Evening star., 1927-09-14
HN IL. c. BYRD.

INlN IslNSl OF
has "A difficult line problem to
work out before its foot ball
" team can be as strong as 1t
was year ago. The end of
last season found many forwards fin
lShlng their gridiron careers, and SO
capable We're some of them that 1t is
going to be no easy task to fill their
places. Five of the seven men who
made up the first line of offense and
defense graduated, and every one of
the five was a good player.
Take Phillips at center, for instance.
No less a person than his own coach,
Earl Neale. said that he was the best
man in the position in the South. And
that meant a good DEAL too, as Neale s
team played against both Boyd of
| South Carolina and Moran of Virginia
Polytechnic Institute. both stars.
Veteran guards, Fink and Mackall,
are gone, and two men of their caliber
seldom are found at the same time on
any Southern squad. Charley Mackall
not only was a steady and brilliant Of
fensive and defensive performer, but
also did all the punting and drop.kick.
ing.
lie almost single-handed in the clos
Ing moments of the Maryland game
Snatched victory out of Maryland's s
hands by turning the trick that pro-
ouced enough points to tie up the
game.
Not only has Virginia lost it's
sterling center trio. but both ends,
both brilliant players, also are gone
Abner was the steady, consistent per-
former who delights the heart of any
coach, while Friedberg was one of the
greatest forward pass catchers the
South has seen. He could grab the
ball in any position and at almost
any angle. And, what was more, he
could run after catching it,
With hVe stellar players gone from
Tits line. Virginia has a real PROPOSE
ton to develop men to fill their
places. On the face of it, the Char
1ottesville school should not find it
easy to develop as good an eleven as
represented 1t a year ago.
But, TO offset the line losses, the
Cavaliers have back practically all
their backfield material, with the DOS
sibie exception of Hushion, quarter
back. lie may not be abl, to play.
Several good men have come from the
1926 freshman eleven and there is
one back who stands out above all
others who was in school last season
and was not a member of the fresh
man team but now is eligible for the
varsity.
Virginia will have far better team
than most OF its opponents expect,
but, at that, it is doubtful if its eleven
will rise to such heights as it did in
1870 on that day at Charlottesville
when IL completely wiped up the grid
hon with Washington and Lee.
Earl Neale is a versatile and re-
scurceful coach, and if he has fairly
good material will turn out a hard
team TO beat. He does have two fine
tackles in cardwell and Luke, and
they form a nucleus for line which
should make any coach smile, even
II his material for the other positions
Is not up 10 the previous season. And,
as matter of fact, no coach can
hardly hope to have year after year
such a line of veterans as Virginia
had when it started the 1926 cam
paign.
South Carolina, Virginia Military
Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Insti-
tute and Maryland are Virginia's big
home games.
The Georgia. Washington and Lee
and North Carolina contests are ON
foreign fields.
While a good deal of credit is given
to certain foot ball coaches for bring
ing out particular types of play,
AiuSh Va tAC ciSuiI SolnS 10 HOUefn
coaches actually belongs to Bunny
Booth. who coached at Nebraska
many years ago. Booth first brought
guards off the line and really was
the originator of the crashing end
runs which YoSt and Warner usually
have attributed to their prowess.
And, incidentally, some of the plays
used by Rockne are basically the
same as those given teams by Booth.
Fred Nielsen, who played at
Nebraska so long ago he never tells
his friends about it any more, and
who later coached George Washing
ton, Catholic University and George
town here, used plays 22 years ago
that some critics write of now as
something new. AS a matter of fact
some of these plays are so old they
are resurrected and practically are
new.
Rockne uses a quick break through
the line, between center and guard
with the remainder of his backs
sweeping off as on a wide end rum
which is almost the identical play
that gained many yards for George
Washington in 1908, before Rockne
ever thought of coaching.
And the same wide end run he
uses today is very little different
from the wide end run that Booth
used at Nebraska and which Nielsen
brought East with him. Incidentally,
Nielsen was ridiculed by Eastern
coaches for attempting that type of
play. one coach who had been in
charge at Princeton even going so
far as to say that no end run that
did anything more than skin out
side of tackle was any good. How
ever, Nielsen saw his own teams gain
many, many yards with the play and
now sees the wide end run as a part
of the equipment of every successful
eleven.
Quarterback Foley of Catholic Uni
versity is expected by all those who
watched him play last year to be
one of the best men in the South
this season. Foley is an exceptional
" intelligent chap and does well
about everything in foot ball there
is to be done. Last season he was
far above the average, and il he
fails to come through even better this
season his performances will sadly
disappoint Coach Jack McAuliffe.
Good progress is being made in con
ditioning both George Washington