The Big Red Machine

In its latest weekly review of college football, the N.C.A.A. newsletter sums up the season so far by asking: "Will any major-college rushing record survive the thundering feet of 1971's remarkable runners?" It does not seem likely.

Two weeks ago, Oklahoma's ground troops, led by Halfback Greg Pruitt, who is averaging an all but unbelievable 11 yds. a carry, rode through Kansas State for 711 yds. to shatter a 23-year-old record. The following Saturday, Michigan State's fleet Eric Allen broke away for four long touchdown runs against Purdue to set an individual single-game rushing record of 350 yds. It was the 22nd time this season that a major-college back has run for 200 or more yds. in a game; by comparison, in seasons past such celebrated runners as S.M.U.'s Doak Walker and Syracuse's Jim Brown never once topped the 200-yd. mark.

Significant Gain. For sheer grind-it-out glory, though, the Year of the Runner belongs to Cornell's Ed Marinaro. Though he ran for more than 200 yds. in three of the season's first five games, the brawny (6 ft. 21 in., 214 Ibs.) tailback made his most significant gain against Columbia in the Big Red's sixth game. It was a routine 3-yd. plunge in the first quarter, but it bettered by 2 yds. the career rushing record of 3,867 yds. set by 1969 Heisman Trophy Winner Steve Owens at Oklahoma. Two quarters and 132 yds. later, the Big Red's machine became the first ball carrier in major-college history to top 4,000 yds. Then, with the score tied 21-21 and the ball on Cornell's 32-yd. line, Marinaro chewed out 44 more yds. on nine straight runs to set up a field-goal attempt by Place Kicker John Killian. Killian's 37-yd. boot gave unbeaten Cornell a 24-21 victory and capped a remarkable 272-yd. performance by Marinaro.

Last week the nation's leading ground gainer continued apace, rushing for 176 yds. in Cornell's 21-7 win over Brown. That gave him a season average of 211 yds. a game and an odds-on chance to break the record of 174 yds. set by San Francisco's Ollie Matson 20 seasons ago.

Triple-Threat Attack. If Marinaro were piling up his yardage in the Big Ten, he would be a shoo-in for this year's Heisman Trophy. As it is, the patsy image of the Ivy League makes him at best only a slight favorite to take the trophy. Though no Ivy Leaguer has won the Heisman since Princeton's Dick Kazmaier copped the honor in 1951, Yale's Calvin Hill lent the league some luster when he joined the Dallas Cowboys three years ago and ran off with the N.F.L.'s Rookie of the Year award. Surveying Marinaro's statistics, one pro scout says: "You can knock the Ivies, but that is a lot of yards even in dummy scrimmage."

Those yards often come the hard way. This season Marinaro has been hitting the line at a withering clip of 39 times a game. Asked why the other Cornell backs don't run the ball more often. Backfield Coach Carmen Piccone says: ''Why use a cap pistol when you've got a cannon?" Head Coach Jack Musick agrees. When Marinaro first came to Cornell from New Milford, N.J., Musick revamped his offense into a Power I formation to take advantage of the muscular tailback's bulling power and long, tackle-busting strides. Lining up directly behind Quarterback Mark Allen and Blocking Back Bob Joehl, he is the key to what amounts to a triple-threat attack: Marinaro into the middle, Marinaro off tackle and Marinaro around end. "Our offense is nothing but that old 3 yds. and a cloud of dust," says Piccone. "But with Ed running the ball, it becomes 5, 6, even 12 yds. and a cloud of dust."

Marinaro, who lifts weights before each game to "get my blood going," needs all the muscle he can muster. Running behind the lightest offensive line (average weight: 209 Ibs.) in the league, he is the constant target of blitzing linebackers and stacked nine-man defenses. "Ed is a marked man." says Musick. "He gets more late hits and piling-ons than anyone I've ever seen." It may be true that some Ivy League defensemen couldn't raise a welt on a waterboy, but the pro scouts are flocking to Cornell games, and Marinaro is virtually certain to be a first-round draft pick. Marinaro says he "won't be disappointed if I don't win the Heisman. I feel I'm the best now. but all I can do is put all those yardage figures in front of the men who vote." If yards were ballots, Marinaro would win by a mile.

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