Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-27
Grid GRIND OPENS
IN ANOTHER WEEK
Many Games, Like Last Year,
Likely to Be Lost by
Single Point.
BY WALTER TRUMBULL.

z another week many foot bah
squads will begin intensive train
ing. If the impending season is
/ anywhere near as thrilling or as
filled with surprises as last Fall
the rooters have big time ahead.
The foot ball record of 1927 was re-
markable for several things. UpSets
were common. The dopeSters have not
yet recovered from such surprises as
the defeat of Brown by Lebanon Valley
and the victory Of Syracuse over a
great Georgetown eleven.
Also noticeable was the number OF
games won by a single point. Pitts
burgh and Southern California each
lost the only game in which they were
defeated by one point. Illinois beat
Northwestern by one point and one
point accounted for Missouri's victory
over Nebraska. There we're any num-
Der of other games where e single point
was the margin OF victory.
Goals Are Important.
You might suppose that in the light
of this record coaches would spend
great time and effort to develop men
who can kick goals after touchdowns,
but the chances are that goals will
continue to be missed in the same old
way.
Perhaps the most astonishing thing
last season was the number of tie
games, lot of them between sup
posedly strong and supposedly mediocre
teams. Some of these draw contests
were those between Minnesota and In
diana, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, Min
nesota and Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and
Washington Jefferson, Illinois and
Iowa State Geneva and Bucknell, Po-
i Tyoy
Springfield Training School and Provi-
dence and Union. Texas Aggies and
Texas Christian, Washington State and
Idaho New York University and Col
gate Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. and
Stanford and Southern California.
Colgate and Brown tied for the third
successive year.
You will hear Tufts and Centenary
mentioned as the united teams of last
season. and Illinois, Minnesota. Tonnes
see, Washington and Jefferson Geneva,
Texas Aggies. Springfield and Pomona
hailed as the unbeaten elevens. Of
course. there were many more. Foot
ball teams are becoming as common in
United States as golf courses. There
are all of $4,000 college players, posi-
bly, $50 of them of all-American cali
Der That's what makes it so easy to
pick an all-star eleven
But we were speaking of undefeated
teams Possibly some of them are not
nationally known. Ypsilanti Normal
College, for example, played an eight
game schedule and was neither beaten
nor tied. The same may be said for
Tennessee Wesleyan, Teachers College
of Peru, Nebr; Mississippi College.
Emory and Henry College in Virginia
this college played and won nine games
and Teachers College of Cedar Falls,
Iowa There were many other un-
beaten elevenS but they either were
tied or played a schedule OF anys
where from seven to three games.
Brown. unbeaten in 1926, lost six games
in 1927.
Score of Leaders.
Among the strongest elevens last
season were Yale. Pittsburgh, Army,
Princeton, Southern California. Illinois,
Minnesota. New York University. Dart
mouth. Georgetown, Georgia Tech.
Centenary, Georgia and Texas Aggies
That doesn't mean there were no other
strong elevens. There were plenty OF
them.
The dream of foot ball rooter would
be 10 make a schedule after the season
closed. With such hindsight he could
fix 1t so that the strong teams would
play each other. Before a season opens
no one-not even the coaches-knows
which the strong teams are going to
be, They know which colleges have the
material, but they don't know how 1t
Is going TO turn out. and they don't
know how that material is going to be
affected by strains and breaks.
On paper such elevens as Princeton
Illinois. Yale, Pennsylvania. Georgia
Tech, Dartmouth. Harvard. Army. Min
nesota, Navy, Southern California. De-
troit, Purdue. New York University and
Georgetown should be strong. So should
many more
The question which viii be strong or
the field will be answered lster.
fCoprrieht, 1928. by North American Ne7.--
paper Alliance