It was not Dartmouth's offense, but its defense, which proved to be Harvard's undoing Saturday, when the Indians intercepted five passes, recovered one Crimson fumble, and ran back a punt 65 yards for a touchdown in downing Harvard, 24-10, at the Stadium.

The inspired Harvard defense, strengthened considerably by the return of left linebacker Gary Farneti, held the formidable Dartmouth rushing attack to 165 yards, 200 yards under its average. The defense was also able to come up with crucial stops to prevent Dartmouth from making the score any more embarrassing.

Coach John Yovicsin was more than willing to acknowledge the importance of Farneti's presence. "Gary is the key to our whole defense, not only physically, but in terms of leadership," Yovicsin said yesterday.

But the-defense could not compensate for the gifts bestowed upon Dartmouth by the Crimson offense. After losing ten yards on the first three plays from scrimmage. Harvard had to punt. The kick by Gary Singleterry was run back 65 yards by Tom Quinn for a pitifully easy six points. It was especially easy since there were only ten Harvard men on the field.

On its next attempt, the Big Green had to settle for a field goal from the 32-yard line by Pete Donovan. The Indians gained 27 yards on the first two plays of that series, but then stops by cornerbacks Rick Frisbie and Brad Fenton, who played superbly Saturday, forced Donovan's field goal.

That might have been all that Dartmouth would have scored had it not been for two interceptions early in the second quarter. Safety Willie Bogen moved in front of Harvard's Steve Harrison at the Crimson 30 to snare a pass from halfback Ray Hornblower and run it back 19 yards. Three plays later, Jim Chasey scored what proved to be the winning points on a one yard buck.

On the second play after the following kickoff. Harvard tried once more to get a pass to Harrison. Starting quarterback John O'Grady had his pass intercepted at the Crimson 30 by Russ Adams, who dashed into the end zone to complete his team's scoring.

Yovicsin pulled out O'Grady after that and tried Joe Roda, and later. Rex Blankenship. But it didn't make too much difference who was in here-26 Crimson passes netted only 72 yards, and the team didn't move significantly better with a new signal caller.

"We're asking our quarterbacks to do what they're not able to do," Yovicsin said. He explained the problem of using quarterbacks who are used to junior varsity games in a game on the varsity level against a top opponent. Yovicsin noted that Dave Smith, who would have started but for a sprained ankle, should be ready for next week's game with Penn.

Defense Scores

Besides shutting off the Dartmouth attack, the Crimson defense accounted for most of Harvard's few points. On its next series of plays. Dartmouth failed to get a first down and had to punt from the 16-yard line. Fenton blocked the kick, and Fred Martucci caught the ball before scampering two yards for a touchdown.

Tackle Ed Sadler recovered a fumble by Chasey on the snap from center two plays later to give the Harvard offense the ball at the Dartmouth 35, and it seemed that Harvard had the momentum..

But in six plays, the Crimson moved only 12 yards, and Richie Szaro came in to kick the field goal which placed him ninth on the Harvard all-time kick scoring list. It was Szaro's last appearance on the field Saturday.

In addition to losing the game. Harvard also lost fullback Gus Crim with a kidney injury. Tom Miller, just recovered from an instep ailment, will replace him.

"We came a lot closer to winning than a lot of people think." Yovicsin said yesterday. Statistics suggest that he is correct. Harvard had two more first downs than the Indians, and Dartmouth's total offense of 213 yards was only 49 yards greater than the Crimson's.