Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-10-21
Penn Lineup for V. M. /. Game Still Undecided
W4ITEHILL AND GRAVE
4 MAY START FOR PENN
Regulars May Haze Sufficiently Recovered From In.
juries to Oppose Cadets-BackfeId Quartet Uncer-
tain-Biben May Cet.CaH at Halfback

"TF WE were undecided on our back
field because we had such great
quantity Of brilliant material l would
not hesitate a minute In smiling and
| saying l don't know who Will start.
But when it Is question as to
whether certain players will be able to
start the game because of injuries, then
l throw up my hands and refer you
to the doctor" Bill Hollenback, the
first lieutenant to Head Coach Heisman,
of the University of Pennsylvania foot
ball team, made the above reply when
asked this morning what the Red and
Blue backfield would be for tomorrow's
game with Virginia Military Institute.
rHeisman himself was next approached
and asked what his selections would be.
"You know now as much as / do. /
am in a complete quandry about the
backfeld The injured list this year is
something appalling.
Never in the. many years have been
connected with football have l had to
face such an injured list as last year
and this year at Pennsylvania. And 1
cannot find a reason for 1t.
THE players just seem to get hurt.
1t is beyond me. Perhaps a jlnx or
something turned up it's nose here last
fall. About the only certainties at this
moment are Captain Wray and Pos
Miller. Who the others will be is
matter of conjecture.
The names Of several substitutes were
mentioned to Heisman, but he only
smiled and said that everything depends
on the condition of his regulars. And
It might be said that they are in any
thing but the right shape. Mike White
hill took an energetic workout yester-
day and his limping was so slight that
some Of the coaches feel certain he will
be able to start against the Cadets.
Whitohin's Placement Kicking
The former Rutgers lad, after running
around the field and throwing and snar-
ing forward passes, took some time out
to test his punting ability after a weeks
layoff. He shot the pigskin up and
down the gridiron for distances aver
aging more than As yards. After his
punting he tried placement goal kicking
and missed two out of dozen tries
between the 40 and 80 yard lines.
Both Vogelin and Lukas, the reg
ulars who we're injured in practice this
week. ran through signal drills yes
terday, but both limped so perceptibly
that there is little likelihood of their
entering the game against V. NJ. l.
yogelin in particular is not in shape,
and the general feeling Is that the
coaches will give him rest to prevent
any possible injury so that he can
enter the Pittsburgh game. Lukas may
be able to start Saturday, as his injury
Is responding rapidly to treatment.
Should Whitehill be able to start,
one place would be left vacant, and it
is expected that Joe Biben, the former
Central High School lad. will start.
Krall, who was expected to get the
post, Is suffering from bad leg, and
though he may see action in part of the
game will be forced TO view the opening
Of the game from the sidelines.
Wittmer and Langdon, halfbacks,
were given tryouts yesterday with the
varsity and may get the call over Biben.
SmullinS is another possibility, al
though his worth to the team In all
around play is not up to the standard
desired by the coaches.
The Field. Goal Kicker
Smullins, however, is one of the best
field goal kickers in the squad. For
fifteen minutes yesterday afternoon
Coach Bell had the scrub line break
through In an effort to block Smullins'
punts, and they succeeded just once In
that time.
He missed but a few Of great num-
ber of tries from directly in front Of
the goal posts. He later essayed shoot
ing the pigskin between the uprights
from difficult angles around the 30-yard
mark, but was not so successful as in
front of the posts.
Smullins Is a natural born punter,
according to Bell, and may be the man
in the pinch in the big games on the
schedule. The experience Smullins gains
this year may make him an ideal half
back next fall. For time at Cape
May he thrilled the coaches with his
exploits, but seemed to lose all mis-
power when the drills started on Frank
lin Field.
The line for the game tomorrow will
be the same as started last Saturday