New-York tribune., 1922-11-06
NebraskaHopes
Ruldely Jolted
BY Syracuse
Westerners Overconfident
and Apparently Not Up
to Form Against Orange
By Innis Brown

Upheavals on tho grtdiron are so
| prevalent this season that so-calied
form is becoming rather thing to be
| dcspised. But even SO, the defeat Of
Nebraska Mt the hands Of the Syracuse
eleven on Saturday must stand forth as
cataclysnic collapse of well-founded
hopes, such as will linger long in the
memory of the Cornhuskers.
/ The Westernem had expected to win
the game, and not without reason, which
fact at one and the same time offers q
possible explanation Of the defeat and
strikes the foundation for more
poignant and penetrating disappoint-
| ment at their failure. For it is no wild
guess to say that the visiting eleven
did not play it's game. Had they done
so and still been forced to accept the
! short end, q rising admiration for the
opposition would have provided some
thing of an outlet for the disappoint-
ment. But when failure befalls where
in spite Of ones best efforts he knows
he is never quite able to attain his
highest standard of effectiveness, he
feels more inclined to tax himself with
certain reproach than to laud the
work of the other fellow.
Nebraska Unable to Get Going
The foregoing is distinctly not in
tended as a reflection on the Syracuse
eleven. 1t played savage, determined
game of football, and there are no
adaptable premises for concluding that
Nebraska would have won in any event
Neither is it any criticism of the will
lngness and earnestness with which the
Nebraskans bent themselves to their
tasks. There are simply some days
when the only machine doesn't hit
smoothly on all cylinders, and even th&
master mechanics are not quite able to
lay their fingers on the trouble for the
time being.
The outstanding feature of Nebraska'g
failure was the inability to get going
with an attack Of effectiveness and
continuity. Once or twice in fit
Of sheer desperation Dawsons backs
slashed past the Syracuse fianks with
drive that looked formidable. But
1t so happened that in almost all of
these cases some overzealous chap was
detected in the act of foul interference.
Yet these flashes gave inklings of what
might have been expected had the big
red machine been functioning smoothly,
as 1t must have done to run up scores
such as it had against opposition of
ackn owedged caliber
For another thing, the aerial attack
OF the Westerners was practically nil,
and Eastern audiences have come to
expect much in this respect of any and
all Western teams. In justification of
their failure in this detail, however,
it should be added that the team had
been closely secuted for some time,
and Syracuse knew pretty we'll what
methods might be expected. Meahan
prlmed his team particularly on one
OF the best defenses against a success
fui passing game. that is, to rush the
passer and close in on him before his
team can get a man into the open.
Skill In Covering Punts
Furthermore, the Nebraska receivers
were we'll covered at all times. Not
once during the game did they really
get man into position to take pass,
even on the move, without opposition.
And for the most part the ball was
simply heaved down the field, right or
left. with plenty of force and lots Of
good intentions, but with little chance
Tor ultimate success. Syracuse, Incl
dentally, showed up rather lame on
the aerial game, but it was learned
later that Meehan had only one man
in the backfeld rated good at passing.
and he was playing with his right arm |
bandaged in such way that he /
couldn't do any passing.
In one respect the Westerners showed |
to marked advantage. That was in
covering punts. In spite of the fact
that the rush line provided ample pro-
lection to. the kicker, frequently as
many as five or six men were down
the field to halt the Syracuse safety
man, after he received the ball. In
this department they showed to verv
much better advantage than either op-
ponents.