Now that's optimism.

Yukica exhibited a bit more realism when asked about how his much-publicized, off-season legal battle with the college--which ended in a legal injunction allowing Yukica to coach through the conclusion of the '86 campaign--has affected the team this year.

"Whatever problem I've had is my problem, not the team's problem," Yukica said. "It's all in the past now. All I asked was to coach here, and I've got five games left. It has not affected our football team; it is not bothering our game."

"We've had some tough weeks," the ninth-year coach continued. "We had a good effort against a good team today [Harvard]. "When my place-kicker misses an extra point, you can't tell me that has anything to do [with my personal affairs with the school]."

Color it Crimson: The gridders didn't just dominate the Green on the scoreboard Saturday: a host of other offensive categories were colored Crimson as well.

Harvard led Dartmouth in first downs (24-21), yards rushing (333-182), plays from scrimmage (72-68), and time of possession (30:16-29:44). The Crimson also converted on four of nine third downs, much improved from its dismal performances of the previous two weeks (1-for-14 against Cornell and 4-for-16 at William & Mary).

Surprisingly, the total yards statistic--usually a key factor in a game's outcome--has been a poor predictor of the final score in Harvard's last three games.

Against the Tribe, the gridders were significantly outgained, 396-226, but by less than the 24-0 final score would indicate. The Crimson actually rolled up more yardage than the Big Red two weeks ago (226-216), but still came out on the short end of the 3-0 final score.

And Saturday, Harvard accumulated only 26 more total yards than Dartmouth (439-413), but still cakewalked to victory.

So much for the total yards statistic.

Incidentally, Harvard's 439 total yards against the Big Green was its highest total since the Crimson rolled up 457 yards against Yale in the 1982 Game.

So much for the Dartmouth defense.

Same Time, Last Year: Harvard (2-3 overall, 2-1 Ivy) travels to New Jersey this weekend to take on the Princeton Tigers (1-4, 1-2). And if this year's game is anywhere near as exciting as last year's Crimson-Tigers game, it might well be worth the five-hour trip.

A pair of Rob Steinberg field goals put Harvard up, 6-3, in the first half last year against Princeton, and the lead stood up until late in the fourth quarter. But with Steinberg back in punt formation deep in Harvard territory, disaster struck. The snap from center sailed over the kicker's head and out of the endzone, cutting Harvard's lead to the unlikely score of 6-5.

But on the ensuing Crimson free kick, Princeton's Tom Urquhart scooted 75 yards for a touchdown and a 11-6 Tiger victory.

So much for the kicking game.