Evening star., 1921-12-09

dOtS.
In ranking the various teams Of the
country the task this year has been
to some degree simplified by the nu-,
merous intersectional games that have
been played; this phase of the sched-
ules Of many of the teams which an
nually play important roles in a grid
iron season has been wholly COM
Towering of a. trend which has been
in evidence, for some years. The
casual follower of foot ball. or one
whose prejudices are his guide, will.
without too much thought, permit
comparative scores to stand as the
sole basis of reckoning when II comes
to a question of relative form. And.
while it is indeed difficult and often
dangerous to oppose more or less eX-
pert theory against established facts.
yet, taking the game Of foot ball by
and large. the critic who is willing to
accept scores as his chief basis of
comparison is more likely than not
sacrificing the interests Of accuracy
for the principles Of safety.
Seven Unbeaten Teams.
We may. for example, select the
seven important unbeaten teams of
the country and place them in a su-
perior class, but the classification
would be unfair If only because OF
discrepancy in the caliber of oppo-
nents encountered. The big elevens
that went through the season with
out defeat are Cornell. Centre. .Lafay-
ette, California. Pennsylvania State,
Iowa and Washington and Jefferson.
But Cornelfs opponents were all of
second or third rate with the excep-
tton of Dartmouth. whose form this
season was well below the Hanover
standard.
Centre must stand high because of
victory over Harvard in the one game
she played against team of superior
grade. Penn State was tied by Har-
ward and Pittsburgh. outplaying the
Crimson, however. and being slightly
outplayed by the Panthers.
Iowa must stand high because she
defeated Notre Dame and Illinois.
Had her schedule been as stiff as that
of Ohio State. Chicago, Michigan and
othsr conference schools she might or
might not have her clean record.
None the less, the Hawksyes were a
splendid team, whose success was due
as much. If not more. to her star play
ers than to team efficiency.
In fact. having seen Notre Dame
play twice, the writer Is inclined to
discount the defeat of the South Bend
team by the margin of field goal in
her third game of the season. October
S-Iowa being the victor-and to rate
her as the leading team Of the coun-
try In general excellence. This means
team proficiency individual merit and
versatility.
Notre Dame In Versatile.
There was nothing Notre Dame could
not do and did not do. Her short for
ward passing game was deadly. her
long overhead game equally so,
while her running attack. including
the opening of holes. the celebrity of
backs in taking them and d&interfer-
eRce, was on a par with that OF Cor
nell. to say whicI-is 10 leave nothing
more to be said Her showing in three
games within tenrdays against Indi-
ana. the Army and Rutgers was moth
ing short Of marvellous and the fact
that the week before the Indiana
game Rockne's men beat the powerful
Nebraska eleven, Missouri valley
champions and conquerors of Pitts
burgh. should also be taken into con-
sideratfon.
Our ranking. therefore, is as fol-
lows:
1-Notre Dame.
-IOwa.
8-Pennsylyania State.
-Center.
-Lnfayette.
0-COrnell.
Cornell might have displayed her