How weak has the Harvard rushing game been the past three weeks?

Well, senior back Jim Reidy hasn't played since September 23 and he's still leading the team in rushing yardage.

Reidy ran for a career-high 139 yards in the season opener against Columbia then added 29 more in limited action against the Crusaders for a total of 168 yards. That's nine ahead of number-two rusher Silas Myers (5 games, 46 carries, 159 yards). Only one other Harvard back, senior Art McMahon, has cracked the 100-yard barrier (150).

Reidy was spotted in uniform at Schoellkopf Field last Saturday--and even donned his helmet after Cornell scored its fourth unanswered touchdown--but he never saw action.

"We didn't want to take any chances," Reidy said after the game.

Reidy is still listed behind sophomore Geoff Fletcher on Harvard's tentative depth chart, but the word is he'll start at halfback against Dartmouth this Saturday at the Stadium.

Myers, meanwhile, left Ithaca Sunday with his left arm in a sling and is questionable for the Dartmouth game. Adjuster Bobby Frame, injured against Army, is still absent from the Harvard depth chart, and back David Haller, who broke his hand against the Cadets, is likely to be out for the season.

Backing Up: The abundance of injuries to top players has forced Harvard Coach Joe Restic to do a bit of lineup shuffling. One of the unfamiliar names now heard on the PA system is Andy Bell, a junior who has emerged to help stop up the gaps at back.

In the past two games, Bell has compiled 109 yards receiving, and his 66 yards rushing is the fourth-best on the pass-oriented Crimson team.

"Any time you lose a player like Jim Reidy, it really hurts your game plan," quarterback Tim Perry said. "Andy's been doing a good job, but when you get down early, you have to pass."

With Harvard down 21 and 14 points after the first quarters of the Lehigh and Cornell games, respectively, Perry has rarely run the ball in the past two weeks. The Crimson had only 58 rushing yards against the Big Red.

On defense, sophomore Sean Koscho has been filling in for Frame at adjuster, and after five games he leads the team in tackles with 40 and is tied with Rick McIntire for most interceptions(2).

Some Good News: It may be reassuring to know that the teams that have beaten Harvard so far this season are good teams--Holy Cross, Army, Lehigh and Cornell all have winning records.

Dartmouth, however, is not quite in the same league. The Big Green had a last-second victory over Boston University in the second week of the season, but otherwise has gone winless to match Harvard's 1-4 record.

With losses to Princeton (in the season opener) and Yale (last weekend), Dartmouth is also near the bottom of the league standings--Columbia and Brown, with three losses apiece, share last place.

In the Ivies: It was a record-breaking weekend in Ivy football action as Penn back Brian Keys shattered four school marks and Princeton's Judd Garrett became the all-time Tiger leader in three categories.

Keys' 249-yard, four-touchdown performance against Brown put him in the Bruin record books for most career rushing yards (2505), touchdowns (32) and points (192). His one-game rushing total also set a new mark.

Meanwhile in Princeton, N.J., Garrett tied the all-time Tiger record for most TDs (31), and set new standards with 188 career points (188) and 2742 rushing yards.