Omaha daily bee., 1908-11-22
LIGHT WORK, THEN WABASH
Cornhuskers Prepare for Thanksgiv'
ing Day Contest,
CARLISLE FOLLOWS SOON AFTER
Beltzer and Cook In BETTER Condition
and Hope of Victory IL Gener-
ally Expressed-Line in
Better Form.


LINCOLN. Nov. 21.-Cspecial)-The flag
ED Of the foot ball season this fall finds the
Nebraska eleven In fine condition for the
remaining two games on the Cornhusker
schedule. A respite from hard practice
this week has put all the varsity men back
into winning form again, and they are
feeling confident of defeating wabash and
giving the famous Indian team a close rub.
Coach KING Cole before he left for
Minneapolis last night to see the Mime
sota-Carlisle game said that all of his play
ers had fully recovered from the injuries
received in the Ames and Kansas games
and that by Thanksgiving day they would
be as fresh as they were early in october.
He said he had no fear of their going stale
again as they did for the Jayhawker game.
This weeks training was as light as the
head coach could make IL. Monday and
Tuesday the men did not have to don the
m%oleskins, and the only work they did was
to absorb the salient points of the coach's
lectures at the training table. On the next
three afternoons they held light practice at
the state farm and learned a few new
formations for the Thanksgiving day game.
Special attention was paid to tackling, the
department Of the game in which the Corn
huskers showed a deplorable weakness
| a6dAAAok AoAAoo Now ah 49,
used up by the players in learning how to
tackle low and bring the runne to earth
without letting him gain good distance.
BeItzer's Work Improves.
Probably the most pleasing feature Of rhe
weeks work was the kicking of Better,
both on punts and drop kicks. His work in
the punting line has been good all season,
but this week he surpassed all his previ-
Gus booting. His punts went on the aver
age Of fifty yards. They were high, being
just the kind that allows the players on
the kicker's side to get down the field before
the oval comes down, and giving them an
excellent opportunity for recovering the
ball. But Beltzer's drop kicking was the
great feature OF his toe work.
His kicks were booted from the thirty
five and forty yard lines, and were
the best that have been seen on Antelope
field this fall. He was in good form and
succeeded in dropping the spheroid over the
cross bar eight times out Of every ten
trials. He got the kicks off rapidly and
accurately and his work was consistent.
Since Beltzer's excellent showing with
the drop kicks the other members of the
team have been specializing on how the
results of the previous games of the season
would have been affected II the halfback
had been in good p~unting form all fall.
They believe he could have won the Min
nesota game with his toe work, for the
~Cornhuskers were once within striking dis
lance of the Gopher goal, where Birkner
made q dismal failure at an attempted
place kick. The score in the Iowa game
also undoubtedly would nave been larger.
Even in the game with Kansas last Satur-
day Beltzer's toe would have stood his
team in good stead. Birkner tried a kick
from placement on the Jayhawker twenty
five-yard line that Beltzer, kicking in the
form he has displayed this week, would
have been successful In making. This kick
would have tied the score, and probably
would have put a fighting spirit into
King Coles men that would have kept
the Jayhawkers from running away with
all the laurels.
Cooke in Better Form.
Besides Beltzer's return to good form,
the work of Cooke and all the linemen
showed great Improvement. Cooke has
completely recovered from the effects OF
his blood poisoning and in the light prac-
tice of the week he displayed brilliant gem
eralship and showed more speed than he
had heretofore this season exhibited. The
linemen worked with their old-time vigor
and the scrubs found them ~impregnable
| 10 all ATTACKS. Inc lne Will De IullY as
formidable for the Wabash game as it was
at Minnesota, and will be a stiff PROPOSE
for the Indiana men to buck.
Coach Cole believes his line will enable
the Cornhuskers to win on Thanksgiving.
Wabash has a lighter line than Nebraska
and cannot hope to gain much ground on
straight foot ball. 1t will have to resort
to trick plays and forward passes, while
Nebraska will probably be able to use its
fast backfield for line gains as well as for
the open work plays.
With the Cornhusker line working in
good shape, as It did at either Iowa or
Ames, the two sets of Cornhusker backs
can be relied upon to make consistent
gains. whether the trick plays work or not.
Coach Coles second set of backfield play
ers so far this season have shown Just as
much ground gaining ability as the regu-
lars. II the first Lst' wears itself out by
the line plunging the other set can be SUBJ
stituted. In nearly every game this season
the Nebraska coach has found It advisable
to use all Of his backfield men and the
second set has usually played as we'll as
the regulars.
Line Work VIII Count.
Nebraska's offensive play against the
Little Giants from Indiana will consist
principally Of line attacks in which the
backfield men will be used. Coach Cole
believes his powerful line will be in shape
to open holes in the Wabash defense, per
hitting effective line plunging. He knows
that one set OF backs can not stand the
wearing tear OF hitting an opposing line
for very long, and as soon as the regulars
become fatigued he will send In the sub
stitute backs. With all the back field
players in good form. as they are now,
Nebraska's offensive work will be con-
fined mostly TO the line plunging. and un-
less the Little Giants uncover some strong
defensive formations the Cornhuskers will
probably get several touchdowns.
In making ready for the Thanksgiving
game neither the coach nor players are
overconfident about winning from Wabash.
1t was overconfieenee that played an i'm
portsnt part in the downfall OF the Corn
huskers last Saturday and there is not
going to be another defeat for Nebraska
on that account. Nebraska players ana
coach all expect a hard fight with the
Little Giants and realize they will have
to play fast and consistent ball in order