Evening star., 1934-11-21
The Mystery Fullback

@HIcAGo, November 2l.-As
1 you look him over. no one
" could make you believe he
had been the most famous
fullback Of his day-a fullback who
could rip through big line, circle an
end, kick and pass.
In his foot ball prime he weighed
l59, slender young fellow with a
keen, hawk-type face. pair of mar
row shoulders and a thin chest. But
the legs were different They we're
like steel legs that supported the body
of lightweight.
When he came into the hotel room
he looked even lighter and thinner
than he used to be. He admitted that
he was now down around l5S. Yet
this was the back who led the win
ming assault against great Stanford
team with Ernie Nevers on the job
the same back who helped beat two
Of the Army's best teams.
This back was Elmer Layden. now
head coach at Notre Dame, one of the
best of the old four horsemen of
South Bend glory
Again looking him over, you con-
tinued thinking: How could a fell
low with this build ever do what he
did for three years and still stand
up?"
One answer, of course, was smart
ness and exceptional spirit The
other was pair of strong legs, which
could turn the 100 in 94s seconds
which could drive with the force of a
180-pounder.
Coming Along.
LINER LAYDEN is taking his
r. Notre Dame team to New York
to meet the Army at the YAM
kee Stadium on Saturday in one of
foot balls old-fashioned rivalries.
I've no kick coming" he said. LAS
rule the under dog usually pulls off
this game. but at this next party I
suppose we rate about fifty-fifty, with
little choice either way. We have a
pretty good foot ball team now and
a'team that is getting better. We LOST
to Texas. Pittsburgh and the Navy,
but against this we beat Purdue. Car
negie Tech, Wisconsin and Northwest
ern. It's hard to VAN 'em all, or even
half of 'em these days
How does foot ball look at Notre
Dame now?" I'asked him.
Foot ball always is a guess" Lay
den said, but I believe we are on
our way. 1t has taken some time to
work out the right combination end
even now it isn't all settled. We had
to build up most of the line and we
had to get our backfield sorted out,
with Elser, Melinkevich. Carideo,
Shakespeare, Layden, Bonar and
others properly placed. 1t isn't so
easy when one might happen to be
coed ball carrier, another a good
passer. still another a good kicker or
good blocker. Most of the back
field men have been good in their
own departments, but getting one or
two who could run, pass and kick for
threat is another problem.
The spirit has been as fine as any
coach could ask for. That was shown
in the final quarter of the Northwest
ern game, with Northwestern leading
US and playing jam-up foot ball.
Facing defeat, the bunch came back
with rush that carried us through"
Layden's Slant.
What about the coming Army
game?" I asked Layden.
That should be one of the best of
the year." he said. "a Notre Dance
Army game always is fought to the
last turn, always full of action. ANY
team that has a good, fast line, as the
Army has, with two such backs as
Buckler and Stancook, always Is hard
to beat. We have no such triple
threat man as Buckler, who can run.
pass and kick, and who In addition
is strong defensively. And, in my
opinion, Stancook is one of the most
valuable backs of the year.
But, as said before, we are COM
ing along. We missed too many
chances in the Navy game and I had
little hope of beating Pittsburgh, one
Of the strongest teams I've seen In
In Robinson. . Long Island boy, one
Of the best I've looked at. We haven't
so much reserve strength in the line
but plenty in the backfield."
What about next year?" asked.
Layden igrinned. Don't forget"
he replied. "that We still have Army
and Southern California left this year
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