The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-11-07
SPORTING NEWS.
Work of the Big Football Teams
Being Pushed.
Princeton Looks Best to a Dis
interested Observer.
YALE CANNOT PUNT.
Eleven Did Too Much Fumbling
With West Point.
Harvard Thought to Be Weak
est of the Three.

New Haven. Conn.,. Nov. f-1 ale >
collapse at West Point came as the
greatest shock of the year to the foot
ball followers. The fact that during the
second half West Point had the ball in
Yale territory all the time and that the
cadets had the ball inside the 20-yard
line six times leads Yale men to cali the
game practically a victory for West
Point. The eleven will be thoroughly
ovrhauled. The first measure taken Will
be to obtain as coach for the time before
the Princeton game Gordon Brown,
captain of last seasons team Brown
was Yale's most aggressive captain In
recent years and Yale men think he can
put the team upon it's feet if anybody
can.
Two of Yales past masters in the art
of punting, Bull and Butterworth, have
been sent for to change the most vital
defect in the team-pOOr kicking Inc
exhibition given on Saturday was the
worst by a Yale eleven in ten years
Weymouth failed to punt more than
fifteen yards in the second half. Olcott
is crippled as far as ability to punt IS
concerned and nobody on the eleven
can punt forty yards The puntlng
coaches will hold a conference to decide
what to do to install firstclass kicker
on the team. The punting problem is
the most pressing to- be solved by the
coaches at present.
Unless the fumbling fault is corrected,
in which to convert the offenders, Prince
ton will aSsuredly defeat Yale. The
coaches who toll at New Haven might
as well make up their minds to that
Even if the fumblerS repent and turn
over a new leaf, Yale will have her
hands more than full to hold her own
against the Tigers, for Yale'S line did
not prove so strong on Saturday as had
been expected. The giant Glass did not
dispose of Riley so easily as was antici-
pated, and he showed little of that abil-
ity to. drag runner along with MN
that he has displayed in smaller games
He is yet far from being a HeHelnnger-
His ground gaining abilities are of no
value whatever If they are to be neu-
tralized by slOvenly handling of the ball
Princeton, on the other hand has rea-
son to congratulate herself on the result
of the contest with Cornell View it how
you will no one can say that superior
playing ability induced victory to perch
on the orange and black banners. The
game was won in the last few breath
less minutes. as night was descending
upon the players, by a sheer stroke OF
luck that might just as well have turn
ed the other way Little Brewster hes
itated because the ball appeared just as
likely to fall across the goal line as in
front of it, in which case Cornell would
have been entitled to a touchdown in
stead of having to take it just outside
her own goal line Chance kept the pig
skin bounding uncertainty in front of
the line until Brewster was forced to
seize it to keep Princeton from getting
it, and the little quarterback was then
forced across for a safety, thereby los
ing the game. 1t was a great stroke of
luck for the Tigers, and if they do not
thank their little gods, why, then they
are. most ungrateful lot 1t appears
to have been a close thing between the
two rush lines. but if any advantage
existed it was in favor of the Ithacans.
At the very time it was most needful
for the Tiger rush line to hold, namely,
when De Witt prepared to punt from
the 8-yard line. the Cornell forwards
were through like a flash, blocked the
punt and carried the ball across for
hand, Princeton's touchdown was due
to a trick play, the delayed pass, which
was skilfully worked to score from the
30-yard line. In the kicking department
Brewster put it on De Witt a bit All
this does not mean that Princeton will
not beat Yale. She surely will if the
Ellis tumble as they did on on Saturday.
Old Nassau's football season is now
we'll on toward the end, and but three
games remain on the schedule. The
preliminary games and two of the hard
experience received in the latter has
given the players an idea of what lies
before them next Saturday, when they
face the West Point team. and the fol-
lowing Saturday, when they line up in
the championship game with Yale.
Harvard's big score against Brown is
no proof that the Crimson is improving
rapidly. for Brown has not been so
weak in years, but there are other rea-
sons for believing that the Cambridge
players are rapidly rounding into shape
to give a good account of themselves.
1t is doubtful if they win either of the
games with Princeton or Yale, for the
latter team has a way of taking a big
brace" in the last few days of a season,
and it may be big enough to beat
Princeton, but at the present writing
Princeton looks the best of all.
Pennsylvania is the watchword at
Harvard. and the team is working it's
hardest in preparation for the big con-
test next Saturday. Tho coaches are
making every effort to get the team to-
gether. It is thought by the under
graduates that the Quakers will not be
as hard as in years past, but the coach
es are not so cheerful They are in
clined to believe that Penn has been
bluffing.