Crimson coach John Yovicsin was plainly dejected when he spoke with reporters after Saturday's 43-20 loss to Holy Cross. "We thought we would get a much better game out of our boys," he remarked. "But the Holy Cross backfield ran like hell and trampled everything in sight."

"We did not get much mileage out of our own backs," Yovicsin continued. Despite pre-season expectations that the backfield would be "really outstanding," he said that only junior Scott Harshbarger and sophomore Tom Bilodeau turned in creditable performances.

Before the game Yovicsin was counting on his plan to use two separate units to thwart the Crusaders. "We thought we could hold our own with 25 men," he said at the press conference. "By shuffling back and forth, we thought we could keep fresh men in there all the time, but there was too much Holy Cross to work this successfully."

The most encouraging element in the game, Yovicsin said, was the performance of the second defensive line, which bottled up the Crusader offense after the third period.

Yovicsin also announced that first-string end Tom Stephenson probably would be out for two weeks with a painful rib fracture.

In the other contest of the afternoon, the Harvard band clearly outclassed its counterparts from Holy Cross. The 130 bandsmen outnumbered their rivals by more than two to one, and the difference in sound was even greater than that.

Theme for the halftime show was a salute to sports heroes. For Floyd Paterson the band spelled out "OK" which rapidly changed to "KO." Then they congratulated that "great New York baseball team," the Mets, whose name was transformed into "MESS" as the announcer explained that they had revolutionized baseball.