The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-13
AUBURN IS PROUD OF ATHLETIC FIELD Drake Field Is Now Being
 Used Regularly TEAM GOING EASY Some Auburn Supporters Thought Team Showed Too Advanced
 Form Last Saturday for
 Time of Season
TEAM GOING EASY

Auburn october 2.-(SpeciaD Since Saturdays game with Mercer, Auburn men are glorying in their new possession, the Drake Athletic field. Not that it is really new but until Saturday it was never used, not even for practice. It was planted in grass last year, and was not to be used until a good turf had been established. Now there is a thick, strong covering, and the field is one of the most attractive in the possession of southern colleges.
 The Drake Athletic field is situated about a quarter of mile from the col lege campus, on the top of a large rise. Thick woels bound it on two sides, a portion of the college farm on the third, and a view which includes many of the largest college buildings on the fourtin> The field is named after Dr. J. H. Drake, the beloved college surgeon, who gave the land on which it is established. It is pretty much of a student institution, for it was narrowed and planted in grass by the students themselves last spring, when several hundred of them spent an after noon on the job.
 Since Saturday, practice has been held on the new field, and on the soft grass the scrimmages are not such as will pre- vent from healing the bruises obtained in the the hard game with Mercer.
 The squad is going rather slow this week, and the bunch of players who go to Clemson to play the South Carolina team Saturday will not be greatly de- veloped beyond the standard of the team which defeated Mercer last week.
 Indeed, some loyal Auburn supporters expressed fears after the game last Sat- urday that the Auburn team showed too great a degree of development and a too advanced form for early season. For the Auburn team played hard football, fin isned football, against the team from Mercer. The Mercer men were strong team, much more formidable than the score would, at first glance, indicate and Auburn's defeat of them by 9 to Q, and on an an excessively hot day, is more of a feat than is generally conceded. Some thing will be heard of the Mercer bunch this season.
 Auburn men experienced some uneasi- ness when Manning, ope of the two back field men on whom they were depending, went home Sunday with bad arm. He was out of the game with Mercer and had been out all of last week with an arm swollen out of all reason. But now, with his arm back in condition there seems some likelihood of his working in the game with Clemson Saturday.
 Auburn needs Manning in the backfiei this season. Besides Newell at quarter and John Davis at full back, there is 1o other regular backfield man to play but Manning. Rip" Major, who played guard, last season, and Kearley who did not even come out from varsity last year, were played in the back field agalns, Mercer, and probably will be fixtures there, more or legs. But neither of them evinced the plunging and ground gaining ability of Manning.
 The men here are looking for big things from Davis this year. His work in the Mercer game was a marvellous exhibition of football and he. alone, gained more ground than all other men on the two teams together. With his high knee action he is the hardest man imaginable to tackle: his stiff arm is impenetrable and he sways and sidesteps through holes in lines of tacklers and invariably gains as if he were charmed Davis does not hit line as hard as did Bradley Streit, Auburn's great fullbaclz of last season, but his ground gaining ability probably is as marked, if not more so.
 Three of last years scrubs who seem to have stuck in the positions for which they came out are Thgpen, at guard; Robin fnson, at end, and Pitts at center. This year. or probably next year, at the latest Robinson will be one of the best ends of the south. He is fast, and a hard and sure tacller. He was at Auburn last year. but did not come out for varsity football, being entirely product of this season. Thigpen Is a sophomore who scrubbed last year. He and Pitts are both above the average of the line In weight
 An effort may be made to arrange special train from Alabama to Texas for the Auburn A. and NJ. game, which will be played in Austin Saturday after next. If enough men who will go from Alabama will be secured, it may be that arrange ments can be made.