The Harvard football team slogged its way through the muck and mire of Soldiers Field yesterday in a light workout that didn't help Crimson head coach Joe Restic in his search for a starting quarterback. And with the season opener just three days away, the lack of a definite starter is a problem, to say the least.

"Right now I can't say who'll be our starting quarterback Saturday," Restic said yesterday. "There are a lot of guys still in there and I wouldn't want to exclude any of them right now."

The leading candidates are Jim Kubacki, Tim Davenport, Mike Lynch, Steve O'Brien and Paul Halas.

"Not having a regular quarterback really hurts us at this stage," Restic said. "It keeps us from doing the kinds of things we'd like to be doing now. Instead of giving one guy 65 per cent of the playing, we have to divide it among a number of people, which prevents us from making any significant improvement in our offense day-to-day."

Kubacki Favored

Of the five people in contention for the job, however, Restic seems to be leaning towards junior southpaw Kubacki.

Last year Kubacki played with the junior varsity, but in his two years at Harvard he's been hurt more often than not. The lefty has impressed observers in the past week not only with his passing talents but also with his running ability, which could be very useful in an option-type attack.

"Off the Brown scrimmage I could say Kubacki has the edge," Restic said. "But of course things can still change either before or after Holy Cross."

Another big concern on offense for the Holy Cross game is the status of split end Jim Curry. Curry was billed as a preseason choice to be the successor to Pat McInally in the pass-receiving chores, but he was out for two weeks with a pulled hamstring before returning to practice Monday.

"Whether Jim will be able to come around for Saturday with all the time he's missed is pretty questionable," said Restic.

If Curry doesn't start Saturday Jimmy Cannon or George Ticknor will probably get the nod.

Aside from these problems, the rest of the offense has been looking strong. Senior Bob Wagner has taken over Brian Hehir's vacated left tackle post, with Captain Dan Jiggetts on the right. Vets Joe Antonellis and Kevin McCafferty are holding down the guard berths, and the redoubtable Carl Culig is at center.

The offensive backfield looks like it will be the best that the Crimson has had in at least the last three years. Fullback Neal Miller appears destined to return to his explosive form two years after his injury-plagued campaign last season.

At the halves, Tommy Winn appears as elusive as ever, and junior Mark Taylor, who saw a lot of action last year, looks ready to provide a lot of help, and should take a lot of the burden off Winn and Miller.

Tight end will be another strength, with junior Tom McDermott handling most of the duties, and senior John Hagerty also getting a lot of action.