The Washington herald., 1915-10-10
Strong and Weak Points In
Big College Football Teams
By EDWARD II. BUSHNELL.

ny ED W AHD n.
II had to come. of course, that defeat
fpr Yale by Virginia's wide-awake foot
hal team. Otherwise. the preliminary
season, in which the big elevens take on
the minor colleges for practice games.
would not be normal. Two years ago
Cornell was beaten on successive Sat
urdays by Pittsburgh and Colgate. Last
year 1t was Pennsylvania beaten almost
at the beginning of the season by Frank
lin and Marshall. And now the Yale
team, of which such great things had
been predicted. has tasted 10 to de-
feat. At least three members of the
Big Six" Yale, Harvard. and Pennsyl-
>ania have not been happy in the Sc
lection of their first opponents, il they
aimed to reach the big games unscored
on In addition to YaIes defeat Har-
ward has had her goal line crossed by
good football. Colpy doing the trick.
while last Saturday the Crimson was
rla ycd to a standstiH by the Massachu-
setts 4. c.. only an intercepted forward
PASS In the very last minute of the game
enabling the Crimson to win Pennsyl-
rania experienced great difficulty in
beating Franklin and Marshall. 10 to 6.
Even Cornell. though winning easily
from Oberlin. saw her goal line crossed.
Only two members of this combination,
Princeton and Dartmouth, have not been
scored on.
The impotence of the Yale team is diff
fcuIt to explain. The Ellis had an un-
usually long preliminary practice. near
ly nifty men going into strict training
at Madison. Conn. on Labor Day Yet
weakness in the funda mentalS and the
;bsolute lack of sustained attack kept
The Ellis from scoring and enabled Vir-
LIMA to tally j touchdown and goal
from field. The situation at New Haven
is now most serious and even the
coaches do not attempt to gloss it over.
Yale began this season determined to
stand or fall by the new style of foot
i,all Introduced by Frank Hnkey last
year and approved by the Ellis Gridiron
authorities. II WAS. of course. an un-
fortunate tumble that gave Virginia that
first touchdown. But 1t should be noted
that the fatal tumble made by Capt.
Wilson while attempting a lateral
pass on his own 15-yard line. 1t was
risky football to select such a play al
most under the shadow of the Yale
goal, but that is the new style of foot
ball at Yale.
Ordinarily Harvard men would now
look with more confidenc" to their final
rrif Vol haI ha, i
enced so much difficulty in winning
from the Massachusetts Aggies This
is the team which Dartmouth had
beaten the week before. 13 to o. yet
they not only prevented Harvard from
scoring by straight football. but gained
a lot of ground themselves. Just now
Harvard is tco much concerned over
her own difficulties to extract much
comfort from Nale's troubles
Princeton O>crruted Rutgers.
When Princeton beat Rutgers. 10 to
o, the Tigers got safely by the most
dangerous part of their early sched- |
ule. For weeks followers the Rut-
gers team have been predicting the |
defeat Of Princeton when the two met |
Yet Princeton hit Rutgers such a stun
ming blow in the first period that this |
team never fully recovered. though it |
was powerful enough to gain lot of
ground and to keep the Tigers from |
scoring again. The result is all the |
answer one needs for the assumption |
of Foster Sanford, the old Yale star, |
now coaching the Rutgers eleven. that |
a team can win modern football games !
by attempting to batter its way down |
the field for touchdowns. In football |
matters Sanford is a man of one idea, |
which IL that mass formations can pre-
vail under the present rules. Sanford |
felt 40 badly when the rules commit |
tee legislated such plays as. tackles |
back and guards back out of existence !
that he almost wept. Ever since he |
has been using his versatile brain to |
devise some sort of mass formations |
permissible under the new rules.
Since the game there has been a DIS |
position in some quarters to ascribe /
Princeton's touchdown and goal from |
the held to "flukes." Nothing could |
Be moro ridiculous. 1t was superior