A pall of dejection hung over the Harvard side of the Stadium, making what was an already gloomy enough Saturday afternoon even gloomier. It was only moments into the Harvard-Dartmouth game, but Crimson fans were already fidgeting in their seats, secretly moaning, "Oh no, not again."

Harvard halfback Tommy Winn had fumbled the ball away to the Big Green on his own 36, and Dartmouth, wasting no time in taking advantage of the opportunity, stormed through the Crimson defense in just five plays for a quick 7-0 lead.

Things didn't look any better when, on the ensuing series, Harvard quarterback Jim Kubacki overthrew two open receivers and managed a one yard gain on third down necessitating a Crimson punt. Harvard fans had witnessed this scenario all too many times before. An underdog Dartmouth squad, super-psyched, outplaying an overanxious Crimson team that was making costly mistakes.

But only for those opening minutes was this game going to be a replay of those frustrating, painful experiences.

Harvard pulled itself together, and went on to a crushing 24-10 victory over the Big Green. The triumph makes Harvard the only undefeated, untied team in the Ivy League, at 3-0 and pushes Dartmouth back into also-ran status with a 1-1-1 mark.

On the next Harvard possession, Winn, quickly shedding his scapegoat role, burst through the Big Green line for 21 yards, bringing the ball to the Dartmouth 25.

The Crimson moved inside the Green ten and on a third-and-goal at the five, Crimson quarterback Jim Kubacki hit a wide-open Bob McDermott in the end zone to knot things at 7-7, and Harvard was off and running.

Oh, Dartmouth did retaliate with a field goal, a wind-aided 49 yard job early in the second period to reclaim the lead, 10-7, but one could sense that the day was going to be Harvard's. Perhaps it was a let down after last week's emotional tie with Brown the week before, but whatever it was, Dartmouth didn't seem to be playing with the same fervor that usually characterises its performances against Harvard.

"They just weren't hitting as hard as we expected they would," linebacker Eric Kurzweil said. "Even though they got that quick touchdown, we knew we were outhitting them, and that generated confidence in our defense. We knew that they weren't going to move on us after that, and we gradually started getting to them."

Harvard charged right back after the field goal, marching 80 yards in 11 plays. Winn slashed his way to successive gains of 12, 11 and 8 yards, right through the heart of the vaunted Green defense, and the ball was on the Green 30. Two plays later Kubacki went off left tackle for 13 yards, and the Crimson was down to the 17.

Two plays after that, Kubacki again found his main man of the afternoon tight end McDermott, in the end-zone, for a 14-10 lead.

The turning point of the game, however, came in the last 30 seconds of the first half. Dartmouth took over on its own 20 after a Harvard punt. But instead of running out the clock and settling to lick its wounds with a four-point deficit at the half, the Green inexplicably tried to pass.

The result was an interception by Crimson linebacker Tommy Joyce, who was tackled at the Dartmouth 19 with 15 seconds to go in the half. In came the offense, and on the first play, Kubacki threaded a pass between two Dartmouth defenders to McDermott, who made a diving catch just inside the end line for his third touchdown of the game.

"It was tremendous, just tremendous," an exuberant McDermott said afterwards. "I was the secondary receiver most of the game, but they were doubleteaming Jim Curry. That left me open, and Jim (Kubacki) just hit me."

That made it 21-10, and changed the entire complexion of the contest.