Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-28
ONE MORE BIG GAME
Cornell and Penn to Meet
Thanksgiving.
PRINCETON Is THE BEST
Not Likely That Tigers Claim to
Championship Will Be
Disputed.
BY EDWARD r. BUSHNELL.

D Ell " AMI n. bU BIN ELL.
With the playing Of the Army-Navy
and Yale-Harvard foot ball games yester-
day there remains but one important in
tercollegiate contest of the season. That
is the battle scheduled to take place
Thanksgiving day between the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania and Cornell. In
spite of the fact that the result of this
game will have no bearing upon the
award of the intercollegiate champion
ship, the game itself will attract unusual
attention. Not in a good many years
have Cornell and Pennsylvania been so
evenly matched nor had more at stake.
1t is true that Pennsylvania has lost four
important games and that Cornell has
been beaten twice. but Notwithstanding
this there is bigger demand for seats
than ever before.
There is not likely to be serious dis
as the intercollegiate champion for the
year. 1t is true that the Tigers were
favored with the most unusual run OF
luck that ever followed any big college
team, but the fact still remains that
Princeton was the best coached team in
the east. 1t was It's knowledge of rudi-
1uChtdIy loOt Ddl, It's Sicdu tdChIlIlS dhu
the wonderful alertness with which its
members followed the ball that made it
possible for the team to defeat both
pure luck that enabled the Tigers to de-
feat Dartmouth by the queerest drop
kick that foot ball records.
Unfortunately for Princeton there has
many critics to belittle her victories over
Harvard and Yale. The trouble is that
most critics judge a team solely by its
offense. Extensively Princeton was prob
ably weaker than either Harvard or Yale,
but it must not be forgotten that they
had everything besides the attack which
entered into producing victories. Against
Harvard, Princeton was able to make less
than five first downs; against Yale the
Tigers did not once get a first down. Har-
ward gained three times as much ground
as Princeton and Yale nearly five times
as much. Yet Princeton had something
which both Yale and Harvard lacked and
which enabled the Tigers to come out vic
torious.
The writer saw the Harvard-Princeton
and Yale-Princeton games and has yet to
see any eleven SO admirably coached in
the fundamentals of the game as Prince
ton. In summarizing the reasons why
Princeton won the foot ball championship
there are three things which stand out
emphatically. First of all, Princeton was
thoroughly coached in the rudiments of
the game The men knew how to tackle,
how to handle kicks perfectly and could
not be fooled by their opponents attack.
No higher testimony can be given to their
splendid handling of TIA ball than what
they did in the Yale game. This game
was played on a field covered with water
and with water-soaked ball. From first
to last the game was a punting duel, yet
so clearly did Princeton handle the Dall
that there was not a single tumble of
Yale's punts.
vor was the individual speed and alert
ness Of her players. There were two men
on the Tiger eleven who shone in bril-
liant fashion. They were White and
Pendleton. White, in particular, proved
his right to be ranked with the famous
history. 1t was White who scooped up
ball after HOLSTERS kick had been
blocked in the Harvard game and ran
% yards for what proved TO be the win
the more creditaible was the fact that a
few minutes before Harvard had had pre-
cisely the same opportunity, but was I'M
able to take advantage OF II. Huntington,
the Harvard fullback, had picked up the
ball after Dewitt's attempt at drop kick
had been blocked and had a clear field OF
IS yards for touchdown. Although he
had an S-yard start over Pendleton the
Tiger back was SO fast that he caught
him inside of 80 yards and prevented
| When 1t came Whites turn to pick up
loose ball and make a touchdown he had
no such start as Huntington, but his
teammates gave him splendid protection
and then his own natural speed enabled
him to outdistance all the Crimson tack
iers. There may be some luck in this, but
a fairer estimate Of Whites services
would be that he was an end Of all
American caliber.
The same combination of alertness and
speed enabled White and Dunlap to score
the winning touchdown against Yale. 1t
was White who broke through and cap
tured the loose ball and Dunlap who
shouldered Howe out Of the way and per-
mitted the Tiger end to complete his 60
yard run for the score. An analysis Of
both the Harvard Princeton and Yale
Princeton games. therefore, shows that
It was individual speed and alertness,
coupled with the lack Of these on the
part of Princeton's opponents, that allow
ed the Tigers to win.
It looks as though Coach Roper came
to the sensible conclusion early In the
season that no two evenly matched teams
could expect to advance the ball con-
sistently under the new rules. 1t was his
contention that the team which had the
best defense and was the keenest to fol-
low the ball would be returned the victor.
The result proved the soundness Of his
Judgment It Is high time, therefore. for
foot ball critics to stop their attempt to
belittle Princeton's championship and to
give her full credit for what she has
accomplished.