Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-19
LOOKING OVER SATURDAYS FOOT BALL GAMES
COLLEGE SPIRIT CAPTURES MANY BIG BATTLES

College spirit always wins in the end.
II won for Penn Saturday: it won for
Princeton: ii for Yale, and it won
for Cornell
Last week followers of the great col
lese game of football read the hard-luck
stories which emanated from the camps
IF the big elevens. The injured list was
larger than ever before: the men were
not in condition; they had not perfected
the forward pass as they should. Yes.
there were a hundred and one reasons
why they should not win.
Saturday PENIS graduates and stu
dents were steeled to accept defeat at
the hands of the Brown eleven. Yet
less than two minutes after play started
they saw that the Red and Blue would
again triumph Princeton's followers had
to wait longer for the victory-in fact.
il looked as if ii would be denied them.
But the spirit told. and the Orange and
Black banner was Haunted to the breeze.
Yale's supporters. too. were mighty
dovncast for one half. But they learned
that il takes a team stronger than the
future generals can muster to stop the
Blue eleven when that Yale spirit is In
fused in their blood Cornell started on
we'll but the second half caused the
Ithaca rooters to hope for the end of the
game Yet there the college spirit told
College Spirit Always Tells.
Il used to go out on the field before a
game with my nerves tingling and almost
praying that the first ball would not
come my way" said former college foot
ball star the other day. But when
once got my hands on that ball, with
several thousand husky-voiced rooters to
cheer me on nothing could stop ME or
make me nervous.
That statement in itself explains why
Penn, Princeton, Yale, Harvard and Cor
nell win games when they seem to be
outplayed and outgeneraled. It's col
lege spirit which is not to be denied and
the team which is possessed of that spirit
TO the greatest degree is almost certain
to win. Nothing can stop them.
Penn Deserved to Win.
But to take Saturdays games. from
the other point of view, Penn deserved
TO win Brown went to Philadelphia with
team which was supposed to be as
strong as the one which held Penn to
IL to last year. Penn was thought to
be much weaker. and it seemed fore
gone conclusion that if the Red and Blue
eleven crossed the Providence line once
and kept them away from their goal IL
would be good days work.
True. Brown started off with bad luck.
Had Mckay held the ball on the 1O-yard
line. a kick later might have sent il out
of danger. USce fighting in the center of
the field, thu Providence lads might have
been able TO hold the Red and Blue and
the result might have been different.
That is only what might have been,
however. For when straight foot ball,
such as Penn played, can hammer down
an opposing line tor gains of u, and 10
yards. IL is assured that the victory Is
10 be theirs 1t was deserved, and ii
was indeed fortunate that PENIS team
could win by straight foot ball, SO as
TO not give Coach Warner and his In
dams, who were in the stands, line on
the Red and Blue attack.
Princeton Was Hard Pushed.
Princeton had to fight hard for that vic
tory over Virginia Polytechnic Satur-
day. 1t was only after the coaches had
called the men a few names between
the halves that the Tigers went In and
won. The Orange and Black has been
mighty near to the dust several times al
ready this season. Lafayette made them
play hard TO come out OF the game with
tie score. VillanOva might have tied
them had the officials not detected an IL
legal play.
Whatever may be the result of this
season for Princeton it is almost certain
that next year will see team which
will he hard to defeat. In every game
Coach Roper has sent in substitutes who
have, in many instances, played better
foot ball than the regulars. If he can
Yale with the best of his large squad or
it, he may give Yale hard fight. If he
cannot, he will have almost all of them
Tor next year.
Yale Has Brawny Backs.
Yale has a set of brawny backs who
can hammer their way through almost
any line. That is why the Blue won from
the Army Saturday. During the first half
the West Point eleven downed those
backs before they could get going. But
that bulldog tenacity which has charac-
teriZed Yale elevens always told in the
second half and won the game, a feat
which last years eleven was unable to do
Coy is a power. His mighty form hit
the Army's fulback hard Saturday
that Chamberlain suffered a fractured
arm. Philbin and Brides are almost as
powerful when it comes to smashing into
a line This will make up for some of the
weak spots on the New Haven line and
will probably give Yale the championship
again.
Cornell Weakest in Line.
Cornell, too. seemed to be weak on the
line Saturday and strong in the back