New-York tribune., 1904-10-24
on THE GRIDIR0N.
Another Big Team" in Defeat
Fourth Team of Big -Four.

porter Of the Annapols-Princetou game put It
To-day It is from New-Haven that the walls
arise to smite the heavens-or at least they
would If the Yale players and coaches gave ex-
preston to their feelings West Points unex-
pected victory over the Blue leaves Harvard
the only one of the big three" (the fourth place
| in the big quar- { is at present empty that has
not been beaten his season. and that before the
So-called big games have been played. indeed.
Iarvards success in standing off the Indians on
Saturday still keeps her slate clean. Not team
has scored against her this year. princeton
| seems to have rallied from the stump tnat nv
her just before the Annapolis game ana ner
total of GO points against Lehigh, usually a
strong and snappy team, gives food 1or thoughI
Obviously, the most important happening Of
| the week was West Points victory over Yale.
The soldiers put up a game that any tears. no
matter what it's development would have difri-
Guilty in beating. Give them credit for that
They showed, particularly. the finest ability TO
take advantage of every little slip made by their
opponents and when the defensive as they
were most OF the time, they fought with des-
peration. tempered with science and eoolness.
But I doubt If Captain Graves himself would
question +he statement that the better team was
beaten Tt IS rarely that luck so befrlends any
team twice in one game as II ala WeSS ONT olI
Saturday. The blocked kick that gave ner heF
first touchdown was, of course combination OF
poor passing by 'Roraback and speed on the part
of the Army's forwards in getting through ON
the Dunter. But 1t was luck as EluCH as any
thing else that gave Erwin clear held when ne
cot the ball Luck 1t was again Ihat gave
Torney his start when he store tne pa pan rom rom
Bloomer in a scrimmage that was sun uhder
way and seemed sure to result In touchdown
for Yale.
After SATURDAYS game 1t is impossible not to
see that Yale has a very powerful offence espe-
cialy in line breaking. No college can show
such a quartet as Hogan, Bloomer. Kinney and
shevIin. who all take their turn in doing the
work that the backs used to do before the
coaches had transferred their duties to heavier
men from the rush line. 1t is hard line to get
through too West Point made no impression
upon It of any account, making first down on
rushing only twice. If remember correctly.
Behind the line. however, Yale appears to be,
in a bad way. Rockwell seems to be the same
old Rockwell on the offensive. He handles his
team with good judgment, gets his plays off
rapidly and passes accurately. On the defensive
It is another story. The famous quarter seems
hesitating and ndecisive He fails to punts
back with any skill. starts slowly, and runs with
poor judgment. Morse is a fair line breaker, and
Veeder is not so good while Owsley is scarcely
better than substitute quality as yet When It
comes TO punting Yale is only fairly we'll of.
Hoyt Is trife better than Veeder, but where
are the 10 and 30 yard punters Of five years
ago? Don't they make them any more? A2-
parently not. Reynolds, of Pennsylvania. seems
to be the only first class punter now on the IoJt-
ball horizon, though others may develop with
the seasons progress. Yales defence lacks,
above all, wariness. Torney should never nave
been allowed a clear field for his long run.
Some one back should make 1t his business to
play on the defensive even when his team is on
the offensive.
Harvard's strength, unlike Yale's, appears to
be greatest behind the line. In Hurley, Mills.
Nichols. Herman and Noyes she has quartet
from which you can pick backfeld that is far
superior to anything Yale or Princeton has yet
FTb ho$o nd
strength. Hurley is the best of the lot. He has
the instinct of following the ball. the sign of the
born football player. and when he hits the line
he is a hard one to stop Moreover, he seems to
be making fighting captain. which as every
body knows. is of the things that goes so far
to put spirit into team Strange to say the
responsibilities of the captainship have so far
had effect in deteriorating Hurley's indi.
off, as did Carl Marshall last year under the
burdens of leadership but up to date his re-
sp0nsibilities seem 10 have been rather in
spiration to the Cambridge captain.
In her forwards the Crimson is less fortunate.
Marshall and Knowlton are both sadly missed.
The material is there in abundance. but the big
fellows seem to lack in aggressiveness. Indeed,
the undoubted weakness Of the Harvard attack.
as compared with its defence. must be attributed
to the qualify of the forwards. Whether the
coaches will be able to bring it up to the neces-
sary point Of effectiveness is a question which. if
we knew the answer, would enable us to pick
the winner Of the YaIe-Harvard game at the
present time There were several of the Har-
ward coaches at the West Point game. but
doubt if they got much comfort out Of Yale's
defeat for the Blues attack and defence against
West Point were undoubtedly superior to Har-
wards against the same team, despite the fact
that harl ard and Yale lost Nichols and
Hurley both succeeded in circling the Indians
ends for long runs Indeed, these runs went
furthest of all TO give Harvard her touchdOwns.
But the Cambridge runners will not find Yale's
ends so easy. Shevlin is not yet the end of last
year. as he has been shifted about much that
his game has been unsettled 1t is likely.
though, that he will be in form when the time
comes Neal at right end, is not a world
beater. but he is coming along all the time.
The Princeton coaches seem to have seen a
great light The university partisans were sur
prised and delighted at the life and spirit
| with which the team smothered Lehigh on Sat-
| urday. rolling up a far bigger score than any Of
| the big teams have made this season against
an eleven Of any quality. The Tigers had
! given In the weeks practice indication Of
| getting into form for such game and the en-
thusiasm that followed the victory is not at all
surprising. The most encouraging feature Of
the Lehigh affair is the emphasis. it placed on
the open game Princeton's backheld displayed
more ability at the running game than any other
backfield of the season. Time and again FouIke
and Miller followed sharp and compact inter-
ference around the ends for long gains. But
the most significant thing is not that the backs
proved themselves capable Of fine work at the
running game. but that the coaches allowed. and
even encouraged. them to do 1t. Up to date
Princeton Is the only OF the big teams that
has not discouraged any attempt at perfecting
the open game, II one is to judge from what
one sees in formal matches. # she follows this
/ line with increasing success. she will build up a
fast attack that Yale's powerful but somewhat
will hpV fV1 -fn