But Cody got all of it, and, aided by a brisk wind, the kick split the raindrops and the uprights with yards to spare and gave Harvard a 3-0 lead with 4:11 gone.
Four failed series followed, two by each team, as the abysmal conditions and some rugged defense stymied both teams. After Brown's third unsuccessful drive in a row, Harvard's Paul Scheper blocked Chris Bryant's punt and the Crimson took over at the Brown 36 with less than a minute left in the first period.
St. John opened the second quarter with a bullet to Bill McGlone at the Brown 15. Harvard got no further, however, and Cody came on again, this time for a 31-yd. effort against the wind.
Cody, whom coach Joe Restic selected out of a throng of placekicking candidates in September, nailed another one and a Harvard upset began to look like a real possibility.
The Brown comeback began with 2:50 left in the half, with Millard punting from the Harvard 18-yd. line. Brown's Don Place violated the Crimson protective wall and solidly blocked the punt--too solidly, it turned out. The ball rebounded all the way out of the Harvard end zone for a safety instead of stopping where Brown could have recovered for a TD. The half closed with the Crimson leading by a score more familiar to Fenway than football, 6-2.
After the Brown assault early in the second half, the pace, and the rain, slowed. Harvard reached as far as Brown 22 once, but St. John slipped and fell on 4th and 12 and the Crimson gave the ball over to Brown.
In Harvard's first drive of the final quarter, defensive pass interference against tight end Chuck Marshall moved the Crimson to the Brown 40. Following an incomplete pass, St. John laced a perfect 30-yd. toss to Horner on a post pattern and the split end slipped over the goal line. A fake extra point failed and Harvard trailed 23-12.
Harvard's hopes rose briefly with 7:47 to go, when Bill Lohmiller blocked a Bryant punt and Tony Cimmarrusti recovered at the Brown 8. But the Crimson faltered, St. John throwing an interception in the end zone on third and goal.
Harvard gained its last two points with 1:35 left, when Brown, forced to punt deep in its own territory and fearing another block, had Bryant run out of his own end zone rather than risk a boot.
THE NOTEBOOK
Duke Millard boomed six punts for a 40.1-yd. per kick average....Harvard third down efficiency for the day: three out of 19....Crimson total rushing for the first half: 42. For the second half: 8.