As the Cornell offense sliced across the soggy turf of Harvard Stadium during its first possession Saturday, the Crimson defense--so overwhelming in the previous three games--seemed to have gone into hibernation.

On the very first play from the Cornell 43, fourth-string Big Red quarterback, Doug Fusco, ran an option off right tackle and tossed a lateral--illegally, it turned out--to halfback Alva Taylor, who juked to the Harvard 39. A Harvard personal foul offset the illegal lateral, and Cornell kept the ball at the 39.

Two plays later, Fusco, swinging left this time on an option, hit Taylor over the middle at the Harvard 10. On the next play, Fusco ran off the option for seven more yards, Chuck Durst saving the touchdown with a desperate tackle.

So, with Cornell on the three just four minutes into the game, Harvard stood bewildered at its goal line. The long-awaited rematch after last year's 41-14 humiliation in Ithaca, N.Y., seemed headed for repetition rather than revenge.

But when Fusco swung right on the option this time, the Crimson was ready. Left end Dave Otto sealed the outside and crashed into Fusco. Just as Otto hit him, however, Fusco "made the young quarterback's mistake," as Cornell coach Bob Blacknum said afterwards.

The signal-caller threw a desperation lateral toward Taylor on the right sideline, but junior defensive back Rocky Delgadillo, having read the play, stepped in front of the halfback, tapped the ball in the air and grabbed it. Ninety-three yards later, Rocky had the third longest interception return in Harvard history, Harvard had a 7-0 lead, and Cornell had massive indigestion--no one, it seems, can feed off of this year's Harvard defense.

And though Fusco continued to run the option successfully for most of the first half--a weakness future Crimson opponents are sure to attempt to exploit--Harvard hung tough on this muddy day, the third straight week when the defense nailed down a Harvard victory.

And like last week against Army, when Delgadillo and Mike Jacobs shut down Army's much-heralded target, Mike Fahnestock, the secondary played a pivotal role in the triumph. Perhaps because of the muddy conditions, Harvard lineman and linebackers couldn't penetrate, so it was left to the secondary to plug the gaps.

The secondary responded with its best game of the season. Delgadillo, continuing his remarkable play the last two weeks, collected his fourth interception of the season, and linebackers Bob Woolway and Mark Layden grabbed one apiece. In addition, the starting backfield quartet of adjuster Matt Foley, safety Jacobs, and backs Pete Coppinger and Delgadillo combined for 26 tackles.

The defenders conferred with their coaches at halftime and concocted a plan to stymie the troubling option. It worked; the squad helf Cornell to 26 yards rushing in the second half. Even without middle guard Tony Finan and linebacker Brad Stinn--sidelined with head injuries--the Harvard defense dominated the second half, Woolway, with a new pair of cleats after halftime, swarming over the middle, and Foley turning in a pair of crucial open-field tackles on third-down screen passes.

The victory rates as particularly satisfying for the defense because the entire Harvard squad had dedicated the contest to two ex-defenders, whose careers were ended by injuries last season, Tony Cimmarusti and Jay Foley (Matt's twin brother).

Indeed, this defense had enough honor to spread around. In four games, it had yielded but 41 points, and no more than one touchdown in any single contest. But with Dartmouth--and its feared Kemp-to-Shula passing combination--upcoming next week, the tests continue getting tougher. And against the Big Green, like the Big Red this past Saturday, big revenge will be in order.