The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-09-23
THEY'RE OFF"
IN FOOTBALL
SEASON
First College Games Played
Saturday--Other EleVens
Start This Week.

The first games of the football campaign
Of 1907 were played on Saturday. Within
another week the season will be in full
swing. All of the colleges. large and small.
have been in active preliminary practise
for a week or longer. and already II Is pos
sible to base an incomplete Judgment of
the policies to be pursued by the different
coaches in developing their teams. In
former years, particularly last season.
when the new rules were an unknown and
untried quantity. the first weeks of the
campaign were devoted to experiments
with new material and the gradual elimi-
nation process. Butsthe new game and the
enforcement of the freshman rule have
to a great extent changed the usual tao
ties. No great amount of working with
knew candidates is now necessary. because
the coaches are fairly familiar with the
candidates ability before the season
starts. Freshmen squads of fifty or more
men do not worry the coaches under the
present eligibility code.
The selection Of William Roper as head
football coach at Princeton looks like the
beginning of a permanent coaching sys-
tenn. which the Orange and Black has
needed for years. The old method of hav-
Ing one head coach one year and another
the next has become extinct there. Roper
showed his ability last season by turning
out an eleven that at least shared cham
pionship honors. As his chief assistant
Roper will have Jim Cooney, captain of
two Princeton teams. OF last years team
six members are certain of playing unless
injuries prevent. Captain Mccormick is
ready for a lively season Mt fullback. and
Harlan and Tibbott are to be used as
halves. There is much speculation as to
whether Rulon-Miller will be seen on the
gridiron this fall beealse Of parental inter
ference. Miller is the only man in the
university today who has played on a win
ming eleven. He did in 1903. Eddie Dillon,
the quarterback. has started training in
earnest, He took on superfiuous weight
during the summer. Several good line men
were lost last June, and it is not going to
be easy to I'LL the vacancies. Stannard.
Herring. II. Dillon. cooney and Hoaglnnd
all possessed ability. OF the 1907 squad
only Wister. end, and Phillips. centre. are
It Princeton. McFodyan succeeded in
passing his examination and is eligible TO
play this year. He was a great power at
Exeter. McFodyRn Is practising with the
squad daily now. P. Waller. who won his
letter a couple of years ago at guard and
who was prevented by the faculty from
playing last fall. is out, too. Waller is q
husky boy and can be used to good adj
vantage. Leighing, 1910, is another candi-
date for the line. Wister's possible run
Minis mate at end is a puzzle that will
bother the coaches. Several men are being
tried out. though no one has been espe-
ciallv favored. O'Brlen, on who high
hopes were pinned, failed in the June ex-
aminations and will not return. Some
likely looking sophomores are trying for
end.
Yale football coaches are waiting anx-
tously for the decision of the faculty in
the cases of Brides. right guard last year;
Cooney. the giant freshman centre. who is
n candidate for the varsity. and Paige,
left tackle last season. All have been
heavily conditioned in their studies. and
the disqualification for the season OF any
one of the brilliant trio will make a gao
In the Yale line that will be hard to fill.
The coaches have not recovered their bal
anee after the news of the ineligibility of
Andrus was declared when woord reached
them that Brides. Paige and Cooney were
also on the outs. Andris was regarded as
the strongest member OF the Yale rush line,
and his upset dashed hopes somewhat. To
lose any more of the giants will make the
situation serious. Since the Yale candi-
dates reported last Monday thirty-ive nave
appeared. The coaches In charge have
been Head Coach Walter Camp. Field
Coach Knox, Sammy Morse, captain of the
eleven last year; Tom Shevlln, captain n
year ago, and Jack Owsley, head coach of
Shevlin's eleven.
For the last two years Harvard football
energies have been devoted to the estab-
lishment Of a continuous system in coach
ing. w. T. Reid, jr. was induced to come
on from California two years ago to take
the place as head coach Mt Harvard be-
cause 1t was believed he was best able to
organize such a system. When he ao-
cepted Reid said that be had no hopes of
turning out a winning eleven in 1905 and
very little hope Of winning in 1906. but that
If Harvard graduates would have the pa
thence to wait while a good foundation was
being laid he believed that he could put
Harvard in the position of being able to
win a fair proportion of victories from
Yale.
Reds two teams were not successful,
but they were admittedly the best Har-
ward has had since 1901, and had ne been
retained as coach a year or two longer
there seems very little reason to doubt
that Mr.. Reid would have put Harvard
football into good working order. Har-
ward graduates are VIGOROUSLY impatient,
however. and the defeat Of Reid's two
elevens made them clamor for a change in
coaches. In consequence Of this desire for
n change Joshua Crane was appointed head
coach. The Reid system will probably be
abandoned and Harvard will find herself
back again at the place where she started
from two years ago. Crane never had
much experience as a football player, 1t
sometimes happens; however, that a man
who never himself has played the game
makes a most successful coach. but this is
a slim chance. Crane may become an ad-
dition to the small list Of such men. 1t
takes some time for a new man to become
familiar with the new conditions. the men
and the like. and after one or two neces-
sary defeats Harvard graduates probably
again VIII be demanding a change Of coach
Aurora Wins.
The Aurora A. A. met and defeated the
strong Criterion S. S. for the second time
In the Metropolitan League yesterday
morning by a score of II to 7 making a
F first plapp tie bpfVean tha Crltarta,- -