Harvard still has an undefeated intercollegiate football team--that's rugby football, the precursor of American football.

The ruggers defeated McGill University, 27-9, Saturday in Montreal, raising their season ledger to 6-0.

The Crimson also retains the 7-year-old Covo Cup, and leads the Covo series, 4-3. The cup commemorates the oldest American intercollegiate sports competition, which began when Harvard played McGill in 1874.

Resisting the tendency to let down after the emotional wins over Princeton and Dartmouth, and after a seven-hour dirve to Montreal Friday night, the team held together against a tough McGill squad. The forwards matched a strong McGill scrum, with the backs playing aggressively in the open field.

Once again, Charles Bott provided most of Harvard's scoring punch, combining accurate field goal and conversion kicking, with opportunistic loose ball play.

Midway through the first half, after Bott's thirteenth field goal of the season, Greg "Animal" Carey, continued his tenacious play at second line, blocked a McGill kick, scooped up the ball, and raced over the endline for his first try of the season. Bott's conversion made the score 9-0.

Set Up

Wing John Dorgan set up Harvard's second try, forcing the McGill fullback to release the ball with a crushing tackle. Bott, anticipating the play, was there to run in the loose ball.

Bott continued his alert play and pinpoint kicking in the second half. After half-scrum Keith Oberg created a break to the narrow side of the field, Bott punted the ball high in the air, raced under it and caught it and continued down the sideline over the endline.

A similar Bott up-and-under try gave the ruggers an insurmountable 27-0 lead. THE NOTEBOOK: Bott's 23 points raise his season total to 95, out of the team's total of 126... New fullback Keith Whatley, a biology grad student from England, contributed his second consecutive stellar performance. The squad seeks revenge against Brown, who defeated the Crimson last spring in the Ivy Tournament Finals, Saturday morning at Soldiers Field.