It's days like these that ruin football seasons for some and make them for others. For in weather that was not fit or otters, Harvard's 17-point talent advantage was quickly negated and Cornell splashed its way to its first triumph in over a year, against a Crimson squad that has to be wondering why it always seems to rain on Saturday in Cambridge.

The first quarter opened the way first quarters on rain-drenched fields are supposed to open. The only meaningful statistic concerned the number of slips and dropped balls, and if rain ever proved more of an equalizer, then Noah composed "Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head."

The Big Red received the opening ickoff, but was unable to do anything against a Harvard defense that was weakened by the absence of devensive and Russ Savage.

Savage has back problems, and his place in the Crimson lineup was taken by Bob Bailey.

On its first defensive possession, Harvard could also do little although Mother Nature did provide Cornell with a helping hand. On third and three from the Big Red 38, Jim Kubacki slipped while rolling out to his left and the first down attempt failed. Jim Kubacki usually doesn't slip.

Second Exchange

After a second exchange of punts, with the rain getting heavier by the minute, Cornell got a well-deserved break.

Rainstorm or no rainstorm, the Big Red had a slight performance edge during the quarter, and they say that God rewards, right?

Right, or at least so it seemed when a Cornell punt and a Crimson personal foul penalty gave Harvard possession on its own three. On first down, the Crimson was again penalized, this time for an illegal shift. Kubacki tried again and this time, Harvard was penalized to the tune of a two-point conversion, with 1:23 remaining in the period.

Clinging to Football

The quarter ended with Cornell clinging to the 2-0 advantage, but none of the players was clinging to the football.

Whoever had made the Crimson a 17-point favorite obviously wasn't a meteorologist.

The Crimson managed its first sustained drive of an afternoon that would have been better spent in bed by moving from its eight to Cornell's 36. But the multiflex offense tends to wilt in the rain and the drive came to a slippery conclusion.

Cornell began to operate from highly unfavorable field position, as a Scott Coolidge punt was downed on the Big Red one, but even the Cornell veer was rendered ineffective by the showers.

If only this were a baseball game, the refs would have called it off.