Evening star., 1926-11-08

" Harvard on Saturday a very
valuable and interesting
demonstration of Coaching methods
was set forth.
Early in the season the writer
stated that Princeton possessed a
school of line coaching that was
bound to carry the team high before
Autumn had passed.
At Cambridge on Saturday those
who follow foot ball with scientific
interest saw a forward wall which in
driving power, especially on defense,
in resourcefulness and foot ball wis
dom compared well with any line in
the country, the Navy or any other.
Those who were aware of the char
acter of the raw material with which
the Princeton coaches had to work
never lost faith that eventually some
thing Of merit would he worked out.
But what only few knew was that
these coaches were not engaged es-
sentially in making a line-theY were
making linemen.
They wanted more than merely a
frst-string wall: they wanted at least
two able performers for every line po-
sition Had this not been the plan
Princeton would have presented one
good set Of forwards, perhaps, in time
for the Navy game. But they We're
concentra ting on a wholesale Job, pro
ceeding slowly and taking their bumps
SATURDAY by Saturday without getting
excited.
Two Complete Lines.
How we'll they succeeded will be
Rrasped when 1t is stated that on Sat
Urday the Princeton line could nave
been replaced in whole or in part by
other forwards of about equal ability.
In the way of preparation the
Princeton coaches completely outgen-
eraled Horween and his assistants
Primarily Harvard's scouts seemed
completely to have overlooked the re-
sources Of the Princeton line coacnes'
and the Harvard players expect99 -
smother and trample over the niger
forwards, as they had the Dartmouth
line. which, by the way. was nanoleo
1-e~v much without gloves by the
Crimson players. ..,
When. early in the game. theN
found that the Princeton line was no.
easy prev. they we're thrown PACK
upon themselves mentally ana tnus n,
were ready to he dominated: III.
hackfield. which always taxes us cue
from the line, suffered similarly from
nervousness.
Plan Worked Perfectly.
Again. Princeton's plan of campaign
$or the game worked out pef1ectiS
The Tiger scouts had placed lne
coaches in possession OF aarNalu =
scheme of attack, as it was olspiay ea
against Dartmouth ana 1ul,s' 49,
thu Tiger defense kne" not Oily ~ tas.
70 exnect, but how to meet II. ->a
so,.e oonnact line defense was tne
answer. Harvard
On the otner ho, ;+L ,ar
coaches nrepared their men with par.
tic,,lar emphasis upon de1ense dsdilis
az oyeri1ead attack. They played
~ eve.man defensive formation ana
the Tiger quarter double-crosseo tnelh
nv usiug close slants and an occa
sional sweep. throwing Just enousn
masses to keep the Harvard de1ehse
psaresd slagle. with his ability to
rnn mass, drop-kick and punt re-
vealed the virtues of the triple-threa.
idea as they have not been revealed
this season. a ant
a. and no mistake should be made on
that score. With a quicker charge
IN the line and a better co-ordlna-
ton between the tackles ana ehus
no eleven is going to gain mucn
against it by rushing. and the chances
are that had the Tiger done what
unrestralned passing game it would
have been very we'll handled.
Harvard Is Coming.
Harvard is coming. She is build
ing up an adequate coaching sys-
tenn and never will be easy prey IN
the Big Three series for long tlme
to come. The writer thinks that
the great difference between the
Crimson and the Tigers on SATURDAY
lay in the realm of psychology.
What the writer liked especially
was the attitude of Horween toward
bis nlavers when they began to fall
out of the r1nks later in the game 1t
then being certain that Harvard was
doomed. Horween personally met the
retiring players. patted them upon
the back and his general demeanor
was one of the finest sort OF spirit.
symrathy and understanding. II
Horween stays at Harvard he is 60
ing to restore the palmy days OF sue
cess at Cambridge. Everything may
not be accomplished in one season
even by the best coach, and HorWeen
and his men have had much ground
work to do.
Wherein Yale Erred.
Yale used mainly reserves against
MARYLAND University eleven that
merited the attention of the Eli regu-
lars. Result. another black mark on
the score sheet of the Blue.
Undoubtedly the Yale coaches had
their definite plan in mind in keep
ing their regulars apart for special
instruction not to be had in regular
game. Past experience has shown
that a beaten Yale team is bad medi-
cine in the Big Three series. and
Princeton unquestionably is looking
for gruelling fight next Saturday.
Until Yale's final games are out of
the way and the final word has been
written on the success or failure of
the coaches and players it is untimely
to speak about this Eli outfit. The
ways of foot ball are strange past
understanding.
tCopyrIrht. 1929