With four of the five starters in the offensive backfield graduating this year, junior quarterback Mike Giardi might feel a little lonely next season.

Or maybe not. Saturday's game introduced junior halfback Esan Simon as a weapon Giardi can depend upon in the future.

Simon started the first game of his career against Lafayette, replacing injured senior halfback Kendrick Joyce. Simon carried 10 times for 34 yards and two touchdowns, scoring on runs of six and eight yards. He also caught one pass for a two-yard gain.

"I got some good runs in there," Simon said after the game. "But the blocking was just superb. [Senior fullback] Mike Hill was tremendous."

At 5'7," 170 pounds, the junior is clearly not a goal-line pile mover. But Simon, who runs track during the offseason, is the speedy burner the Crimson hasn't had for most of the season.

Simon is most effective when he can get outside. Both of his touchdown runs were runs to the right side, where Simon was able to accelerate around and past the Leopard defense untouched.

Unfortunately, seven of Simon's 10 carries were handoffs up the middle, totaling 27 yards. Why Coach Joe Restic decided to send his burner up the middle that often is his own business.

At any rate, Simon earned his stripes. He sprained a ligament in his right thumb and sported an impressive bandage after the game.

But he'll be back, long after Joyce, Hill and Captain Robb Hirsch are gone.

I Wanna Be Like Mike: It's almost heresy to say that Giardi is not getting his due. But if not for superquarterback Jay Fiedler of Dartmouth, Giardi would be--no contest--the best quarterback in the Ivy League.

Against the Leopards, Giardi completed 15 of 18 passes for 220 yards and a TD. In the second half, the Mather junior was 10-of-10 for 111 yards.

Giardi also led the team in carries with 18 (for 39 yards). But that number is abnormally high: Because he is under pressure so much, designed pass plays all too frequently turn into helter-skelter scrambles for survival.

Just think of what he could do with protection.

Without the comfort zone most signal-callers enjoy, Giardi takes it upon himself to move the ball no matter what the cost is to his body. Unfortunately, Giardi's high-risk playing style makes him, well, a high risk.

He has a curious penchant for fumbling at the worst times. Lafayette in the fourth quarter last Saturday. Army last year.