On the Monday before the Cornell game, sophomore Steve Golden, a second-string defensive back, learned that he would start his first varsity game on Saturday with the unenviable task of keying on Ed Marinaro.

There are easier ways to break into the lineup. Marinaro was the nation's leading rusher at the time, averaging over 200 yards a game.

"It was do or die for me," Golden said. "If I could do well, I'd make it. If not, I'd look like a cat's ass."

Golden made it. Freed of his pass defense duties, Golden spent the afternoon keeping Marinaro from breaking loose. He maintained his position despite the flow of the play, and when Marinaro cut back, Golden was waiting for him.

A week later, Golden was back in the lineup, playing in injured Rick Frisbee's position. Dartmouth's quarterback Jim Chasey riddled the Crimson secondary, completing 15 of 26 passes.

"Maybe the defense broke down," Golden said. "We played too far off the line, trying to stop the long pass. You've got to give them something. We gave them short passes."

About 18 of them, he was reminded. "Well, we were beaten by a better team," Golden replied.

Blackman's First Trick

Dartmouth started off a long afternoon for the Harvard defensive backs with a 49-yard touchdown off a halfback pass.

"It was a Mickey Mouse play," Golden said. "But not too Mickey Mouse. It was a touchdown."

Despite Dartmouth's passing game, Golden escaped the game with some individual honors. He led both teams in tackles, dropping Dartmouth ball carriers nine times.

According to Harvard coach John Yovicsin, Golden "really wants to play."

Golden emphasizes his desire. "You can take school half-seriously and foot-gall half-seriously," he said. "I take football very seriously."

Golden almost ended up at a school that takes everything seriously. He originally intended to enter the Air Force Academy, but he ended up at Harvard, supposedly on a ROTC scholarship.

When ROTC began its exit from the Harvard campus, Golden lost his sizable scholarship.

"The thing that really pisses me off is not the money," he said, "it's the idea of ROTC being thrown off campus. The people who kicked it off were saying, 'Let people do what they want.' But they didn't let me do what I want."

Golden is not necessarily against the ends of student radicals, but he isn't too happy with their means.

"I think kids should fight and make it known how they feel. But there are ways to do it and ways not to do it. Blowing up a building or shutting down a university is not the way to do it."

Golden feels that he has become a little more open-minded at Harvard. "I'm usually one to pass judgment quickly," he said. "Coming here, I've gotten a bit more tolerant."

Despite the team's loss to Dartmouth, Golden remains confident. "Against Dartmouth, there wasn't much you could defend against. Against Penn and Cornell, you just have to concentrate on the stars. We'll shut 'em off."