The Washington times., 1921-11-24

When the football season opened
in September, Pittsburgh looked ex-
ceptionally strong. Tom Davies, the
captain. had shown himself in 1890
to be one of the best running backs
in the country. Besides Davies.
Warner had a lot of veteran material
and I confidently expected to see
Pitt at the top Of the heap at the
end of the season. Things 20 wrong
In football when you least expect
them.
The Lafayette defeat came as a
surprise to q great many and show
ed that Pitt was getting It's share
of hard luck and injuries which
will mar the brightest prospects in
the world. Since then, Pittsburgh
has played an up and down season.
against Pennsylvania and Syracuse
and put up a mediocre brand Of foot
ball against Nebraska and w. q ].
State. on the other hand. started
the season with comparatively poor
prospects and green material The
team has been developing along
sound and conservative lines and
played the best game Of the season
against the Navy.
Here's What Decided.
The question that will decide this
game is this:
Did Penn State reach the top of
its form in the Navy game7 II it
did, Pittsburgh will win. The Penn
sylvania team put up a great game
against Harvard in mid October and
a week later defeated Georgia Tech
by a good score. The team i'm
proved right along from the Har-
ward game and was undoubtedly at
Its best against the Navy.
While the Penn State players are
big, rugged and strong, there are
q good many new faces on the team.
Bezdek 10 a driver and I question
very seriously whether the team will
be at the top Of its game against
Pitt. The Penn State team was un-
doubtedly stale last Thanksgiving
Day and II they are In the same
tomorrow. Pitt may win.
As far as the Pitt situation IL cons
cerned, the team really hasn't been
playing together for three weeks.
They have good material and think
Pitt has one more good game In her
system. II the Pittsburgh players are
in good physical shape and II the Grip
pies have entirely recovered, look to
see the team play the best game of the
year, and l personally think Pitts
chances are every bit as good AZ their
opponents.
Both teams are offensive teams in
every sense of the word and thorough
ly know each others style Of play.
Neither are particularly good on the
defense and very mediocre in all de-
partments of the kicking game.
Physical condition is going to turn the
tide one way or the other and the
game ought to be a thriller.
They Get Hypnoti1ed.
In season and out OF season, year
after year, Cornell comes down to
Thanksgiving Day and
goes home with the short end Of the
score. No matter how good a Cornell
team may be all year, the players
seem to get hypnotized when they
step on Franklin Field, and no matter
how bad a Penn team may play all
fall, the reverse is true against Cor
nell and everyone on the team per-
forms better than even the most
sanguine admirers could hope for.
Cornell has made an impressive
record this year and the team really
outdid itself against Dartmouth, run
ming up over forty points against the
team that tied Pennsylvania later in
the season. Cornell undoubtedly has a
very strong rushing attack from close
formation. Dobie is a master Of detail
and he has perfected some very
rushing plays. The Cornell
team Is big, rangy and strong.
Pennsylvania has mediocre material.
A rush line mat ought to be good,
but one that hasn't lived up to It's
promise all fall and back field that
Is really too light for big game play.
One of two things will happen.
Cornell will outclass the Penn team
to such an extent that they viii win