Entering Saturday's Harvard-Northeastern gridiron showdown, Crimson football Coach Joe Restic knew he had to solve an age-old mystery: how to break the Wishbone.

Pull too hard in the wrong place, and the 'bone snaps in the wrong way.

On each of their first two possessions, the Huskies came away with the bigger half of the 'bone. Three points the first drive, seven points the next.

Halfback around left end for 12 yards, fullback off right tackle for 23 yards. Snap.

Quarterback keeper off right tackle for five yards, quarterback option past left guard for 10 yards. Snap. Bang.

That's Wishbone football. Run right, run left, run straight up the midddle. Pitch right, option left, fake up the middle. Throw in an occasional pass play to keep the defense honest, but mainly concentrate on hiding the pigskin.

"You take a look, see that they're going to do, how they're going to operate and they have 10 points on the board [already]," Restic said after Harvard's 27-24 triumph at the Stadium.

When run flawlessly, the Wishbone is nearly impossible to defend. Confused linemen, linebackers and backfielders pursue bogus ball toters while the actual carrier breaks away into the open field.

Baffled cameramen aim their lenses right, left, then right again, while radio and TV announcers try in vain to identify the correct ball handler.

Before Saturday, Northeastern had made a gorgeous living on this type of football.

In their first two games of the season, the Huskies cashed in on the Wishbone for 622 yards and two wins. For Northeastern, success comes by trickery.

Indeed, the Crimson "D" was tricked and deceived for the first five minutes of Saturday's contest, but after the coaching staff altered a couple of defensive assignments, the gridders held the 'bone in check the rest of the way.

"You have about three days [to prepare for the Wishbone]," Restic said. "We just didn't have enough time. I don't say that to take anything away from [Northeastern], but it's just the way it is."

Given time--just five minutes--the Crimson was able to regroup.

"We were confused at first how to attack their option," said adjuster Mike von Rueden (six tackles), who had never defensed the Wishbone before the NU game. "We had practiced a certain way and it wasn't working, so we had to switch in the middle of the game."