"If that's not your goal, you shouldn't even step on the field," he says. Crazy you say? Not really--just enthusiastic.

Keyte's realistic. "We know nothing's going to be handed to us this year," he says. St. John also knows there are many holes, many questions. But now St. John is in the driver's seat. He says he "just looks forward to playing."

There are many ifs, and Harvard has a long way to go before it will be able to match up well against Brown or Yale. Joe Restic knows that; Burke St. John and Jim Keyte know that. But no one says die, no one says, "Buckley's gone and so are our chances." No one but the supposed professional critics: we who call ourselves sportswriters. The press has buried Harvard in '79. But around Soldiers Field there's a growing voice that's shouting, "Hold on a minute. It's not all over. We haven't even started."

Perhaps this optimism stems in part from a commraderie, the kind that minimizes the friction between Keyte and St. John. "I don't think there's real conflict between us," St. John says. "That, in a way, generalizes more of a team attitude this year. Everyone's pulling for the other guy more than themself."

It's been a while since Harvard football players have spoken like that. About three years since there's been that kind of talk.

Now let's see, the last winning season was 1976...