For the first time since the Columbia game three weeks ago. Harvard's football team last Saturday came up with an acceptable offensive performance.

But the Crimson's frustrating inability to put away a weak Pennsylvania squad, when it had the Quakers on the ropes four times, delayed a certain Harvard victory until the final eight minutes of play, and the Crimson left Philadelphia with a reassuring, but not wildly encouraging, 20-6 triumph.

Punchless

After the offensive debacles of the previous two weekends, any sort of Harvard victory would have been most welcome, and the injury-riddled Penn squad had appeared to be a likely victim. A punchless ground attack kept the Quakers deep in their own territory throughout the game, and Harvard's gradually-improving offense continually forced Penn into poor field position.

The victory evened the Crimson's Ivy record at 2-2, and will probably keep it out of the second division. But a drastically improved Princeton team is Harvard's next opponent, and the type of killer instinct that the Crimson will need to score on the Tigers was not evident at Franklin Field last Saturday.

No Drive

Harvard received the opening kickoff and in seven plays moved 60 yards to a first down on the Penn 10-yard line. But a desperate Quaker line dropped halfback Ray Hornblower on a second-and-six play and stocked up fullback. Tom Miller on the goal line to take over on downs. It was the first of a discouraging series of stalled Harvard drives, and foreshadowed the second consecutive game in which the Crimson has failed to put together a drive for a touchdown.

An aggressive, grudging defense forced Penn to punt immediately, and, after the Quakers intercepted quarterback Dave Smith first pass on the next play, stopped them again.

This time halfback John Ballantyne fielded the Penn punt on the Crimson 39. eluded the first wave of tacklers, and followed a solid blocking wall up the right sideline for a touchdown.

The decimated Penn offense failed to gain a first down, and a 19-yard punt gave. Harvard possession on the Quaker 40. In eight plays. Smith moved the Crimson to the Penn goal, but a holding penalty and an inadequate sweep brought in placekicker Richie Szaro for a 22-yard field goal.

Impregnable

By now, the first period was nearly over, and already the contest was potentially a Harvard rout. With John Brown, a former defensive back, at quarterback because of injuries and undependable substitutes. Penn could not hope to achieve offensive consistency against Harvard's impregnable defensive line. The only chance for Penn to score as much as it had to was to beat Harvard at field position, and poor punts were killing the Quakers.

Bob Monahan, the punter, averaged little better than 33 yards a kick, and since the majority of them were designed to release Penn from trouble, the Crimson was consistently regaining possession near midfield.

Bad field position engendered worse field position, and by the second quarter, it was evident that Penn was not going to win the football game. Harvard would have to lose it.

Early in the second period, however, the Quakers put together their only successful drive of the game, a steady 66-yard march in 14 plays that caught Harvard's defense napping on a pass to split end Pete Blumenthal that brought Penn to midfield. Ten plays later on third-and-nine. Blumenthal got the call again, this time on a perfectly executed end-around play that gave the Quakers a first down on the Crimson 10.

Halfback John Tremba broke loose for the touchdown two plays later from the eight, and Penn was on the scoreboard.

Late in the first half. Harvard began to move again, and again it was the sad familiar cycle. In eight plays Hornblower and sophomore Steve Harrison brought the Crimson from its own 24 to the Red and Blue seven. And Harvard stalled again.

So coach John Yovicsin went to Szaro, and his 24-yard field goal put Harvard ahead 13-6 at halftime.

Horribly Frustrating