Multiflex magician Joe Restic and the Harvard football team, coming to a stadium near you.

It was a show, and for 23 years, Restic saw his name up in lights, on top of a constantly-changing marquee that featured several future NFL players, many young CEOs and hundreds of senior government official wannabes.

It was one of the longest-running shows in Harvard's history and one of its most successful, despite the dwindling gate receipts.

Now, the curtain is going up for the last time in Dillon Field House. And for this, the last performance, the spotlight returns, the gate receipts increase and critics flock to praise the show they damned for so long.

But the show must go on. There is one season of football left to be played in the Restic Era, and this is no Sunset Boulevard finish. Restic is hoping he can go out with a splash; hoping, just once, that he can wish upon a star.

That star is senior quarterback Mike Giardi, called by many (including Restic) the most perfect Multiflex quarterback ever.

The director has his star, the biggest one he can get. But it takes more than a star to make a production. It takes a cast.

Aye, there's the rub.

The offensive line returns as a strength. Giardi--who can argue with him? The passing game looks strong. But the defense is a major question, with just two starters returning ("I have some concerns there," the eternally low-key coach said).

And in the preseason, the running game suffered a major blow when junior Mike Wallace broke his right leg during a tackling drill. Instead of using the preseason to teach the subtleties of the Multiflex to an inexperienced corps of backs, Restic and his coaching staffs must take the time to find a corps of backs to teach.

Expect a slow start to the season, perhaps even--brace yourself--a loss to a very strong Columbia squad (we're serious, the Lions really are good). The later games could either turn out very well or poorly, depending on how well the untested first-year starters do.

But enough about that. With Wallace, an Ivy title might have been too much to hope for. Without him, it's like...wishing on a star.

The Man in the Middle

Harvard's season begins and ends on the shoulders of Giardi. Should he go down, there's no backup quarterback to pick up the slack. (David Morgan '94, the backup quarterback and starting punter for last year's squad, took his

FOOTBALL

Coach: Joe Restic

Captain: Brain Ramer

1992 Overall Record: 3-7-0

1992 Ivy Record: 3-4-0

1992 Ivy Finish: 5th baseball skills to the pros over the summer andsigned with the Toronto Blue Jays.)

Giardi is the Crimson's million-dollar man, thegolden arm, the triple threat. He's climbingthrough the record books in every category. He'sthe only one ever to be named the team's mostvaluable player as a sophomore.

This year, without a proven backfield, Giardiwill be asked to move the offense through the air(with tight end Frank Lilly and split end MarkBegert) and on the ground (on his own, behind hisimproved line).

No pressure, though. Really.

"Mike looks like he's ready to go, looks likehe's ready to do everything," Restic said. "But Idon't want to put too much of the load on him. Ihope we don't."

That's a legitimate concern, and thecounter-balance to burnout is the suddenly castinto doubt running game. Senior Nick Isaacson isthe lone returner who has a carry to his name (10carries, 35 yards in 1992).

Other names are bandied around: TerenceShea...John Castle...Mark Core...WilliamNewell...John Ponosuk...all juniors, except forShea. These players--maybe others by the time theend of the week rolls around--will be the linchpinin Harvard's success.

Look for it as the season wears on. IfHarvard's non-Giardi ground game is gainingsignificant yardage, the Crimson is probablywinning.

The Much-Maligned Line

The offensive line was the real story of the1992 campaign. Everybody knew the line (with justone returning starter) would not be the strengthof the team, but nobody understood just how muchof a problem it would be. Giardi withstood moresacks than a General Electric union worker lastyear and was twice dropped over 10 times in agame, while the rushing game never got on track.

"That killed us. It was always one side or theother," Restic said."

This year, the story has rotated 180 degrees.Instead of a quality backfield with a questionableline, Harvard has a quality line with aquestionable backfield. Seniors David Rogers(6'4", 275 lbs.) and Jason Slavik (6'5", 275 lbs.)anchor the line at tackle, while guard Kevin Fagan(6'2", 255 lbs.) and center Toby Brundage (6'3",240 lbs.) add weight, strength and experience. Allfour were starters last season.

The most important thing an improved line hasto offer is time. Time is yards to the Multiflex,which relies on misdirection and fakes to confusedefenders. With linebackers roaming free in thebackfield last season, plays simply did not havetime to develop.

But if the offensive line is a plus, thedefensive line is a minus--minus four, the numberof starters lost to graduation.

Senior Dehdan Miller (18 tackles, two sacks)and junior Ed Kinney (15 tackles, three sacks),both of whom saw significant time last season, arethe Crimson's strengths at the ends. The insidepositions, however, are wide open.

"We're lacking up front," Restic said. "Weshould be more stable at the ends, but thetackles, guards...that's where we're looking."

Not D-lightful

In fact, Restic is looking at the entiredefense. Besides the lack of established returnerson the line, there are uncertainties in thelinebacking corpsandthe secondary.

"That is an area which we have to revamp,"Restic said. "We have to find people, and thesearch just delays other things we need to do."

Team captain Brian Ramer is just one of tworeturning starters at linebacker, but he is ablyjoined by senior Joe McClellan and a host of othercandidates. In the secondary, senior Jae Ellis isthe lone returner at cornerback, although ChrisAndre (corner) and Kevin Shanahan (free safety)both have experience at their positions.

