Omaha daily bee., 1906-09-30

labors. Next to good kickers the cry is |
now for good ends.
The west is Just as prolific in good kick
ers as the east Is poor. The star OF these
is the captain Of the Chicago team, Eek
ersall. Michigan has Gsrrels and Me-
braska has had a Benedict. According TO
the dope figures, more than half the
scores will be made this year as the re-
suit Of good kicking. and the team which
excels at this branch of the game will
have an immense advantage over another
with weaker punter or drop Kicker.
Michigan Is in the confidence Of the VOL
verines Just as much as Eckersall is at
Chicago, and Yost will have to depend
considerably upon his kicking. Garrels
can put as far as Eckersall, but is not as
sure at drop kicking as the Chicago lad.
.
With the FIRST foot ball clash OF the sea-
son only a few days distant. Coach Fos-
ter's Cornhuskers are busy bunch. The
daily practice Is now calling out upwards
Of forty men and the progress made is
highly gratifying to the coach and the
Nebraska rooters, who have become ac-
customed to the Cornhuskers cutting at
least something of a figure in western
foot ball and would be badly in the
dumps IL the Nebraska eleven were to
fall down in 1905.
The recent practice. in fact, has oeen
of a quality to lend encouragement. The
squad has been growing daily in num-
bers and the grade of the candidates is
up to the usual Nebraska standard. Two
genuine huskies in the persons of Wen
strand and Cornell are recent additions to
the squad. wenstrand,s 24o pounds and
his one year of experience at guard make
him a valuable acquisition. Wenstrand
was a week late In DOMINIC his toys, and
for that reason he was assigned by
Coach Foster to the scrubs, although the
big fellow will probably be shifted to the
varsity squad. Cornell is the strong man
OF the squad. He weighs 205 pounds and
Is the champion hammer tosser at Me-
braska university. Cornell is eligible for
the varsity this year. but he is slightly
lacking in foot ball experience and he
will likely be kept in the scrub lineup
until the coaches get correct line on
Cornells form.
Assistant Coach Stuart, formerly of
Michigan, has arrived on the scene and
has taken some Of the coaching worries
OF the shoulders of Foster by assuming
the superintendency of the scrubs. Stu
arts knowledge of the game, from ris
experience at Michigan and Denver uni
versity as a player, is expected to prove
Of decided help to the head coach.
Fosters methods are a wide departure
from those of Walter c. Booth, who
coached the Cornhuskers for six seasons
ending last fall. When Booth was at the
helm 1t was his regular plan to devote the
first two weeks of the practice to the rudi-
mentaries, such as falling on the ball,
catching punts and running down the field.
The veteran players were drilled in this
fashion along with the newer candidates
Coach Foster began running signals the
first day OF the practice and as soon as
enough players had reported for two full
teams scrimmaging was at once installed.
Fosters reasons are obvious. He takes
the position that the new rules are to
make almost a new game and he prefers to
drill his pupils in the tricks and angles of
formation rather than to devote valuable
time to rudiments the veterans should
have learned in former seasons So far
the varsity players have been making a
hit. with the army of rooters on the side
lines, by their success in pulling OFF long
runs by resort to the forward pass. Fos-
ter. naturally, comedies that the forward
pass may not work so smoothly against
college opponents as against. the scrubs,
but the practice TO Gate holds out strong
promise that the new game points to
greater scores than the old line-pIunging
plan, in spite of the increase to ten yards
on three downs required to retain possess
sion of the ball.
-
Denslow, a veteran; Cooke, Hildebrand
and Branson are being worked out for the
end positions, and each man of this quar-
tet looks good to Foster. Denslow and
Cooke, however, seem to have the call.
johnson and Harvey are the most for
rnidable candidates for the tackles, while
Taylor, Ewing, Chaioupka and Matters are
L frVlnar ARA