Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-11
CORNELL'S QUESTION
Will 'Ithacans Rally From De-
feat of Last Week?
THREE FAST BACKFIELDS
Penn, Princeton and Carlisle Have
Exceptionally Capable Men
Behind Line.
BY EDWARD r. BUSHNELL.

Cornell's defeat. Is 10 q by Colgate Col
lese was easily the feature of the first
week of intercollegiate foot ball. Ii was
staggering blow which the Ithacans re-
ceived. but if the university properly rail-
lies TO the support of Coach sharpe and
the players themselves take the discipline
ne has handed out To them in the right
spirit the season may Yet be made a
great success. Nevertheless. the defeat
came a most unwelcome surprise TO
Cornell and il likeWi,e astonished the
college world. But good lesson can be
learned from it. and. indeed. must be
learned II the Cornell eleven is to acquit
itself creditably in the games which re
main.
What Cornell does under the circum-
stances will depend upon the spirit which
aninlates this year : team. 1t Is SO sell
dora that big eleven meets defeat in one
OF the opening games that the upset Is
likely to have depressing effect upon the
squad But il need not be so, and 1t did
not so affect the University of Pennsylva-
MIA eleven, which was outplayed and de-
feated by I'rsinus College in the open
ing game of the 1910 season. That de-
feat was better tonic to Pennsylvania
than anything the coaches could nave
administered. and from that time forward
the Quaker eleven advanced with leaps
and bounds In fact that was the only
defeat which the QuakerS sustained that
year, and at the end of the season they
divided honOrs for the intercollegiate
championship.
DR. sharpe took Cornell's defeat in
manly way and frankly admitted that
Colgate had played the better game and
deserved to win. He knew, however
that Cornell had not played the game
that the men were capable of. APPARENT
" he had no intention OF severely dis
ciplinng the players until they showed IN
the succeeding practice that they had not
learned the lesson they should from their
defeat Finally. coming TO the concur
sion that number of the Older players
on the Cornell squad were displaying
spirit of indifference. closely allied with
pure laziness, he determined to use severe
measures. Looking rather to next year
than to this year. he decided to discipline
the senior members of the squad, who
he did not think were training prop rly,
by leaving them off the training table
with the announcement that they would
not be returned until they had earned
their places.
Those who are inclined to criticise DR.
Sharpe for these severe measures should
remember that he has three-year con-
tract, and that he went to Cornell for
the express purpose of installing and
building up a new foot ball system. Be-
fore he went he told the writer that he
did rot necessarily expect 10 be success
full in the first year. but that he was
building for the future. Naturally. he
wants to make good during the first sea-
this fall if in the meantime. ne can estab-
Ish a system in gridirOn matters which
will be as successful as that of which he
was part at Yale and which Cornell
herself enjoys in track athletics and
rowing.
AS DIR. Sharpe points out Cornell is
badly Handicapped by the almost entire
absence of foot ball prestige. Such in
stitut;ons Yale, Princeton and Penn
sylvania can point to dozens of foot ball
victories which they use to rally
their teams. The memory of these games
and the return OF the heroes of other
days constitute most important factor
in developing a winning team. Cornell
has no such foot ball history as this, and
that the Ithacans are so placed is due
almost entirely to the lack of system in
foot ball coaching. Various graduates
and outsiders have endeavored 10 do for
Cornell what has been done for other
universities. but no one system ever sur
WED long enough TO permit II to be sue
cessful. Glen Warner. himself grad
uate OF Cornell came nearer making a
success OF il than any one before Sharpe.
He was obliged to give up bectuse of the
constant interference of the graduate
coaches who perhaps meant Well. but
failed to work in harmony. Cornell now
faces critical situation. and if the uni
versity a whole rallies to Sharpe he
VIII surely lead ii out OF the wilder
ness
Three Fast Backfelds.
The first week of the foot ball season
emphasizes the fact that at least three
OF the big eastern universities are blessed
with unusually fast backfeids They
arc Princeton. Pennsylvania and the Car
Isle Indians This unusual strength
the part of the Tigers and Quakers how
ever. is IN measure upset by the weak
ness in the lines. The Indians have not
Yet played enough important games 10
properly test their line. Both Yale and
Harvard seem to have their strength
pretty well distributed.
The Tigers rolled up their mighty score
against Stevens Institute principally
through the speed of her backs With
the exception of the ends practically
nothing was required of the forwards i'm
advancing the ball. The backs We're so
much faster than their opponents that
they could double back run to the side
and then outsprint all their would be
iacklers- The Princeton quartet is COM
posed of the same four men wEe began
ths season. and IL will require exception
ally good players 10 displace any of them
l; is now made up of F.mmons at quarter
back. Pendleton and Baker AT halfbacks
and Dewitt ~ fullback. All of these
mon are real sprinters and in the end
running game they Will be particularly
hard Z" stop.
II pure speed counts for anything the
nIN"rSit3 of PENNSYLVANIA probably has
" raster ndckneid even than Princeton.
Inc quaker quartet. like that at Prince
ton. is the same which the coaches Sc
lected AT the beginning OF the preliminary
season, IL i made UP of Marshall al
quarterback. Minds and Harrington at
hslfhack. and Mercer at fulIback All of
these men are faster than the usual type
OF foot hall players. Marshall and Mer-
Ger are two of the fastest sprinters on
the Quaker track team Marshall has
repeatedly done 1c0 yards in ten seconds
and Mercer was second in the Upward
cash at the last ]. G.. \. A. A A. games
Minds and Harrington. while not so fast
a. Mercer and Marshall. are still speedy
enough TO make them closely watched
whenever one of them takes the ball
Mercer promises TO eclipse even his bril-
liant open field record of 1910 and 1911
He is past master at lodging and the
straight arm. and with his experience of
lwo years he should shine as he never did
before
What Is said of Mercer is true in almost
the same measure of Pendleton of Prince
ton The Tiger captain would be a most
useful member of the tvack team were he
not also a base hall PLAYER AS an open
field runner. ne is one Of the best tina;
Princeton has ever developed
The Carlisle Indians are undoubtedly a.