There wasn't much talking in the Harvard dressing room after the Dartmouth game last Saturday, but slumped in a corner in front of a row of lockers, Bob Dowd was quietly saying it all for the Crimson varsity.

"We keep taking turns every week, damn it, "he murmured. "One week the defense can't put it together. The next week, the offense can't get started. We just can't keep doing this and expect to win football games."

The atmosphere was strange in the locker room last Saturday. The Crimson defensive unit had been superb. It had strangled Dartmouth's nationally-rated offense. It had scored Harvard's only touchdown on a blocked punt. It had done a job that would have won Harvard the game if the offense had been able to supplement its efforts. But the offense hadn't. The defense knew it and was frustrated. The offense knew it, too.

So now Harvard's dreams of defending its Ivy title are over. Mathematically, Harvard still has a chance, of course, but Dartmouth. Princeton, and Yale are still unbeaten in League play. In 'order for Harvard ever to tie for the title, the three remaining contenders must do an intricate job of killing each other off, and Harvard must win its last four games. The Crimson should be favored against Penn this week, and should beat Brown at Providence three weeks from now. Princeton and Yale will provide much stiffer opposition.

If Dartmouth loses to Yale and either Princeton or Cornell, Harvard can tie it for the championship. But Princeton then must lose to Yale, and Yale must lose to Penn to cause a miraculous four-way tie. It has never-happened before. It would be a mistake to bet on it happening this fall.

Harvard's record stands at 2-3, now, and Yovicsin is wondering how he can hold off the first losing season since he has been at Cambridge. His squad must beat either Princeton or Yale to finish with a winning record, and unless the offense can click, there is some doubt that Harvard can do it.

The Crimson defense clearly needs a healthy Gary Farneti. Cornell knew that he would miss the game at Ithaca two weeks ago, and it patterned its offensive game plan to take advantage of the injury. Tailback Ed Marinaro aimed at the right side of the Harvard defensive line throughout the game, running directly at the spot where Farneti would have been. The results were exactly what Cornell had hoped.

But with Farneti back at linebacker last Saturday, nobody was humiliating the Harvard defense. If Farneti stays in the lincup, nobody will. He seems to have a gift for making the unit cohesive and making it tough. The cornerback play last weekend was the best that it has been all season, and this was partly due to the confidence that Rick Frisbie and Neil Hurley have in Farneti's ability.

The offense, sadly, was as inept as had been feared. It was hard to isolate the problem, but it may have narrowed down to three factors. Quarterback Dave Smith was out, and the change in signal-calling may have thrown the timing off in the line and affected the team's offensive unity. Harvard also may have made a mistake in trying to grind out yardage against a proven defense, using two sabpar backs. Third, Harvard's lack of imagination made it easy for the Indians to dope out the Crimson attack.

Smith's return next Saturday will help the first problem. The second is something Harvard has had to live with since September, and now that fullback Gus Crim is sidelined for the season with an injured kidney, will have to adjust to for the remainder of the fall. But the lack of imagination has bothered Harvard's offense all fall, and unless coach John Yovicsin allows his quarterbacks to open up the Crimson attack, there is little chance that the offense will carry its share of the burden..

The losses to B. U. and Cornell should have told Yovicsin that the offense may not have the consistency to run the sweep with its pristine results, and the loss to Dartmouth has confirmed it. Harvard's attack is much too predictable, and its predictability lessens its success.

From scouting any Crimson game this year. Dartmouth knew that Harvard never passes on first down, rarely on second, and is reluctant to use the bomb. Hornblower and Harrison almost always carry around end on either one or both of the first two plays. On third down and short. Crim usually gets the call. If the yardage is long, the halfback option is used, or a turn-in pass to Pete Varney, or a draw with Crim.

Dartmouth stopped the sweep. It stopped the counter and returned the option pass for a touchdown. It bottled up Varney. It was not the first team to do it. It might not be the last.