In the Eye of the Storm

PRINCETON--'Duh, duh, duh--Another one bites the dust," a lone stereo blasted across an empty and immaculate Princeton courtyard Yesterday, sounding an eerie warning to the few passersby.

Where if everyone? On the eve of the Harvard-Princeton football contest, this serene campus looked like a neutron bomb test site. No such nefarious scheme prompted the desolation however. Yesterday was the final day of midterm exams here, and the entire student body--athletes excepted--seemed to have headed towards their respective decompression chambers.

So when the Crimson gridders rolled in here yesterday afternoon, an odd tranquility--especially when compared with the menagerie they found last week at Dartmouth--greeted them at the stone gates. Yet despite the dissimilar welcomes, the battered Harvard squad can expect another difficult encounter today at Palmer Stadium (1:30 p.m.).

One week ago, the Crimson was undefeated in two Ivy league contests and four games overall. Its defense had yielded an average of just over ten points per game. Joe Restic's charges had won six games in a row, Harvard's longest streak in as many years.

One thirty-twelve loss to Dart mouth later, and Harvard arrived here in a must-win situation. To make matters infinitely worse, the team faces another bout with the Harvard Disease: injured quarterbacks.

Number one Brian Buckley is out(Knee cartilage damage); Number two mike Buchanan is out (sprained ankle); Number three Ron Cuccia may play some splitend but not quarterback (pulled hamstring). Mark Marrion, the fourth stringer who endured such a pough afternoon at Dartmouth will get the call again.

So the Crimson running game will take on additional importance, as airborne success looks highly unlikely. Fullback Jim Callinan, who has performed so well during his infrequent spells of good health, has recovered somewhat from his partially separated shoulder, and should see some action. His effectiveness, or lack of it, may make the difference for Harvard.

On the homeside, three-point-favorite Princeton (2-3, 1-2 Ivy) is playing its best ball of the season. Coach Frank Navarro has settled on Mark Lockenmeyer as his quarterback and the senior, also an All American pitcher, has led the Tigers to two straight victories, a 31-19 victory over Columbia and a last-minute 14-10 shocker over Colgate.

Lockenmeyer has made use of senior Cris Crissey, the tailback-turned split-end who has burned the Crimson for three straight years. Crissey has caught 34 passes this year for 361 yards, the tops in the nation.

The Lockenmeyer and Crissey success story means two things for Harvard: the pass defense that let Dartmouth's Dave Shula frolic last week as well as the Crimson's rain-hindered pass rush must close ranks.

One more factor: the tigers may have developed a mini-jinx over the Crimson. Two years ago, at Palmer Stadium, Harvard's Ralph Polillio fumbled on the Princeton 2-yd. line in the final seconds to let the Tigers escape with a 24-24 tie. And dlast year a Harvard fumble at the Princeton 26 with three minutes remaining granted the visitors a 9-7 victory in Cambridge. With rain predicted for this afternoon, Crimson ballcarriers cannot allow the ghost of fumbles past to haunt them.

Yet for all the do's, don't's and must's confronting the Crimson here today, one point in the gridder's favor cannot go unnoticed. Man for man, they are a better team. Princeton's defense doesn't rate in the same class as Harvard's; offensively, insiders say Marrion is the best play-caller of all the Harvard quarterbacks and with the opportunity to start a ball game, he could shine. For Harvard to win, he must.