If he's looking for early momentum, he won't be able to look to any regulars at the still positions. But the Dartmouth establishment seems sold on the replacements for the graduated passing combinations of Jeff Kemp and Dave Shula. Rick Stafford--who looked very impressive in last season's finale against Princeton--will get the nod 'at QB. He'll be gunning the ball to Shawn Teevens, a starting wide receiver last year and to any combination of John Idzik, Ray Murphy and John Okeniczik. As directed by Yukica's multiple I to a trio of backs--Shawn Maher, Dennis Ruck, and Rich Lena look to be starters with Peter Lavery at backup.

Should the offense gel, the Big Green could develop into a legitimate contender in this year's race; with eight starters and 10 of 11 back-ups returning, defense looks imposing, especially in the secondary.

Brown head coach John Anderson blinked once, and his entire offense disappeared. In fact, both the offensive and defensive units were hit hard by graduation, with the offense returning three starters and the defense just four. Although the backfield of Quarterback Larry Carbone and company is gone, the replacement could put as many points on the board. Junior Dave Flanders, who saw some action last fall and played a full game against URI, will step into the quarterbacking role. He will throw to tight end Steve Jordan, who snared 26 passes for almost 500 yards last year--and split end Mike Campbell--who grabbed 29 tosses, three for touchdowns.

The defensive is at least as suspect with almost each position an unknown quantity. Still, Anderson--coached squads have a reputation for aggressive and skilled defense, and the coaches are counting on sophomores off a 5-1 freshman squad to fill many of the holes on both sides of the ball.

Cornell coach Bob Blackman is another Ivy replace 20 of his 22 starters. For this reason alone, Cornell cannot be considered anything more than a dark horse to finish in the top half of the League. "In 35 years of coaching I've never had so few returning starters. We lost 20 starters and 35 seniors. In many positions we lost our two top players," Blackman said last week. The Big Red has, in addition, lost several key players to pre-season injuries including three of the top four quarterback candidates. "As for quarterbacks, I very honestly have no idea at this time," Blackman said. Prime contenders would have to be Chris Metz, Doug Fusco and Andy Schraer, but Blackman isn't saying who he's leaning towards.

Penn and Columbia have been bad for so long that nobody even takes them seriously; instead, observers group them together when they talk about the Ivy basement, laughing derisively at the Quakers and Lions. Well, you won't get any promises here, but this may be the year for one or both of those squads to climb out of the bottom two.

Penn head coach Berndt--in his first year with the Quakers--has instituted an entirely new offensive and defensive system which he hopes will revitalize last year's 1-9 squad. Berndt last week cited a new commitment from the Penn administration, including the President, and "an air of excitement and enthusiasm" as evidence of an eventual resurgence of Penn grid fortunes.

"We feel the strength of the team will be on defense and with the running backs" Berndt said, while noting that the offensive line must be completely rebuilt. Columbia--which also finished 1980 at 1-9--has a few simple goals for the upcoming season under second-year mentor Bob Naso. "We aim to be an improved football team," Naso said. "Some people around here felt Columbia at times played well even though we lost, I can't be satisfied with that. I was very disappointed with the way we played last year."

Columbia certainly should have the horses to improve on last year's record. Most of the offense returned with junior Peter Rappa and sophomore John Witkowski penciled into the quarterback slot. Equally impressive, the two may split the duties all season.

Second-team all-Ivy tailback Joe Cabrera leads the backs, while soph Jim McHale--"bona fide 4.5 40," says Naso--will provide quick yardage from the same position. Fullbacks Jim Pritchard and James Powell fill out the backfield.

Even with the tough odds Naso remains confident, even keeps his sense of humor. "I just hope we can make it exciting for people," he said wistfully. "Actually I don't care who we upset so much as long as we win a few."

Keep on slugging, Bob