe problems before and after that connection, hitting only eight of 21 attempts during the afternoon, with the majority of his throws fluttering aimlessly around the stadium.

While the defense successfully stymied Brown quarterback Paul Michalko and his favorite target Bob Farnham, Crimson coach Joe Restic sent the crowd of 26,500 into spasms of disbelief by unveiling a shotgun type single wing offense for the last half of the second quarter.

The calculated element of surprise which Restic loves so much was lost, however, when Kubacki and halfback Tommy Winn mishandled consecutive snaps from center and gave the mystified Brown defense a reprieve. As Harvard fumbled and Brown fizzled, the half ended at 7-0.

Michalko came out of the halftime lockers throwing the football, and four plays into the third quarter the game plan became clear. With Michalko spearing Farnham twice in the first series, the Bruins moved rapidly from their 34-yard line to the Harvard 35, and the fight was on.

Eight plays later, after a few unprofitable forays from inside the Harvard 20, Michalko picked up Farnham alone in the endzone for the touchdown on a slant pattern. Crimson captain Bill Emper, in charge of the Farnham coverage on the play, complained to deaf ears of offensive interference on the play. Harvard 7, Brown (missed extra point) 6.

Kubacki next tossed an interception to Bruin Luke Gaffney on the Harvard 39, but Emper returned the favor by stealing a Michalko shot to Farnham at the goal line on the next play. A Crimson punt was followed by a surprising 45-yard field goal by a fellow named Ruben Chapa at 8:23--his first points ever in varsity play--and Harvard trailed for the first time in the game.

With the flow of the game heavily against it, the Crimson crawled into the fourth quarter with a sputtering offense and a pressured defense. When Kubacki fumbled on his own three midway in the final period and Brown's John King rumbled in for the score, the writing on the stadium wall was all too clear. Brown 16, Harvard 7.

Harvard's classic last gasp came with 1:21 left, when Winn took a short pass from Kubacki and raced across the field for a 70-yard score. Too little, too late, too bad. Brown ran out the clock in its own territory, and the fate was sealed. Harvard will now chase after a share of the Ivy title as Brown moves headlong into a two-game finale that could very well bring the first football championship ever into Providence's waiting hands.

With more records and a possible share of the title remaining to be had, the season is not quite over. As always, things will begin and end with Yale.