PRINCETON, N.J.--Ah, Ivy League football. Three games into the 1998 league schedule, four teams are 2-1, and four are 1-2. Thanks to a 23-22 win at Princeton Saturday afternoon, Harvard is in that four-way tie for first with Princeton, Penn, and Yale.

Statistically, there is no way the Crimson should have been the first team to beat the Tigers at new Princeton Stadium. In front of a crowd of 25,388, Princeton (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) outgained Harvard (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) 460 to 326 yards and dominated the time of possession, 38:20 to 21:40. HARVARD  23 PRINCETON  22

"You look at the statistics and so on, but we're a point short," Princeton Coach Steve Tosches said.

Harvard willed its way to its third straight win, overcoming a 10-0 deficit and using chicanery--a 41-yard touchdown on a halfback pass by junior Chris Menick--to beat a team Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said may be physically superior.

"We don't have the weapons we had last year, and anybody that watches us on a regular basis can see that, "Murphy said. "We've become a very mentally tough, resilient football team and have played very well in the fourth quarter and second halves of the last three games. I thought this was a character win."

The Menick pass came with 14:22 left in the game. Harvard started the drive at its own 19-yard line and advanced by alternating runs and passes. The play before the touchdown was a 12-yard pass by junior quarterback Rich Linden, who got the ball to sophomore fullback Chris Stakich although Princeton linebacker Chuck Hastings tipped it.

On the next play, Menick got an even more unconventional completion after he took what looked to be an option pitch right but then dropped back to pass. Menick ran 19 times for 56 yards on the day against a Princeton defense that entered ranked No. 2 against the run, and one of those carries made him Harvard's second-leading career rusher. But his biggest contribution came from his right arm.

He floated a spiraling pass that sophomore receiver Josh Wilske adjusted his stride to catch, and Wilske dragged a defender the final two yards for the score. It was Menick's first career touchdown pass and Wilske's first career touchdown reception. The point after gave Harvard a 23-19 lead.

"Actually, we just put that in this week because we anticipated they would come in hard and blitz a lot, and it's exactly what they did," Menick said. "As soon as the pitch came out, I Had my eyes on Wilske, and the guy covering him even came up, so I just planted it and chucked it, and he was wide open and made a great catch."

Saturday was a break-out game for Wilske, who caught five passes for 88 yards, including a crucial third-downconversion on Harvard's first scoring drive.

"We always spend a lot of time on specialplays," Murphy said. "We're not geniuses, Iguarantee you, but we always feel like specialplays are the type of thing that even if theydon't work, they're going to loosen things up,make them aware of our other personnel and takethe pressure off of Rich Linden and Chris Menick."

"I'm reading option all the way, and I see himpull up," Princeton captain and defensive linemanDan Swingos said. "I get my guy off me, and I getthere a second too late, he'd already thrown thatball. All you could do was hope. It was a heartbreaker."

The Tigers came back with a field goal on theirnext possession to cut the lead to one with 11:00left in the game. Placekicker Alex Sierk kicked a30-yard field goal after Princeton ran the ball onthird-and-seven and came up short. The big gaineron the 60-yard drive was a 39-yard completion fromquarterback John Burnham to tight end DjordjeCitovic.

Princeton had three more chances to win, buteach time the Tigers' drive fell short. Sierkattempted a 46-yard field goal with 5:26 left thatmissed wide left. Harvard forced a three-and-outwith 3:55 left in the game, and junior safety BenGreen intercepted Burnham to seal the game with1:23 remaining.

The Tigers drove to the Harvard 45-yard line onthat last possession, but a false start andincomplete pass left second-and-15. Burnham missedhigh, and Green's first career interceptionpractically fell into his lap. It was just thelatest late-game miscue by Burnham--two of histhree interceptions coming into the game ended inPrinceton overtime losses.

Harvard ran out the clock to seal the win, andjunior quarterback Rich Linden turned to thesideline and pumped his first in joy as histeammates mobbed him. Linden, who had struggled inthe first five games of the season, finally lookedlike the quarterback of last year and finished15-of-28 for 186 yards and two touchdowns.