"Carm [Cozza] has always said that Hill is the only player he has ever seen who can play any of the 22 positions on the field and play them well," Dowling says.

With Dowling, Hill and Bruce Weinstein, who would also play professional football, the Elis rolled to a perfect season in 1968.

Led by the late coaching legend John Yovicsin, Harvard also put together an unexpectedly undefeated season, boasting one of the nation's best defenses, dubbed by journalists the "Boston Stranglers."

When the Crimson and Elis met on Soldiers'Field, the game promised to be one of the mosthyped ever. The demand for tickets was so greatthat Harvard did not provide passes for allHarvard alumni who graduated after 1949.

Of course, the contest's pre-game hype couldnot match up to what actually happened.

With 42 seconds left in the contest, Harvardmust address itself to the Crimson gods--Harvardneeds nothing short of a miracle. The Crimson isstill down 29-21 and it desperately needspossession.

Harvard safety senior Tom Wynne wouldusually kick the ball off. But, in this situation,defensive back Ken Thomas, the Crimson's onsidekick specialist, readies.

Thomas boots the ball. It squibs along thegrass for about 10 yards and then, perfectly,shoots up into the air. Yale's Brad Lee bobblesthe ball and gets hit by Harvard's Joe McKinney.Crimson sophomore Bill Kelly jumps on the ball togive Harvard possession at the Yale 49.

Champi, takes the field. On the series'first play, the quarterback does what comesnaturally to him. He scrambles and picks up 14yards, and a facemask penalty on Yale adds 15more. With 32 seconds left in regulation, theCrimson has first and 10 on the Eli 20-yardline.

Champi throws two consecutive incompletepasses, and Gatto, the Crimson's captain, returnsto the game, ignoring a painful leg injury.

Crim gets the call on a draw play, gapes atthe enormous hole in front of him and gallopstowards the endzone for a gain of 14 yards. Firstdown. With 14 seconds left on the clock, Yalesacks Champi, and Harvard has only three secondsto salvage victory from defeat.

Champi lines up. He takes the snap andscrambles. The gun sounding the end of regulationfires. The number one receiver on the play isCrim, but the fullback has three Elis ready tobatter him if the ball comes his way. Champireadies a toss to Crim, but pulls his hand back atthe last second. Instead, he scrambles a littlemore before firing a pass to the Crimson'scaptain. Gatto hauls in the football in the cornerof the endzone to cut Yale's lead to two points.Just two points.

"When I look back on that game," Tom Wynne `69says, "there are so many moments that flash backbefore my eyes. It felt like there were over100,000 people there."

Wynne owns a record of a broadcast of thatgame. He says he listens to it with fondnessperiodically. For Wynne, now a prosecutingattorney in Fordyce, Arkansas, the game reflectedthe social and political emotion of 1968 and 1969.

"The game was right during the war in Vietnam,and we had lived through the assassinations ofRobert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. thesame Year," Wynne says. "It seemed to be a moreemotional time."