Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-02
EASTERN ELEVENS
TAKE BIG GAMES
Western Teams Have Made
Little Roadway Against
Schools in This Section.
GEORGETOWN TO PREPARE
FOR A. AND NJ. CONTEST
Blue and Gray Will Meet Strong OPP
! ponent in Hegarty's Com
bination.
BY II. c. BYRD.

BY II. C. BYRD.
Every foot ball game played so far
this season between eastern and west
ern elevens has resulted in victory
for the eleven representing the former
section. Syracuse has defeated Mich
igan, Harvard has won from the same
team. Colgate swamped Ohio Wesleyan
and Yale gave Notre Dame a decisive
trimming.
The results Of these contests show.
apparently, that eastern foot ball teams
are stronger than those of the west,
though there are reasons for believing
that some schools in the latter section
are capable Of giving the best in the
east about all they would be looking for
! were they to meet. But, of course. crit
ics are going to think that eastern foot
ball is superior to that of the middle
west, whether or not 1t is.
AS matter of fact 1t may be stated
that there probabl is very little differ
ence in the styles of play or in the
general caliber of the elevens. Michi-
gan came east to meet Harvard-the
best in one section meeting the best IN
the other--and yet instead of showing
game that was different from any
known here, the Wolverines placed
their main depe ndence in the conserva-
tive methods for which the east has
been considerably cenSured of late.
When an attempt is made 10 compare
the relative styles Of attack and de-
tense in the west and east the result
will be that one year the former Will
be superior and the next the latter
To large extent, both depend for their
success on the character of the play
ers. and both must be built accordingly
in order to obtain the best results.
When teams of the west are consider
ed in comparison with those of the
east it might be well not to forget the
University, of Nebraska. The eleven
representing that university proba bly,
has as good a claim on the national
championship right now as Harvard or
Syracuse, or any other. Consider
for an instance u comparison between
these scores:
Michigan, 3; Michigan Aggies, 0.
Michigan. 0; Harvard, :.
Nebraska, "a; Michigan Aggies. 0.
These marks cause it to be seen that
Nebraska is just about as capable as
Harvard, and certainly would indicate
that a very interesting contest would
result if the two teams could meet.
The Crimson probably would be up
against combination fully as strong
as, If not stronger than, the one when
ii faced the Wolverines. An eleven that
can defeat the Michigan Aggies "A to 0
surely deserves more than ordinary
consideration.
| An eyewitness to the Michigall-Har
ward game last Saturday makes the
following comment on it. and, Incl
dentally, takes a little knock at Coach
Yost OF the Wolverines:
| las is usual in the important foot ball
games-those games upon which teams
to the good old accepted line 1t may
| be called safe and sane, neither team
taking much Of chance as long as the
game is not hopelessly lost. AS the
game was never hopeleSSly lost to Mich
| igan or surely won by Harvard, both
teams continued the conservative line of
action that did not permit of much sen
sationalisnl. 1t was to be expected tlat
Michigan. coached by YoSt. the hurrE-up
westerner. and Of the greatest ad-
herentS to the open style Of plays and
promoter Of forward passes and dazZ'lng
plays. would burst forth with something
| of an innovation. But there Was moth
| ing doing. Not even did the western
| ers resort to the kicking game. in which
! they seemed to be well equipped as
was Harvard. All seemed to have been
staked on the line plunging of Maui
betsch, the brilliant. smashing. but much
overworked halfback. and little use was
made of the far-famed Splawn. The
| few forward passes tried by AIichigau,
and which failed in their purpose. We're
nothing out of the ordinary, while Har-
ward s passes were splendidly concealed
behind a running attack and were good
| ground gamers Had ii not been for
the ever-aggressive attack Of Michigan
with the likelihood of a score the game
would have been lacking in interest.
| 1T would seem that Michigan used up
| a great amount of her power by her
continual line plunging. That style of
attack was maintained even when we'll
down in her own territory. Punts We're
called for only when they We're an alb
| sO1ute necessity.
! b9d
sought for fling at the flower Of east
ern foot ball. There can be no doubt
that he took his team to Harvard well
pointed for the great trial. and capa
BILE lot OF men he had. In former years
Yost has taken the initiative in formu-
! lating world .,eating plays. but il is
notew orthy that when it came to the
real test, after wait of several years.
we found Michigan anchored to the
we'll founded principle of play in vogue
/ in the east several years ago. In the
days of the guards back the slogan
was Get the ball and keep it, Now
adays. with the advance of foot ball
and the changing of the rules. it is to
get the ball and kick 1t. Princeton a
| week ago defeated Dartmouth on just
such tactics. and Harvard conquered
her western rival for foot ball laurels
by adopting similar style and then
telling punch. Like Dartmouth, which
persisted i'll forever plunging, Michigan
went down to defeat.
1t seems rather unfair to Yost to
criticise the old style of play used by
his team. The chances are that Mich
igan had plenty of open plays in its
repertoire, but was working accord
ing to Yost's orders. and it looks very
much as if summary of the game
justifies a statement that it was the
best kind to win. Harvard probably eX-
pected Yost to open up with a great
variety of freak plays and played a
loose defense. Yost. undoubtedly ex-
pecting just such a move, instructed his
quarterback to rip up Harvard's line,
which he did to an extent that no other
| team has in three years. The manner
in which the Crimson "smeared" every
open play attempted by Michigan bears
out the assumption that this was the
true reason why Michigan played the
old fashioned game exclusively.
Central and Business are to meet to-
morrow in one of the most important
contests of the school series. If Bust
ness can win it will stand ar even
chance to win the championship. though
it will be compelled to overcome a
heavier and more experienced aggrega-
ton of players when it meets Technical
Central tomorrow will be much more
f,,I ~