PROVIDENCE, R.I.--Crimson quarterback Brian White dropped back to pass in the second quarter Saturday and spotted split end Mike Madden open nine yards downfield. White hung tough under heavy pressure, and jetted a spiral towards Madden.

As the ball flew downfield, however, a big Brown linebacker tipped the ball--and then a Bruin defensive back pawed the football.

Madden never moved. He waited patiently on the Brown nine for the ball to complete its gyrations.

Finally, the pirouetting pigskin plopped safely into Madden's hands.

That play, perhaps more than any other, typified Harvard's 25-17 victory at Brown Saturday. The Crimson rarely played like the X's and O's on the lockerrom chalk-boards. Not even close.

But when opportunity knocked, the Crimson, like Madden, was ready.

Harvard took advantage of five Brown turnovers. The team capitalized on mistakes. The Crimson did everything that grizzled coaches and has-been announcers tell us you've got to do to win.

It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

Submission

The Crimson never dominated the Bruins. Until the final 10 minutes, Harvard couldn't even put together anything resembling a sustained offensive drive.

Nineteen yards rushing in the first half. Six quarterback sacks for the game. Only nine first downs.

Statistically, Brown burned Harvard all afternoon. "Even though some people [i.e., everybody who saw the game] may feel that in some areas we outplayed [Harvard] and that we were a better football team and all that, that's not true," said Brown Coach John Rosenberg.

"You have to win the football game, and we didn't do it," he said.

Harvard did it. "They did a great job of turning the game around, of turning things and making them go their way," Rosenberg concluded.

And the Crimson was awfully efficient about it. The team's first four scoring drives all began the same way: with fumble recoveries. All of them resulted in a score less than five plays later.