The Detroit times., 1914-10-23
Time for Alibis Has Passed and
Teams Must Show Worth or
Drop Out
YALE-W. & J. GAME TO
BE THE HEAD-LINER
Michigan-Syracuse and Harvard
Penn State Rank Next-Much
Depending On Both
BY HAROLD v. WILCOX.

Although the championship battles
are week or two distant, tomorrow's
football games will mark the transit
. tion from early-season practice Affairs
10 gridiron clashes OF genuine I'M
portance. Hitherto victories and de-
feats have both been discounted oy
the arguments that powerful gridiron
machines should not be expected 70
show much In the early games. and
that brilliant form early In the season
Is likely to be faIai TO success later
on. Tomorrow the schools which ex-
pect to rank high In the years rec
ords must show their caliber. and de-
feats must be considered as blows 10
championship aspirations.
Although much depfn nds upon what
Michigan, Harvard. Princeton, Cornell
and Pennsylvania do tomorrow. the
headliner or the days bill is the Yale
Washington and Jefferson game. The
New Haven gridders are the probable
national champions. Coach Hinkey
has developed q wonderful team, with
remarkable attack Of the style which
Is destined to supptant the moss-
grown "army. game. A victory for
ELI tomorrow would mean the vindi-
cation OF the promise with which the
Blue Il credited, and the elimination
OF one OF the most dangerous con-
tenders. Opposed TO Yale Is Wash
ington and Jefferson, with team that
played Harvard TO standstill and
style OF attack very similar to Hin
keys. A repetition OF last years tie
would be almost as fatal to Yale as
defeat, and q victory would give the
blue q margin over Harvard that only
= victory of the Crimson could over
come. incidentally. the game Will be
the first great modern" contest OF
the year. and for that reason alone
should be memorable.
Second In importance Is the Micht
gan-Syracuse game. That is because
syracuse has q mighty strong team.
and the hopes OF he west against the
east now hang on the Wolverines,
who are more than ordinarily In need
OF 4 real test before the Harvard
game. A decisive victory for Michi-
gan would give the team confidence
that Il can play without Hughitt.
nsychological need that is more than
fancied. and would indicate that the
Maize and Blue Is much stronger
than Ia feared. A victory for the Or
Ange would probably end Michigan for
the season, and incidentally the hopes
OF the west for victory over Harvard.
Third In Importance Is the Harvard
penn state clash. Penn State Is
worthy opponent cf the Crimson, and
will give Haughton's boys real bat
tie at a critical time Haughton has
rebuilt his attnck IN the past two
/. weeks. and Il is said that he now has
about as good o backfeld as when
Rrickley was It's 5ulwark. The sound
4 meas of that contention will be tested
tomorrow. and decisive victory
should send the Crimson stock soar
inc for the. Michigan. Princeton and
vale games. Moreo, er, Penn State
and Syracuse are near enough equal
IN strength to make some comparative
dope on the inter-sectional clash prac'
ticable.
The Princeton Dartmouth game
ranks next. because II will probably
largely determine Just where the
TiSers stand In the situation. There
is 4 current belief that the Woodrow
Wilson stronghold will have Q chance
70 nght IL out with Taftians for the
national title, with the Teddy Bears
IN the rear, but there has been no gcn-
nine ground for thar belief a. yet
last year Dartmouth beat Princeton
4 10 o. A pair of touchdowns for the
Tigers tomorrow would put them In
chsmpionship class. and few helu
roals would boost their stock even
more. for field goals are likely to be
the deciding features Of the big games
to come.
neil-Brown and Pennsy- Carlisle games.
both important to 10 because Michigan
hss vet to meet the ouakers and Itha-
cans. A victory fer Cornell would
nrove the claims that the team has
vastly improved recently. The score
81 the Pennsy-IndiIn clash viii indi
cate nothing urIesS Il should be large.
but it will be interesting to note how
much the play Of ne two early-season
disappointments has improved
Then there 10 the Army-Holy Gross