Evening star., 1927-10-16

as heavy as that of the Midshipmen.
but it certainly was better versed in
all the fundamentals of line play
That was to be expected. though, of
a forward wall composed of players
most of whom have had the benefit of
several seasons of Rockne's tutoring.
With few exceptions, the Navy line
was made up of players virtually mex
perienced in ma jor college foot ball.
Yet frequently in the first half it ac-
quilted itself nobly, especially during
it's gallant stands toward the close
Of the half, that twice turned back
the Notre Dame attack when it
seemed the Irish were bound to make
goal.
But it was impossible for this green
lirie to continually withstand the hard
charges of the Notre Dame forwards
and the sharp plunges of the Notre
Dame backs. Navy had neither the
cohesive nor the skilled play that
would enable it to cope with the foes
offensive.
Error i'm Strategy Hurt.
The Midshipmen began to break
ond half started. When the weakening
of the forward wall commenced, the
Navy secondary managed to stay the
inevitable for a time, but it was not
long before the defensive backs found
themselves unable to bear the double
burden. And then Notre Dame sub
stituting frequently with players who
appeared just as capable as those they
relieved swept to victory with ease.
Yet it was strategical errors by the
Navy that assisted Notre Dame
greatly to two of its touchdowns.
Early in the third quarter the Mid.
shipmen found themselves back near
their 30-yard line after failing to make
any headWay against the South Bend
forwards. Lloyd fell back for kick
and got away a fine one that put the
ball down near Notre DANES 2O-yard
mark. But one of the officials of the
game had detected a Notre Dame
player Off-side when the kick was
made and the play was recalled. In.
stead of refusing the penalty and leav.
ing the Rockne eleven to launch an
attacn from well within it's own terri
tory, Navy took advantage of the g.
yard gain and fell back for another
punt. This time the kick was blocked
and the Notre Dame men who re-
covered the loose oval soon was over
with the deadlocking touchdown.
The next questionable bit of judg
ment on Nays part came shortly
after the fourth quarter began The
Midshipmen were in possession of the
ball at the fourth down with 9 wards
to go for first on their 44-yard lire
Kick formation was assumed and the
oval passed to Bauer. But instead of
punting, Bauer attempted to rush the
ball, despite Navy's inability to make
any headway by running attack for
, some time. and he was stopped cold
as soon as he reached the line of
scrimmage. That gave the ball to
Notre Dame and seven plays later it
went over TO its last touchdown. A
kick surely would have delayed. if
not prevented that third Notre Dame
score.
Cold statistics of the engagement
show how much Notre Dame outplayed
the less experienced Navy team. The
South Bend aggregation outrushed It's
opponent. IA first downs to 6. Navy
resorted to overhead play IA times
and only of its passes were success
full. Notre Dame, however, completed
) Of passes. The Navy aerial
offensive, though. was good for about
100 yards, while Notre Dame picked
up only half this distance through
the air.
Irish Use Shock Troops.
Navy began play with practically
all of it's firststring players on the
field, but Notre Dame sent its shock
troops into action. Shortly after
the game opened, the Midshipmen
got possession of the ball in their
foes territory when in an exchange
of punts Geise, their tackle, recovered
the oval fumbled by NiemiC. When
a Notre Dame player interfered with
the intended receiver of a Navy pass,
the Midshipmen found themselves at
tacking from the 35.yard point. Han
ncgan slipped past left tackle for 20
yards, Bauer hit the line for 3 and
Ransford showed along to within
yards of goal. Ransford failed to
make any headway in two plays, then
Spring getting the ball in a criss.
cross play went around the Notre
Dame left. end to a touchdown. Han
negan's try for the extra point went
aWry.
This unexpected Navy assault sent
most of the Notre Dame ''shock
troops" to the bench and brought all
of the tirst-string backfield players
except Flanagan into the lineup.
Notre Dame received the kickoff after
| the scoring and assumed the offensive
for the greater part of the remainder
Of the first neriGd It's forwa rd proQ-