But at adjuster (strong safety innon-Resticspeak), potentially the most importantspot on the defense, Restic's cupboard is bare ofreturners--or even major letter-winners.

For a position in need of a dominating athlete(Chris Pillsbury '93 is the prototype here), thelack of players has Restic worried.

"We've moved [sophomore] Kevin Dwan back therefrom linebacker, and maybe he can do somethingthere, but it's very unsettled," Restic said.

The defense is simply a question mark. But ifthere is one place a team can afford to haveinexperience, it is on the defense, where fire canoften make up for wisdom.

One way or another, the season will be decidedhere.

The Last Hurrah?

Whether Harvard goes 3-6-1 or 5-5 or 8-2 or0-10, this year is fated to be known as Restic'sLast Year. It will live in the history booksforever, long after this generation of athletespasses from the scene.

More people will be watching. More eyes willscan the scoreboard pages of newspapers andtelecasts around the country. More people willcare.

Funny, then, that Restic doesn't.

"I don't want to put any pressure on any of theplayers," he said. "I want them to play thisseason like they play all the rest of theseasons."

But still, as Restic faces Columbia for thelast time (they really are good this year), andDartmouth, and Brown and finally Yale, his mindwill wander to that inevitable fact: Every time hetakes the field on Saturday he will be seven dayscloser to hanging up the playbook.

This is not a fact lost on the players, whohave repeatedly voiced their desire to win onelast trophy for the aging, gravely-voiced coach.

Ultimately, come late November, Restic willwalk onto the field for the very last time. Thatwalk, he said, will be the most special.

"It's not really going to hit me until I go outthere to midfield and shake hands with [Yalecoach] Carm [Cozza]," Restic said. "Then I'llknow."

So will we all. And then the curtain will fall,the lights will go out, the show will be over.

FOOTBALL: '93 SCHEDULE

9/18  Columbia  1:30 p.m.9/25  at Willaim & Mary  1:30 p.m.10/2  Lafayette  1:00 p.m.10/9  at Cornell  12:30 p.m.10/16  Holy Cross  1:00 p.m.10/23  Princeton  1:00 p.m.10/30  at Dartmouth  1:00 p.m.11/6  at Brown  1:00 p.m.11/13  Pennsylvania  1:00 p.m.11/20  at Yale  1:00 p.m.

FOOTBALL: '92 RESULTS

9/19  at Columbia  27-20  W  1-0-09/26  William andMary  36-16  L  1-1-010/3  at Holy Cross  30-7  L  1-2-010/10  Cornell  31-13  L  1-3-010/17  at Lafayette  31-29  L  1-4-010/24  at Princeton  21-6  L  1-5-010/31  Dartmouth  31-7  L  1-6-011/7  Brown  29-19  W  2-6-011/14  atPennsylvania  21-19  L  2-7-011/21  Yale  14-0  W  3-7-0

FOOTBALL: '92 STATISTICS

Team Statistics

  HARVARD  OPPONENTSPoints:  167  240First Downs:  162  169Passing Yards:  1344  1607Rushing Yards:  1353  1907Total Yards:  2697  3514Penalties/Yards:  56/440  53/459Interceptions By:  14  4Punt Returns/Yards:  20/158  41/357Kickoff Rtns./Yds:  44/869  37/691Punts By/Yards:  65/2261  52/1876Fumbles/Lost:  36/15  21/8QB Sacks By/Yards:  28/155  51/3063rd Down Pct.:  45/143  61/152Avg. Poss. Time:  30:37  29:23

Individual Statistics (Returners inCAPS)

Passing:

Player  Cmp./Att.  Yds  TD  Int.MIKE GIARDI  90/172  1271  4  2David Morgan  7/10  73  0  1

Punting:

Player  No./Yds.  Avg.  Blk.  LongDavid Morgan  64/2261  35.3  0  57

Rushing:

Player  Att./Yds.  Avg.  TD  LngMike Hill  89/391  4.4  4  32Robb Hirsch  96/366  3.8  2  18MIKE GIARDI  181/253  1.4  8  27Kendrick Joyce  75/234  3.1  0  29Esan Simon  16/77  4.8  3  15NICK ISAACSON  10/35  3.5  0  9Chris Taylor  5/8  1.6  1  13MIKE WALLACE  5/4  0.8  0  1Colby Maher  2/3  1.5  0  2RAY MERTENS  1/-18  -18.0  0  -18

Receiving:

Player  Rec./Yds.  Avg.  TD  LngRobb Hirsch  17/126  7.4  1  14Read Hubbard  16/315  19.7  0  50Chris Taylor  14/239  17.1  1  45MARK BEGERT  14/197  14.1  0  26Kendrick Joyce  12/163  13.6  1  45Colby Maher  10/123  12.3  0  22Michael Hill  6/112  18.7  1  49FRANK LILLY  3/40  13.3  0  17NICK ISAACSON  2/14  7.0  0  16Esan Simon  2/2  1.0  0  2PHIL KELLEY  1/13  13.0  0  13

CrimsonAmanda M. DawsonStar senior quarterback MIKE GIARDI alreadyholds several Harvard records and more areexpected to fall during his final campaign. TheHarvard offense will rely on him heavily this yearfor yards.