Accordingly, Restic attempted to come up with a little something different for each game, most recently the "quarterback special" against Yale.

It was apparent, however, from the first of the campaign, that Restic's system might not be as easy for the Crimson to master as he had thought. After Holy Cross, the offensive linemen and backs began to voice complaints of "too much thinking, not enough instinctive playing."

One of the most outspoken critics of Restic's system all season was quarterback Rod Foster. Before the Yale game, for instance. Foster commented. "The plays we put in this week would take a whole pre-season training to learn to execute with confidence."

"There was a general uneasiness on offense because of the change from week to week," Ignacio said. "There's so much learning involved that you don't really know what's going to work until Saturday."

Restic did have his admirers on the team, most notably quarterbacks Jim Stoeckel and Frank Guerra. "If you don't like the system, you're not trying hard enough," Guerra contended.

In defense of his system, Restic notes that, in most instances, the Crimson's failure to move could be attributed to a "mechanical failure."

Bad Passes

"The system does not account for the bad passes, the interceptions, and the key blocks missed downfield," Restic said. "Those were the reasons we lost our games this year."

Crimson quarterbacks threw 19 interceptions in nine games, and interceptions figured prominently in each of the four losses.

Restic is so right when he says, "When you're having a bad season, all criticisms of the coach seem justified."

However, one must wonder if Restic's offense, no matter how well it worked for the Hamilton Tiger Cats, can ever be run effectively by the caliber of players at Harvard.

In all fairness, Restic shouldn't be judged on the basis of one season, especially when that season did see so many close games decided by interceptions and bad breaks. And maybe the vast change from John Yovicsin to Joe Restic will necessarily take more than nine games.

We'll just have to wait until next year to see.