Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-28
FIRST BIG GAME
WILL Be PLAYED
Saturday, When Harvard and
Princeton Meet in Cham
pionship Conflict.
Difference
Between TWO TEAMS
Princeton Appeared to Have
Margin Until Harvard Beat
Brown SO Decisivey.
. BY n. C. BYRD.

BY II. C. BYRD.
The first championship foot ball game
| OF the year will take place this week.
| Princeton will meet Harvard in one of
! the first contests to determine the rela-
| tive strength of the big elevens and the
| supremacy for 1912.
Whether or not the Tigers will repeat
| their success of 1911 is a problem. There
| Is not the least question about their hav-
Ing shown greater strength than last sea-
son. though. The big scores which
Princeton has been running up on the
other elevens Of recognized caliber would
appear to place it on a plane above the
| standard Of both Yale and Harvard, but
| 1t must be called to mind that the last
mentioned schools seldom develop the
wonderful scoring ability in the early
| season games that does the former.
Princeton has wonderful scoring ma
| chine: of that there is no question. 1t
has tailed many more points than it's
two big rivals. and has shown a consis-
tent attack and defense all season. The
crushing defeat melted out to Syracuse.
followed by the humiliation of Dart
| mouth. is strong enough evidence that
the team which keeps its goal line from
| being crossed by the Tigers will have to
have powerful defense, one stronger
| than appears to exist at present.
The decisive victory won over Michigan
by Syracuse shows just about how strong
Princeton really is. especially so when
1t is considered that the Tigers tailed
more than 90 points on an eleven which
defeated the big western eleven by two
touchdownS.
OF course, there is no denying that Har-
ward also has powerful combination. 1t
has probably an even more capable eleven
than represented IT last fall. 1t has been
scored on more than Princeton. but then
that may be due to the fact that 1t has
met stronger opponents. Brown tailed
ten points against the Crimson in Sat
urday's contest. while Dartmouth scored
but once on. Princeton. On the other
hand Harvard scored more against Brown
than Princeton did against Dartmouth.
Whether or not Brown or Dartmouth is
the stronger Is prOblematical
1t has been the consensus of opinion
that the Harvard defense is a little
stronger than that of Princeton, but that
the Princeton OfenSe is more fully de-
veloped than that of it's rival If that is
true then 1t is probable that Harvard will
work to improve its offense during the
present week. while Princeton will pay
special attention to the building of a de-
tense capable Of withstanding the ham,
mering plunges Of Brickley. Wendell and
Hardw1ck. The fact that these men We're
able to pierce theline of the Brown
eleven for thirty points. caused the Grim
son stock to go soaring, especially when
it is figured that Brown must be excep-
tionally strong by it's having won from
pennsylvania by wide margin.
All other games will be thrown in the
shadow by that Of Saturday. Whatever
the merits of the two elevens. or the rela-
tive strength of their two styles of the
play, the contest will be well worth wit
Messing. and the game itself Is not likely
to be one-sided. close, hard contest
mo h< Cd ID.
to stop the continued rushes of three Of
the best line plungers in the country and
the Harvard defense put to every re-
source to stop. the speedy runs Of what
is probably the fastest backfield in the
country.
Pennsylvania is again spending the
Monday in trying to figure out how It
happened. The Quakers are not having a
very easy time Of 1t now, despite the
brilliancy with which they started their
early-season contests. 1t was thought
that Penn would have a wonderful eleven
this fall, to judge by what it was doing
IN its preliminary games, but just the
opposite has taken place, and 1t is hav-
ing a hard time making a respectable
showing against the so-called secondary
elevens.
Cornell got away a little better last
week against the Bucknell team in that
1t won and kept its goal line from being
team Of mediocre caliber, as compared
with the other big schools 1t would
seem that some Improvement is being
shown at Ithaca, despite the severe early
season disappointments.
That game Thanksgiving day is going
to make either a successful or a very
gloomy season for either Cornell or Penn
sylvania. The Quakers. II they win from
Cornell. will have their poor showing in
| the other games to a certain extent
atoned for. but II they lose to the Itha-
| cans. then somebody is going to be dis
gruntled and new coaching system will
be Installed as surely as there will be a
foot ball team next year. On the other
hand. the same status Of affairs prevails
! at Cornell. If the Ithacans are able to
win from Penn Thanksgiving day they
Will consider that they have accom-
plished great deal. because Cornell VIC
tories over Penn have not been any too
plentiful. II Cornell loses THANKSGIVING
| day then 1t is more than possible it will
| be casting about next year for another
change In its coaching system.
| The showing made by Gallaudet against
the Norfolk Blues was exceptional and
| surprising. The Kendall Greeners defeat
| ed by 20 to a team which held Virginia
| to one touchdown. That would seem to
| indicate that the Gallaudet has a strong
| er eleven than was thought when 1t was
| made known that Baltimore CITY College
had run up 90 points on it.
1t will be noted that the victory at Nor
folk was accomplished by the Gallaudet
team with several of its regulars out of
| the game. Just how strong it will be
| against the elevens in it's class with its
full lineup in the play may be judged
NJ. A c., Washington College and the
| other teams in that class will have to
| watch out If they do not want to meet
defeat at the hands Of the Kendall Green
| aggregation.
This Washington College eleven is max
ing some reputation for itself this year.
| II mas not lost game as yet and has
| played superior article of foot ball with
| every aggregation against which 1t has
oeen pitted. The Eastern shore eleven is
heavy and Is fast enough to stack well
against any of the combinations in this
| section: 1t has played brilliantly in sew
eral or It's contests. and in none has il
| SHOWN lack of aggressive ability.
The Maryland Aggies lost to st. Johns
last Saturday by a decisive score for
TWO reasons One was that the eleven
went completely to pieces and failed ia
DO that Of which it was capable. and
the other was that 1t was up against an
exceptionally classy team for small
| college. st. Johns has a backfield which
4 is SUPERIOR anvfhipu that to- -