Evening star., 1927-12-01
:0[D LINERS MEET
' TARTAR IN FLORIDA
50 Il n It'll UME UIHIINN III
Gators Have Victories Over
Kentucky, Alabama and
/ Washington and Lee.
By H. C. BYRD.

HHE University of MARYLAND foot
ball squad leaves here this aft
ernoon to meet Florida on Sat
4 Il urday in the last game of the
year scheduled for a local col
ts lege eleven. Twenty-four players will
A-nake the trip and they will be ac-
companied by coaches, managers and
several other members of the univer-
sity staff. The party is due to return
Ito Washington late Sunday.
Maryland has done little in the way
of real foot ball since Thanksgiving
day. just enough work having been
; given the squad to keep it in shape.
= The team expects to put up a far bet
ter game against Florida than gem
orally Is expected. although 1t is real
ized that Florida has a strong eleven.
Gators Record Good.
Probably the three most notable
i. victories Florida has won were the
e6.to.0 contest with Kentucky. the
= .defeat of Alabama. and the whipping
81 of Washington and Lee by three
..-touchdowns. Maryland scouts who
saw Florida play Washington ana
~ Lee Thanksgiving day say that there
eeis no doubt MARYLAND will face by far
: the strongest outfit it has been against
this year. with the exception of Van
IS derbilt and Yale.
a4s3 In the Florida backtield is a young
. man of the name of Crabtree. VINO
throws and licks left hand and left
foot, who is reputed to be an excep-
tional back. His work in every game
has stood out as brilliantly as the star
of any eleven usually stands out. And.
4. incidentally, Crabtree started the sea-
son as a substitute, and it has only
2 been since he was made regular that
the Florida eleven seems to have
found itself. Van Sickle at end is an
= other real star. his ability to take
passes being so pronounced that Flor
:. idas best scoring pay is short throw
to him,
- game with the same lineup with
(which it opened the season, with
!. Adams and Zulick at tackles, Won
drack and Crothers at guards. Baf-
ford at center, with Thomas, Linkous,
Kessler and Snyder in the backfie'd.
This lineup may be departed from to
- the extent of two positions. but not
more than that. although with the
. game to be played in hot weather. 1t is
!. likely that all members of the squad
will see service before the contest is
e.finished.
= Bill Speers. Vanderbilt quarterback.
- Is one of the greatest players devel-
oped in years. He is of more value to
al his team. and would have been of
q more value to the Ya'e eleven. than
Caldwell. Speers is the fastest starter
= that the writer has ever seen in a
t4 backfield. He can get going faster
before reaching the line of scrimmage
q than any other back who has played
. in this section. or the writer has seen
! IN any other section, in 20 years of
foot ball.
= Speers not only can run well with
the ball, but he can forward pass just
rs well. just as far and just as accu-
=. .rateiy. as Friedman of Michigan could;
and he has the courage and intelligence
rsthat play big parts in the making of
crgreat players. Actually Speers gets
credit for being a great general. but it
I II impossible TO determine whether or
not that is true. as about the only gen.
= eralship he needs when he wants to
&. gain yards is to grab the ball and
& run with it or throw it to somebody.
~ If Speers had been in the Yale back
= field this year. he would have been
- hailed as one of the greatest players
-s.of all time. as he probably is.
! incidentally. Speers not only is
q great player. but is a quiet. modest.
,unassuming chap with fine person
- ality. He is exceptionally likable and
: q typically fine type of athlete. Per-
sonally, he seems to be small edition
= of Dan McGusin himself. which is just
S about as high tribute as could be
: paid to him.