He touches the ball on every offensive play, but as the most interior of interior linemen, Sam Jensen gets little publicity. And he doesn't mind a bit.

"That isn't what I play football for," the senior center says, "I play football to win games. There's nothing like winning a football game."

It's this drive that turns a Clark kent-style French horn player into a mighty center, able to flatten opposing noseguards in a single pounce.

Off the field, the Bloomington, Ind native has a distinctively mild-mannered approach to life. "He's like a country boy, very easy-going, a very friendly person," says left guard Ben Thio. "He smiles a lot and just does his job."

Friendly? Easy going? Smiles a lot? "Yes, except when he plays in the game," offensive line Coach Dick Corbin says.

On the field, he becomes the man of steel. "He's had to block lot of strong noseguards," Corbin adds, "He has to make a lot of important blocks."

It's his job on the noseguard that determines the success of Harvard's counter plays, plays on which wingback George Sorbara has built an eight yard per carry average.

And Jensen's the one who springs the trap up the middle that fullback Rob Santiago runs so successfully.

The 6-ft., 5-in., 235-pounder broke into the starting lineup four games into the 1983 season, beating out then-senior Jhon Francis. And he keeps getting better and better.

"He's improved over the last couple of years about two-fold," says Corbin.

The competition with Francis, who now helps with the freshman team, was pretty friendly, Jensen says, "Last year we helped each other out." This year, Francis continues to help by watching the opposing noseguard from the sideline and reporting his findings to Jensen.

But it's emotional, not technical football that most interests Jensen. He prefers the simple one-on-one, man-to-man combat that happens when the opponents use a noseguard rather than an even-numbered line. Says Jensen, "I never have to think about who I block."