Flexibility a Key
Yohe's athletic ability allows him tremendous flexibility. In addition to football, Yohe played baseball at Crown Point High School in Indiana, and earned McDonald's All-America honors for his work on the basketball court for the team he twice captained.
"Tom's one of the finest athletes I've played with," says halfback Tony Hinz. "He puts incredible pressure on a defense. He can sprint-out, run and to top it all of off, he's a prolific passer."
His athletic ability makes it almost funny watching opponents try to sack Yohe. Tom-be-nimble, Tom-be-quick, Tom throws to receiver beyond the first-down stick.
Combined with his considerable strength and endurance, Yohe's speed makes him tougher to grab than a greased watermelon. When he scrambles, he gives himself more time to see the field.
"He has tremendous poise and vision on the field," Restic says. "The minute it breaks down and he moves, he knows who's going to be open. He has a feel for that. And you don't teach that."
"In our meetings down at the convention, the Ivy coaches get together and the one thing the coaches talked about was how Yohe is dangerous when he's in trouble. Well, I said, 'just don't put him in trouble. Let him stay in the pocket and throw.'"
If the other teams in the league do that, there's no telling how many yards Yohe will throw for in his senior year. But since he already owns the Harvard record book and an Ivy League championship ring from last year's Cinderella season, there doesn't seem much left for Yohe to do.
But there are two Herculean tasks left that Yohe can accomplish that have never been done before.
No QB has ever led the Crimson to back-to-back sole Ivy championships, and no one has ever quarterbacked Harvard to three victories over Yale.
With 11 starters returning from last year's team, anything short of another title will be a disappointment, and Yohe knows it.
"My goal is to lead this team to an Ivy League title," he says simply.
If it wasn't hard enough to shut down Yohe last year, his coaches are incorporating new offensive designs to take advantage of his talents.
"We expect him to do some different things this year," Restic says. "We put some new things in because of his capability. You'll see some new and different action from Yohe this year."
New and different action, but probably the same result. Tom Yohe's Passing Stats 1986
Year Cpl Att Pct Yds Lon g Int TD Soph. 45 102 .441 596 53