The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-11
9 Eastern Football Teams
Ready for the Grind.
How They Loom Up for the
Playing Year of 1904.
COLUMBIA is STRONG.
Shows Best Early Form of All
the Elevens.
Yale Expects the Best A ggrega-
t ion OF Years.

New York, Oct 1.-THE football sea-
son is in full swing. and. while the men
are not yet tuned up to full concert
pitch, games enough have been played
to give an idea of what may be expect
ed in a general way. and to form some
sort of a line on the various teams
OF all the teams Columbia, perhaps,
shows the best early form. Merely has
got promising lot of new material and
goes in with a good nucleus of the best
of last years strong team. He has
worked them hard and intelligently, and
1t is not improbable at this time that
the Blue and White would be hard to
beat by any team now playing. One
fault by Columbia far is a lack of
unison between the line men and the
backs. The men behind the line start
quickly, but apparently do not go as far
as they might. An exception is Thorpe,
who never stops going, and who is as
promising tackle as there is on the
Held this season But the want of har-
mony is only occasional. Consistency
cannot be expected in every play at this
season OF the campaign. The defensive
work of the backs is not good, but there
is some pretty interference for quarter
back runs On the whole. the Column
bla team shows more Self-reliance and
finish than a year ago, and the faults
are such as can and will be cured.
Slow improvement is what Coach
Morley is aiming for. With a schedule
which includes four big games with
Yale, Pennsylvania, Cornell and Michi- |
gan. lasting until THANKSGIVING, Column
bias progress has got to be slow or else
the men will go stale, both in physical
condition and in playing ability we'll
The Princeton authorities are much
encouraged by the showing made by
the eleven in their games so far. The |
tactics of the Princeton coaches for |
the next week will be to strengthen the |
defense, and, now that Coach Hide |
brand is here, it is expected that he |
will devote considerable time to this |
end.
Princeton's offensive work is little |
short of superb, and the coaches are
more than satisfied with the develop |
ment in that department. The athletic |
management announces that arrange |
ments have been made to have the fol- |
lowing str@ng squad of coaches on hand |
for the entire season: A. r. T. Hide /
brand. 1900, head coach. and to have
direct charge of the tackles; E. G. Holt |
Davis, "a, for the ends, and W. H.
Barnard. '9S, for the backs. w. H.
Edwards, 1900. will spend three or four
days of each week on the field in /
charge of the scrub. and Philip King,
'92. will be here as often as he can
come. Nat Poe, '97, who is ia charge
of the freshman eleven, will also con- I
tribute TO the deYelopment--of--th the
varsity.
While Yale is not yet in shape, there
is no doubt sheswifI have one of the
One great trouble at New Haven has
been the absence of a strong scrub.
Coach Rafferty, has overcome this in
part by taking the varsity backs to
the second team and attaching the
scrub back field to the regular line.
The shift has worked well. There has
been no big influx of prep school ma
terial at Yale since 1902. Still, the sit
uatfon has improved since the practice
began. Cotton, a big Nebraskan, not
Kay. the 2O0-pound pitcher, and with
football experience, and Hockenberger.
a lively freshman, have come out to
bolster up the scrub, or college team.
Then there are Kineon, Smith. Erwin
George and others to help the scrub
and hope for the varsity.
Frank Butterworth and Frank Hin
in the coaching. Yale coaches think
that the situation at right end and left
halfback is becoming strained. Hare is
proving unsatisfactory. Stillman is
date for right end, is clumsy and mex
perienced. Hinkey will try to work up
a. satisfactory novice.
At left haIfback Roome has failed to
iii the bill. because his play is crude
and he neglects chances to take an ,
opening in the line. He has just been
punter of the squad. but whose line ;
boring is not sturdy. The man needed
must be a good punter and plunger,
and he has not been sighted by the
Tom ShevIin has been doing the most
sensational playing of any in the squad
SO far. *
Saturdays game with Williams gave
Harvard coaches and students their
first opportunity to size up the 1904
material in action and the impression
left after the stock taking is a good
one
There was some crude work, as was
to be expected, after so few lineups,
but the ball was handled very clean
ly. Noyes making the only tumble. one :
OF a punt.
Considerable snap was shown in get
ting the plays off. The tandem play
was a sure gamer every time, with the
first set of backs in, Mills showing up
most brilliantly, though Nichols and !
Capt. Hurley did a fair share of the
work.
Mills is in better shape than ever
before. Weighing 200 pounds. and the
pace he is setting is a hot one for the
beginning of the season.
Nichols shows his old fault of individ-
ualism and Saturday was as useless in
helpirg the other backs to win in punTs
as he was last season
the former in particular run
ming in punts in good shape Herman, who {
has been plnting well in practice. had r {
chance yesterday.
Noticeable at Harvard is the group of {