New-York tribune., 1907-11-11
ON COLLEGE GRIDIRONS.
THE DAY OF ACCOUNTING.
Interest Increasing as the Season
DrGzcs to Close.


The time for the leading football teams TO give
accounting OF their full strength is at hand. Har-
ward has a few days Of grace TO recover from the
defeat by the Carlisle Indians and Cornell, West
Point and Annapolis have more time TO put on the
finishing touches for their games Of games, but
Yale Princeton and Pennsylvania viii be asked
the question Saturday, on which depends to a
large extent the success or failure for each OF the
season Of 1907. Yale viii line up against Prince
ton at New Haven for their annual struggle on the
gridiron while Pennsylvania Will invade the West
and take the field against the strong Michigan
eleven. which was beaten by the Qualers on Frank
lin Field last year by score of II to O. 1t is the
all important day for Princeton for the Yale game
VIII mark the enc OF the season Tor the Iigers-a
fraught with the bitterness Of defeat at
the hands of Cornell, defeat that can be wiped
out only with the football blood of Yale, her
greatest rival and dearest foe The who can
guess the winner and SO declare himself having at
the same time the courage of his convictions
wear fine raiment and dine at Sherry's. 1t takes
courage. however. TO pick between TWO teams, both
of which are strong and both of which will fight
the good fight the last whistle, with nothing
which 10 base an opinion beyond few comparative
scores, which are Of no value at all.
A cold, unbiased analysis Of the work of Yale
and Princeton this season must lead TO the conclu
close, hard fought game IS in prospect Yale may
he stronger than Princeton in the line. particular
" from tackle TO tackle. but the Tigers can claim
4 slight advantage perhaps, IN the bacldied, while
the ends Brown and Wister, of Princeton,
should more than hold their own with BTldes' A.
colt or H. Jones Coy, OF Yale, Is undoubtedly the
best punter either team. and herein appears 10
lie Yales strongest claim for victory Coy is
big part of the Blues scheme Of attack. and It is
Just possible that he viii be called on 10 punt
and punt until some chance gives Yale the ball
enough TO her opponents goal line 10 make
scoring possible Harlan, who will probably do
the punting for Princeton. may not suffer much in
comparison with Coy. he places his kicks
well that the ends rarely at fault IN covering
them. If Coy Outpunts his ends Dillon, the slippery
ouarrerbacly of The Tigers will get back any
ground Harlan may lose in distance. Both teams
have developed a strong offence. and so far as can
be judged are not far apart in the development Of
IL 60 f4v-1
or me IormatlohS mace posslpie py ihe revised
rules. If anything Princeton seems to have bet
ter scoring team than Yale, but this may not count
against a perfected defence. Botn eleVens nave
shown resourcefulness and the ability TO take ad
vantage Of scoring opportunities when they arose
ano better yet making opportunities botn teams
have been coached and developed along much the
same lines, and with both using the kicking game
in nidheld, the result Is likely TO depend on which
IS quickest to accept the opportunities which
the gods Of fortune may provide in the way of
fumbled punt a cleverIy executed onside kick
or forward pass, TO secure the ball within striking
distance Of the goal line. An old football player,
in talking Of the game yesterday, said Il don't
how either team score This may be the
outcome as II was year ago, but 1t looks TO me
if there would be scoring and by both elevens.
Pennsylvania will go West with high hopes Of
defeating Michigan for the second year in success
sion. and judging by the improved game she showed
against Pennsylvania State on Saturday, victory
should be won. Michigan has strong eleven this
year, that has been slowly but surely developed
with the single purpose Of defeating Pennsylvania,
getting revenge for the loss of last years game
line has not been crossed, and from all reports It
is particularly strong in the kicking game with
Graham, who kicked two goals from placement
against Vanderbilt the bright particular star.
Pennsylvania seems to have recovered from its
disastrous slump just before the Carlisle Indian
game and II must not he forgotten that many good
critics pronounced il one of the strongest in the
East after the Brown struggle. While Yale, Prince
ton and Pennsylvania engaged in two of the
most important games Of the season, Harvard will
have no easy time defeating Dartmouth. which has
humbled the Crimson eleven on several occasions
The Navy too, has another hard game in prospect,
with Pennsylvania State. which defeated Cornell
earlier in the It will be a good, hard test
for the Navy team just two weeks before the
nuaI struggle with West Point The Carlisle Ind
ians, like Pennsylvania, will go West 20 play the
University of Minnesota, while Cornell will have
Swarthrnore for an opponent no easy foe, and West
Point will line up against Tufts.
The usual surprises Of a most sensational season
Saturday. and the football "dopesters' are
again in a perfect maze. with little chance Of get
ting the tange Strengthened out. II begins look
as If the Harvard team was below the standard of
Yale and Princeton. the Brown and Carlisle
Indian games came SO close together that the re-
suits must be accepted fair measure of COM
par;son for the time being at least Princeton Is.
Carlisle Q: Carlisle %. Harvard 10; Harvard 6.
Brown .. with the Crimson team outplayed: Yale
%. Brown o, show something coming only a
delusion and a snare. Until the Carlisle Indian
game on Saturday was convinced that Harvard
being developed slowly but surely, showing only
enough strength to beat her opponents they came
along, and looking TO the Yale game TO reach her
1ull power. Now II looks as II Harvard was
fully weak on the Defence although it must not be
forgotten that the showed Il scoring ability
quite equal 10 that Of Princeton against the Ind
fans. Yale. Cornell and Princeton have had their
lessons and profted thereby. and perhaps Harvard,
TOO. WILL find In defeat. hard il was to bear
tss panacea much needed. Brown did not pre-
fsTt - strong team against Yale she did
against Harvard and while the Providence eleven
fell TO some extent from its high estate, il stiIl
deserves forward ranking among the Of
the year. # has played good football against
great ODDS.
in point of fact. Yale did not play any better or
show more advanced football in beating Brown %
to than Princeton did defeating the Carlisle
& trial horse. the Indians have a stronger and more
versatile team than Brown. Yale has still much
do this week TO round out the eleven but it is
safe say il Will be done. There some loose
fatal against Princeton. and the Brown backs tore
big holes IN the line at times and got around the
ends. There was lacking. too. in the Yale attack
any steady irresistible for the lack OF
which Princeton was criticised a week ago. The
disposition to lay great stress the inability Of
either 10 gain consistently and TO point it out
sign OF weakness must not be accepted too
seriously. The same criticism be made of all
the leading eleVens this year when opposed
relatively strong. This condition is conse-
quence OF the revised rules, which call for ten
yards in three downs and preclude the of heavy
plays. Possession of the ball IS longer the
keynote 10 scoring and sustained advance by
rushing is next 10 Impossible against a reasonably
strong defence. What would have been a fatal
weakness under the old rules is OF less mo-
Tnent, particularly I'm midfield.
Yale showed none Of the tricks Princeton scouts
were looking for in Saturdays Unexpectedly easy
with Brown. but she did show a powerful,
81 somewhat monotonous. attack at times, and
Interference that is probably harder to break up
than that developed up to the present by any of
the leading teams. The Blue relied upon
bucks and end runs to make ground when it was