The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-10-13
CUT out FUMBLING
Minnesota Football Man Are Given
Much Special Practice in
Handling Punts.
Gophers Should Win Decisive Vic
tory Over the Iowa Team
Next Saturday.

The immediate concern Of the Min
| nesota football coaches is the Iowa
game next Saturday. While this is
nom1nally a championship contest,
inasmuch as Iowa is member of the
Big Nine, 1t does not arouse the in
terest that would be elected by real
championship fight. Iowa is unques-
tionably below the grade Of first divi-
sion teams. If Minnesota cannot beat
the haWkeyes she cannot hope to
| make any kind Of a showing against
teams like Michigan, Illinois and
Wisconsin. 1..L 3,
In spite of optimistic reports from
Iowa City following Saturdays game
with Drake, it is hard to see just how
the haWkeyes figure that they have a
look-1n for this weeks game. Does
| this mean that Minnesota has a cinch :?
Yes, If the. team plays the game of
which it is capable. On present form
| Minnesota ought to run up a score
of at least twenty points against
Chalmers men. ...
( Iowa rooters are the optimists of
the earth. They are thrown into
spasms of joy by the merest indication
of strength in their team. Their pro-
fessed confidence that their eleven has
a good fighting chance to beat the
| gophers means nothing. With COM
| parat1Vely green material, Coach
| Chalmers will have performed a her
culean task if he brings up an eleven
Saturday which has better than a one
to four chance Of beating Minnesota.
This prediction assumes that, some
of the faults of Saturdays play will be
eliminated by Minnesota before the
end of the week. 1t is safe to predict
that the fumbling will not be so
marked. Yesterdays practice was en-
tirely secret, but the gophers were
given a lot of special practice in catch
inc Vii i
ness in the play Saturday, but it
should be comparatively easy to elm
mate most of the fumbling. O'Brien,
who is a star quarter in other re-
spects, is weak in handling kicks, ap-
parently because of lack of practice.
A couple of weeks Individual coach
ing in this particular, While it will
not make him perfect, should i'm
prove the speedy back materially.
| All the men who took part in Sat-
urday's game, with the exception OF
Schacht, the giant tackle, were out
yesterday. AS usual on Mondays
| however, the first team took it easy
and had no scrimmage work. The sec
ond and third teams got half an hour
of hard practice in scrimmages. Sic
Harris was out for the first time since
ne was injured some weeks ago, and
ran the second team, showing up in
his old form. A hot fight for the po-
SlClOn OF quarter on the first team is
now due between Sig and O'Brien.
The most serious immediate prob.
lem which confronts DR.. Williams is
that of filling Schacht's place in the
line. The task is the harder because
none Of the substitutes has shown uI
in real varsity form. In the last two
games when Schacht did not play
DR.. Williams put Big Smith at guard
shifting Warren to right tackle The
latter is a reliable tackle, but Smith
does not appear likely to make a sat.
lsfactory guard this year. The com.
bination ought to work well enough
/ against Iowa and Beloit, but i,
Schaht does not get back into the
game before Oct. 81, the chances O:
the gophers against Michigan will be
slim indeed. Yet no man on the re.
serve list is likely to do much better
than Smith in the vacant place. Rus.
sell might prove a slightly stronger
man, but in practice he has shown ne
better form than Smith if as good
Oech is playing a fair game at tackle
put Is still green and does not use hi:
? head enough in defensive work. Rick
er and Pattee also are somewhat be-
low varsity standard. Apparently thu
only thing for the rooters is to pray
for Schacht's recovery. -. :