Harvard's ultra-chaotic football season continued its latest downward swing into the depths of despair and frustration yesterday with the news that quarterback Ted Halaby will be sidelined for the next two weeks.

Halaby, conspicuous by his long absence in Saturday's 15-0 loss to Colgate, re-injured his bothersome charley horse on the second play of action, and carried on for only two series of downs before he was relieved by Mike Bassett and Bill Humenuk. Subsequently, his injured muscle tightened up and became more severe than anybody--including Halaby--ever expected. Yesterday's announcement noted that only with extraordinary recovery could Halaby be ready for the Dartmouth game in two weeks.

So now it's up to Bassett and Humenuk to save the Crimson; and this Saturday, to engineer Harvard to its fourth straight upset game.

Even if Halaby were to play Saturday, Columbia would be favored over Harvard as much--if not more--than was Cornell, despite the fact that Chuck Reed will rejoin the squad this week. (Reed has been out with a bruised thigh. Halfback Hank Hatch, out for several weeks with mononucleosis, will not be ready until Dartmouth.)

The Lions are loaded. It came as no surprise Saturday when coach Buff Donelli's men marched over Yale, 11-0, in the Bowl. In its first three games, Columbia has amassed a surprising total of 81 points. (The Lions trounced Brown, 50-0, in their opener, and scored three TD's in their 30-20 upset-loss to Princeton in the second game.)

Vasell Stars

This outstanding early-season offensive record is attributable to Columbia's excessively talented backfield, called by experts "the best Lion backfield since the War." Tom Vasell, one of the league's leading passers, is first string quarterback for the third consecutive season. Already this year, he has completed 21 out of 35 passes for a near-600 percentage, 263 yards, and one TD. Behind him is running strength in halfbacks Tom O'Connor and Russ Warren, who have logged over 180 yards apiece on the ground for averages of 5.9 and 4.5 yards per carry, respectively.

Fullback Tom Haggerty, another strong running threat, averages 4.5 yards per crack with a total of 74 yards in 15 attempts. Haggerty received a minor injury in the Yale game, and was relieved by a "new" find, Al Butts, who scored the Lions' one TD against Yale. Donelli was so pleased with Butts' performance that he plans to bench O'Connor--averaging about six yards per carry(!)--so that Butts can start against Harvard.

In front of this potent backfield is a big, rugged, and experienced line bolstered by tackle Bob Asack, all-Ivy last year. Donelli calls him the best tackle he's ever coached. Asack's partner on the other side of the line is another top performer, tackle Ed Little. Both men--get this--weigh over 230 pounds.

All of which adds up to the best first unit in the Ivy league.

Another Cornell-type Upset?

So this Saturday it will be a matter of picking Columbia and hoping that Harvard will pull a Cornell-kind of upset or something. This is plausible, of course, for it's another Ivy league game. After the upset-loss to Colgate Saturday, Harvard coach John Yovicsin came up with a peculiar though valid conclusion about the highly erratic affairs of the Ivy teams:

"In this league," he said, "it's all emotional. Competition is too close to make any game predictable. It's the team with the greatest desire that wins."

Already, after three short weeks of action, the Ivy has become tangled. Only three teams--Dartmouth, Princeton, and Harvard--are undefeated in Ivy competition, and only one is expected to finish at the top (Dartmouth).

Results Saturday of Ivy teams in addition to the Harvard and Columbia games were: Navy over Cornell, 31-7; Princeton over Penn, 9-3; and Dartmouth over Brown, 34 to 0.

Dartmouth, presently favored with Columbia to win the Ivy honors, is slowly accumulating some astounding statistics. In their three straight victories, the Indians have allowed only 12 first downs and no touchdowns. (The scores of their victories have been 28-3, 30-0, and 34-0 over New Hampshire, Penn, and Brown.)