Timmy, We Hardly Knew Ye

November 10. 1975--Davenport had more momentum on his side than the cliche dreamed possible. He completed six of nine passes for 73 yards and one touchdown in this short period, and made a heretofore impenetrable Princeton defense look rather shabby. Davenport's heroics, however, came after 45 minutes of the game had already elapsed, and even he was incapable of undoing all that had preceded his entrance.

September 19. 1977--The Crimson score, the climax to a 14-play, 79-yard drive midway through the second quarter, came on a five-yard rollout by quarterback Tim Davenport--who, all things considered--like the fact that this was his initial varsity start behind center--performed with aplomb.

September 22. 1977--Tim Davenport's Harvard football career came to an abrupt conclusion yesterday, when X-rays revealed that the senior quarterback had fractured a vertebra in his neck.

September 24. 1977--By all that is right, the story behind the story of today's Harvard opener against UMass would concern the return to action of Jim Curry.

It was on the Wednesday before last fall's game against UMass--also the second contest of the season, also on ABC--when Curry left school quicker than a pre-med leaves the dining room.

Today he returns to the line-up, but his presence is not the main story. Tim Davenport's absence claims that honor, and if you believe in deja vu, just hope the Minutemen aren't on next year's Crimson schedule.

From a mechanical how-will-it-affect-the-team-point-of-view, it may not. Psychologically perhaps, but this is the type thing around which teams tend to rally. Performance-wise, Davenport was an adept thrower, but his running was by no means exceptional.

A more aggressive runner, in fact, would have been by the Columbia defense and halfway to the Empire State Building on the play in which Davenport was injured. The latter hesitated at the line of scrimmage, however, and while he still made it to the end zone, the momentary pause cost him the rest of the season. Tim Davenport waited patiently for two years, played twice, and will play no more. Forget the return of Jim Curry, forget the fortune of Davenport's successor. For the time being, just remember Tim Davenport. That's all there is to say.

And now that you're on the other side of the asterisks, remember that you read this week's winners here first:

UMASS at HARVARD--First rule of predicting: Remember to whom you pay your tuition. Harvard 16, UMass 13.

HOLY CROSS at DARTMOUTH--Woowoowoowoowoowoowoowoowoowoowoo. Dartmouth 25, Holy Cross 22.

RUTGERS at PRINCETON--Not the same Rutgers from a year ago, but a good enough version to whup the Tigers. Rutgers 20, Princeton 8.

PENN AT LEHIGH--I once went out with a girl from Lehigh. She was pretty. Lehigh 23, Penn 18.

UCONN at YALE--Are you kidding? Yale 31, UConn 10.

URI at BROWN--Are you kidding? Brown 28, URI 17.

CORNELL at COLGATE--Now I know you're kidding. Colgate 41, Cornell 8.

LAFAYETTE at COLUMBIA--A Nat Sci 118 lecture would be more exciting (but not by much). Columbia 20, Lafayette 14.