What awe-inspiring insights came out of Harvard's 21-16 victory over Columbia on Saturday?

Columbia will be lucky to double its win total from last season, a feat which would bring the Lions a grand total of two wins.

Harvard was very lucky to escape the Stadium with a win.

So, not much can be learned about the team's overall potential, but the game offered much upon which speculation can now be based.

The most entertaining speculation has to be about sophomore quarterback Mike Giardi. On Saturday, Giardi became the first sophomore signal caller ever to start a season-opener for Coach Joe Restic. He didn't disappoint Restic, throwing for two TD's and scrambling for another.

Tick-Tock

No one should be saying that by virtue of his success last week Giardi is destined to become the greatest quarterback in Harvard football history.

But Giardi does have one thing going for him that no other Restic-coached quarterback has had: time. Three years. Twenty-nine more starts. Time.

Injuries? Forget about them for the moment. Common sense? Forget about that for now, too.

Giardi has the time to rewrite the Harvard record books. Right now, just about every Harvard quarterbacking record belongs to Tom Yohe '89. Yohe did not get his first start until the fifth game of his sophomore season.

It's too early to start drawing comparisons between Yohe and Giardi.

That said, here they are:

Spread Giardi's 12-completion, 24-attempt, 174-yard performance over three seasons and he breaks the records for most attempts, completions, net yards gained, touchdown passes, most plays and most total yards.

Now, back to reality.

Can They Catch?: Colby Maher's third quarter touchdown reception on Saturday held more significance than just providing what turned out to be the winning score.