Harvard varsity football coach John Yovicsin, discussing the outlook for the 1968 football season, said yesterday, "We suffered perhaps the heaviest graduation losses in my 11 years at Harvard, both in terms of quantity and quality."

Harvard will lose 22 lettermen this June and will have only six returning on offense and seven on defense, plus kicking specialist Paul Saba.

The gaps in the Crimson offense are especially wide. The passing game has been decimated. Starting ends Joe Cook and Carter Lord and both of last year's quarterbacks, Ric Zimmerman and Pete Berg, are leaving. According to Yovicsin, they will be tough to replace, especially the quarterbacks. "Our chief concern is that none of the quarterback candidates has varsity experience," he said.

With running backs the situation is just the opposite. If anything, Yovicsin has more good backs than he knows what to do with. All-Ivy Vic Gatto and Ray Hornblower are both powerful breakaway threats and will be backed up by Will Stargel.

The defensive backfield, despite the loss off Don Chiofaro and Tom Williamson, will also be strong. Returning will be starters John Emery at linebacker, Mike Ananis at cornerback, and John Tyson and Tom Wynne at safeties. Linebacker Gerry Marino should have relatively little trouble filling Chiofaro's spot.

The interior line will be another gap in the Crimson ranks next year. The loss of All-Ivy guard Al Bersin, guard Stan Grenidge, and tackles Bob Brooks and Joe DeBettencourt opens serious wounds in proud Crimson lines--both offense and defense. Tackle Steve Zebal is the only returning lineman on defense.

So the outlook is varied. In some areas, Harvard will be as strong as ever--in others dangerously weak. Much depends on how well the gaps will be filled by the sophomores.

After a 3-3 season as freshmen, some of them will be required to try and fill the superman shoes of Carter Lord and Ric Zimmerman, while others will have the equally hard task of fighting players like John Emery and Vic Gatto. The brighter prospects are:

* Halfbacks: Standout Richie Szaro. A shifty, hard-running back, he averaged 6.3 yards a carry and led the Yardlings in scoring with a record 56 points last fall. He has sure hands and good moves, and could be converted to end or flanker if absolutely necessary. Pete Varney averaged 7.2 yards a carry last fall. A mammoth of a halfback, he stands 6-3 and weighs 240. Yet he is fast (runs the 100-yard dash in 10.1) and has tricky moves. Once he starts moving he seems virtually impossible to bring down. He is capable of playing fullback or linebacker as well.

* Fullback: Freshman team Captain and starting fullback Tom Miller is a rough runner with a quick start. Perhaps the most underrated player in the backfield. Miller played his freshman year in the shadows of Szaro and Varney. But it was Miller, with his tough slants and dives, who got the yardage when it was needed most. Harvard has always been short of good fullbacks and next year either Miller or Varney could break into the lineup there.

* Quarterback: three promising sophomores will vie for the position that worries Yovicsin most. Bill Kelly is the leading prospect. Kelly is the biggest of the three but the weakest passer. He is a shifty runner and, most important, seems to have the ability to move the team under pressure. John O'Grady was the most highly rated at the beginning of last fall. An accurate passer and good runner, O'Grady's only weakness is his size. He is only 5-10 and 180 lbs. An injury to his shoulder early in the season prevented him from seeing as much action as he might have.

Larry Cetrulo was the best passer on the freshman team last year. Not as good a runner as O'Grady or as effective a leader as Kelly, Cetrullo's weakness is his lack of experience. He didn't start a game last year, and a mid-season rib injury sidelined him for three games.

* Ends: The freshmen had a whole flock of ends last year, both offensive and defensive. Ed Lukawski, Ed O'Malley, Phil Zuckerman, were the standouts on offense, while Larry Kram and Chris Doyle were the defensive leaders.

* Interior lineman: Gary Farneti was, perhaps, the most valuable player on the team and certainly the top interior lineman. Capable of playing guard or linebacker, Farneti is a Chiofaro-type football player. Short, big and tough, he seems to thrive on physical contact. With the return of Emery and Marino, Farneti will probably see most of his action next year at offensive guard. Paul Masaracchio, at 6-3 250 lbs., was the outstanding tackle on the freshman team. Eric Honick and Dale Johnson are two other highly rated tackles, able to play either offense or defense. Arnie Rossi and Tom Franklin were the top two centers.

* Defensive backs: In addition to Kelly and Cetrulo, who could play defense or offense, outstanding freshmen were Dick Manny, George Williamson (Tom Williamson's brother) and Skip Vacarello. The freshman defensive backfield was tight last fall and any one of these players could inherit the spot vacated by All-Ivy Tom Williamson.