Division I-aa

Richmond has an improved defense and a balanced attack. The Spiders averaged 220 yards on the ground and 221 in the air in '84. Leading the offense is junior Bob Bleier (Rocky's cousin), who completed 166 of 272 passes (61%) for 1,980 yards. Sure-handed receiver Leland Melvin caught 76 passes last fall, but at a 7:30 a.m. lab last spring he dropped hydrochloric acid on himself and burned a dandy hole in his blue jeans. Nonetheless, Melvin shared the award for the outstanding chemistry student in the junior class, and this summer he did lab research for a professor on—get this!—the downfield chemical shifts of halogenated amine-boranes on the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. Melvin is planning to attend graduate school in chemical engineering. The only question is whether he'll go full time or between NFL seasons.

Another multidimensional player in Virginia is James Madison safety Marshall Barnes. A Navy brat who grew up mostly in Europe, he's a pro prospect, a 6'8" high jumper, a fourth-degree black belt in karate and head of a Guardian Angels branch near his home in Newport News, Va. Barnes models in his spare time, plays several instruments and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in music.

Penn has won or shared three straight Ivy titles, and coach Jerry Berndt should be acclaimed as a miracle worker for the job he has done. The Quakers lose their entire offense and defense—except for tackle Tom Gilmore, who has had 14 sacks over the past two seasons. Yale has returned to form and should be the best of the Ivies. The Elis won six of their last seven games behind a slew of sophomores. Harvard, 5-4 last season, must replace both lines, but the Crimson still has the league's leading ground-gainer, Robert Santiago (822 yards in '84), and its deft quarterback, Brian White. Poor Columbia gave up 387.5 yards per game last fall while gaining only 103. The Lions' hopes rest with new coach Jim Garrett and his son, John, a wide receiver who also plays running back, returns punts and kickoffs, holds for placement kicks and lines up as the fifth defensive back in nickel situations.

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