The Washington herald., 1915-09-19
Prospects. of Leading Colleges and Local Gridon Team
big Six" Gridiron Teams
Start the Fray This Week
By EDWARD r.. BUSHNELL,

Although a Few minor colleges nave
already played their first football
games for 1915. what the college world
understands as the real opening OF
the season is scheduled for the coming
week. On Saturday Harvard. Yale
Pennsylvania. Princeton. and Dart
mouth. representing five members OF
the Big Six" meet their first oppon-
ents and show the world the sort OF
teams they have developed in prelimi-
nary training periods that have varied
from two to three weeks. Here is their
schedule for September 25:
Harvard VS.. Colby. at Cambridge.
Yale VS.. Maine. at New Haven.
Pennsylvania vs. West Virginia. at
Philadelphia.
Princeton VS.. Georgetown. at Prince
ton.
Dartmouth VS.. Massachusetts. at
Hanover
Cornell. the last member of this
combination to get under way. opens
with Gettysburg on September 2S.
Nowadays no team. no matter how
big or supposedly well prepared it is.
is safe from being scored on in the
opening games or even from being de-
fcated. So. although all the minor COL
leges who help to open the season are
looked upon as At only to furnish
practice" games. they may furnish
surprises as they have done in the
past Harvard didn't play Colby last
year. but Yale beat Maine 20 to 0, al
though held to a tie score the year be-
fore. Georgetown is a new opponent
for Princeton. as is West Virginia for
Pennsylvania. The Massachusetts, "Ag-
gfes" scored six points on Dartmouth
last year. though beaten by a score of
% to 6. Gettysburg appears on the
Cornell schedule for the first time.
This year the big universities are
better prepared for their initial games
than they were last year because they
have had more preliminary practice.
Dartmouth. for example, began serious
practice on September l. while Har-
ward and Yale followed a few days
later. with Pennsylvania getting down
to business on September :. Prince
ton and Cornell were the last of the
seXtet to begin daily practice. Another
reason for the better state of pre-
paredness is that with two exceptions
all the big teams had = month or more
of spring training. So while there may
be some unexpected jolts handed out
on opening day the big universities ex-
pect to win fairly easily.
Princeton Full of Enthusfasm.
Princeton football has always filled a
the Tigers are attracting more attention
than usual. There are two reasons for
the enthusiasm and confidence which
reign supreme in Tigertown. One is that
Princeton has new coach in the person
OF John II. Rush. of whom great things
are expected. The other is that the vet
eran material left over from last year is
unusually experienced and able
First consider the man Rush. He at
tracts attention because he went to
Princeton with a great reputation as
coach of the University School of Cleve-
land. and also because he became a sue
cessful coach in spite of the fact that
he never played college football himself
Rush is a Princeton graduate but as an
undergraduate he devoted himself to
sprinting. That was twenty years ago.
and at that time any man who could
equal ten Seconds consistently ,raS , no
tional celebrity. Rush had played some
football as schoolboy. and he followed
the game closely at Princeton, though he
did not play.
1t was after he left Princeton and was
appointed athletic director of the Cleve-
land school that Rush made his name
as football coach. In spite of his lack
of playing experience Rush proved him
self a good coach and successfully DEM
onstrated that it is not necessary for a
man TO have been a star player himself
to become a successful teacher After
Rush's teams had had uniform success
and good many Of the players he de-
veloped proved to be stars on Eastern |
college elevens Eastern men. especially |
those from Princeton. began to look him |
over.
For good many years Princeton has |
been trying to find a winning coaching |
system. but without avail since the days
of Roper. After last years disastrous
season a committee of former Princeton
stars was appointed and instructed to |
find a Princeton man who could lead
them out OF the wilderness. Rush was
the man they all agreed upon. He was
picked because he had demonstrated at
Cleveland that he could teach winning
football to boys who had never played
the game and because he had the sort |
OF personality one needs to handle COL F,
lege men. He was placed in charge last
spring and gave the Tigers the most
thorough spring training they had evsy
known.
Fortunately. Rush has splendid ma
terial with which TO start this fall He has
as a nucleus every member Of last years
back field. in fact. two such quarters. The |
chances are that three members Of this |
back ield will be Capt. Click at quarter |
back. and Moore and Dickerman at half |
backs and either Driggs or Boland at fun |
back. The first three men were the ones |
vhoN, pr;,,>tan u;,.-.