Brown's President Ray L. Heffner told a group of alumni the other day that he would do "everything we can do" to improve his college's weakling football team. But don't worry, Brown won't be a threat to Harvard for a long while--certainly, not today.
Even the Bruins' coach John McLaughry doesn't mind admitting it: "We still have no speed--that's practically non-existent--and no size--we've been greatly outweighed. Defensively, we aren't as strong as we had hoped to be."
The Bruins, have lost six games straight this season, allowing an average of 31 points and 403 total yards a game. In two weeks they gave up a total of 97 points.
McLaughry doesn't hide the fact that he hoped Harvard would beat Princeton so the Crimson would overlook Brown the next week. Now, Harvard has to win two games to stay alive in the championship race, and he says, "they may even be out to whip us."
The hopes of the Brown coach that Harvard will be down have not mater ialized. The Crimson coaches called an unprecedented live-contact defensive praetice on Monday.
McMahon a Threat
If Brown has a threat, it has to be a sophomore quarterback Jack McMahon. McMahon is a tricky rollout passer who has completed 22 of 53 passes in the last two games. The Bruins throw roughly twice as much as Harvard, and Crimson defensive backs may have some trouble containing McMahon's chief receivers--end John Olson and halfbacks Dick Filak and Tom Lemire.
The Bruins have a sluggish rushing offense. Their top runner, fullback Neal Weinstock, has gained only 203 yards -- an average of 29 yards a game. The only other man with more than 100 is fullback Steve Wormith, who has a creditable 5.1-yard average. McMahon runs frequently, but he isn't much of a threat.
The Bruins' offense may be mediocre, but their defense is terrible. Bobby Leo, Vic Gatto, and Tom Choquette should run wild against a squad that has yielded an average of 296 yards a game--more than Harvard's nation-leading mark.
Break-Away Jollin
A Bruin halfback named Dave Jollin will be a threat to break loose every time he gets his hands on a punt. Jollin, a 170-pound junior, has averaged 28 yards a return and has run two back for touch-downs.
Brown also boasts the Ivy League punting leader Joe Randall. McLaughry considers Randall, 14th in the country, a pro prospect.
Randall, Jollin, and McMahon should make the game exciting but they won't make it close. The Crimson is out to show all the skeptics that they still are the best Harvard team in 35 years, and they may just run up a big score to prove it.
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