"Holy Cross hates us. They have a vendetta," said Collins.

Perhaps, too, Holy Cross wanted to bolster its national standing, and to pad individual stats.

But that is no Jusitifcation. The irresponsible actions of the Holy Cross football program marred a fine job of coaching preparation by Duffner, and took attention away from the tremendous performances of quadruple threat Gordon Lock-baum, and quarterback Wiley.

Duffner was obviously elated by the game's outcome. "We're very pleased with our offense that we could score so many points," he said. Did he feel that he was running up the score? "No."

Restic, as usual was gracious in defeat, far more gracious than I would have been. "There are two sides to this game," he said, "and you have to be able to accept both sides." Was he antagonized by Duffner's punitive coaching style? "Not at all."

In the postgame press conference, Duffner also said, "I'm very proud of my staff." But his coaching staff--at least those who sat in the press box during the game--rivalled Duffner for classlessness.

Despite an unspoken code of quiet in the pressbox, the Holy Cross coaches whooped it up every chance they got. They clapped, laughed, and hooted throughout the game. They were studies in contrast to the Harvard coaches in last week's blowout of Columbia; in that game, the Crimson coaching staff was coldly clinical, quietly analyzing the game and the Harvard players.

As I was leaving the pressbox Saturday after Harvard's lopsided loss to the Crusaders, a staff member from the Holy Cross Sports Information office mocked Harvard, and told me, "It's a big boy's game."

He was right. But maybe Holy Cross "boys" just aren't big enough.