Harvard Cimson (1988)

OK, time for another spin o' the random number generator and another pull from the hat to see what random team from a random season we randomly come up with ...

1988 Harvard? Eh, work with what you got, I guess ...

The Team: The '88 Crimson went 2-8 overall, 2-5 and tied for sixth in the Ivy League just one year after going 8-2 and winning the Ivy crown (the fifth and final title for famed coach Joe Restic). Columbia and Brown were the lucky victims.

The Players: Quarterback Tom Yohe threw for 1,677 yards, about 500 fewer than his '87 total. He was the Crimson's all-time leader in passing yardage at the time of his graduation, and is still fourth today; he's also sixth all-time in TD passes. Yohe later was a Fox Sports producer before he passed away in 2014 after battling pneumonia. Defensive linemen Jim Bell and Don Peterson were first-team all-Ivy, while WR Neil Philips and OL Sean Sensky were second-team selections.

A 1988 Harvard schedule.

The Coach: Joe Restic is the second of only THREE coaches to patrol the Harvard sideline since 1957 (after John Yovicsin and before Tim Murphy), lasting from 1971-93 while going 117-97-6. He designed the "multiplex" offense, a game plan based on multiple formations and shifts designed to conjure opponents. From Wikipedia: "In 1979, a professor and former Harvard quarterback, Larry Brown, created a class titled Fundamentals of Multiflex Offense to explain the maneuvers of the strategy. Some of the students included the Crimson's defensive players." Before arriving at Cambridge, Restic coached the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1968-70, going 22-17-3.

The 1988 Harvard-Yale program,
with ticket stub to boot. Yale prevailed, 27-17,
at Harvard Stadium.

The Uniform: The jerseys and pants, of course, look a lot like what the Crimson wear now, pre-Nike Pro Combat and the ilk. I never cared for the helmet, though, with the bland "H" inside a hockey rink, first used in 1975 and modified in '80. Murphy changed the logo to a black block "H" in 1994, which, with a few modifications, Harvard has worn to this day.

The Aftermath: Harvard never had another winning record under Restic, who retired after the '93 season. Under Murphy, the Crimson has won or shared nine Ivy titles.