They have no scholarships to offer, no brand new cars to promise and no fake transcripts to dangle, but despite these handicaps, Joe Restic and the Harvard recruiting corps landed about 55 top freshmen prospects from around the nation in 1981.

The best of the bunch are undoubtedly linemen, a valuable if not crucial part of any football team. "You can't win without linemen," freshman coach Mac Singleton says.

"You always seem to have enough people to play in the backfield, but you can never get enough good linemen."

This year's leading trenchmen should include Francis Duggan (6'1", 235) out of Quincy, a Division I scholar-athlete, who along with Tom Fernandez (6'3", 250), an honorable mention All-American from California, could be protecting the Crimson quarterbacks at guard during the next four years.

Steve Jacobs (6'5", 218) an All-State in track and All-American in Football for his high School in Maryville, Tenn., has played linebacker in the past, but with a little more weight might be converted into a terrifying defensive end.

Another local talent, Peter Mackey (6'6", 230) of Wellesley was a Bay State All-Star tight end in high school, but may end up at tackle if Harbard's tight end situation firms up.

This year's crop of signal callers should be strong as well. Brian Bergstrom, an All-State quarterback and defensive back, turned down scholarship offers from Iowa and Iowa State to grace Soldiers Field.

Bergstrom wowed scouts throughout the country completing 95 of 140 passes for 1,294 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Bergstrom's competition should be found in Anthony Dicesaio, who completed a comparable set of stats (140-267 for 2045 yards and 16 touchdowns) and turned down offers to play professional baseball to come to Cambridge.

But despite all the numbers and all the past honors, anything can happen under the rigors of Harvard's social and academic life.

As Coach Singleton pointed out, "You never know how good they are until they get here and play."