HANOVER, N.H.-- The Harvard football team entered Saturday afternoon's contest against winless Dartmouth with just about everything on its side except history--a disheartening five year winless streak against the Big Green made a victory look next to impossible.

Not only had the Harvard varsity not beaten Dartmouth since 1978, but most of this year's seniors hadn't even downed the Green as freshmen. And the anti-Harvard hysteria that accompanied the Hanover Homecoming didn't help much, either.

Even the Crimson gridders seemed affected by the atmosphere. As the unabashedly partisan crowd clearly expected, the visitors didn't put up much of a fight.

But that was in the first half.

And in the second half. The Jinx went by the wayside.

For the Harvard seniors, that was all that counted. Forget Dartmouth's record. A win is always a win, but when it only happens once in six years, a win is a genuine pleasure.

"It feels good to beat Dartmouth--that's as simple as it gets," said senior Mike Pascucci.

"It feels great--we owed it to 'em," said classmate Peter Mackie, who did in fact have a hand in a Crimson victory over Dartmouth when he played on the j.v. squad several years back. "The varsity's lost five years in a row, and that's all that counts."

Tackle Roger Caron, a fifth-year senior, couldn't agree more--he witnessed the progress of The Jinx from its infancy. "I was accustomed to going home after these games--it was a 'wait 'til next year' sort of thing," he recalled without any apparent regret.

And an elated senior Captain Steve Abbott, feeling "fantastic," seemed barely able to wait 'til next week. "We're in the driver's seat," he said of his squad's unblemished Ivy record.

The glee spread even to the ranks of Big Green alumni. Asked whether he liked seeing his alma mater beaten, Crimson Assistant Basketball Coach Peter Roby, Dartmouth '79, replied. "By Harvard? Absolutely, No question."

And of course the Harvard alumns weren't exactly displeased. Three anonymous members of the Class of 1930, ensconced with their spouses in Section 22, took advantage of the fine New Hampshire weather and the fine Crimson play to discuss the intricacies of the Harvard squad.

The men liked senior tailback Mark Vignali right away, but one soprano voice dissented: "Oh, come on, he doesn't have to carry the ball all the time."

They moved on to sophomore George Sorbara, and everyone seemed to agree on that: "C'mon, throw to 40." He even picked up a nickname. "How 'bout old Subaru? Hasn't he carried any?"

In fact, the more venerable part of the audience seemed nonplussed until they examined their companions in the stands.