Evening star., 1938-10-26
SEVERAL OTHERS
STILL IN RUNNING
Unbeaten 'Irish,' Tennessee
and Dartmouth PRESSING
Claims for Title.
By GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent of The Star.

Special Correspondent of The Star,
NEW YORK, Oct. 26.-This depart.
ment is beset with queries from va
rious sectors asking us to name the
strongest team in the country.
AS far as one can gather informa-
ton from verious reservations anc
add to that what he has seen, the an
swer would be Pittsburgh. This will
draw number of frowns from Texas
Christian and California, two extreme.
ly strong teams right on the Panthers
flying claws.
A well-known football Judge from
Texas sends us this: In my opin-
ion. this Texas Christian team would
have an equal chance against Pitts
burgh. The game would be toss-up
This T. c. U. outfit is one OF the
strongest I ever have seen, equipped
with all it needs on both offense ano
defense" This statement is true.
The same type Of report comes from
CALIFORNIA; supporters, who rate this
1888 team even above the Rose Bowl
winners of last fall.
But now that Pittsburgh has added
the demesne of the air to her run
ming attack along the green sod ]
don't believe any squad can match the
all-around efficiency of those four
backs. Every one knows how good
Marshall Goldberg is They forget
that Cassiano and Stebbins are just
about as dangerout and that Chick
erneo is no fill-in to make up back
field.
And just in front of this backfeld
you also will find one of the Nation S
strongest lines, flanked by two star
ends in Daddio and Hoffman.
We will know more about all three
teams in the next two weeks.
Odd things can happen in football
at any given moment. Pitt still has
Fordham. Carnegie and Duke in the
road-quite enough to test any one.
T. c. U. now should move along un-
beaten unless there is a decided switch
in form. CALIFORNIA; main hurdle will
oe Southern Cal: Pitt has the harder
trail to clean up before finishing her
year unwhipped.
Others Have Claims.
Meanwhile there now are pressing
claims for Notre Dame, Tennessee and
Dartmouth, all unbeaten, all well
manned and well coached.
In this group Notre Dame has by
all odds the hardest job ahead The
Irish" of South Bend still have to
meet Army, Navy Minnesota, North
western and Southern California. This
is killing schedule. after a hard
October drive.
Minnesota, of course, belongs in
this list. Here is point to recall-the
gap between teams Is not nearly so
wide as it seems to be. Minnesota
was only single point above Mich
igan. and Michigan was only safety
above Yale, although Yale has lost
three of her four games.
These good teams all are about
the same" Fielding Yest told me-
The average gets higher every year
I've watched this develop for more
than 80 years. So much depends on a
teams mental attitude for a certain
game, and injuries, even minor ones,
can play a big part. From what l
have seen and heard 1 would say
there are far more good football
teams scattered over the map this fall
than at any time before. There are
at least 20 or 80 teams that would be a
match for any one on a certain day"
You don't hear so much in the
East, for example, about Oklahoma
Yet this team is one of the best, a
team good enough to carry the war
to any opponent.
Yost is right. The land is flowing
with star talent, most of it ably
coached. The gap usually is wider
in the way of reserves. Before the
first whistle blew the applause was loud
for Washington, Indiana and Rice.
Yet these three teams have had a
tough time trying to win single
game from more than IL combined
starts. This shows you how things
can turn.
Few thought Yale had even an out
side chance against Michigan, yet
Yale was leading, l3 to 2, in the third
quarter and came close to pulling
away. Harvard has lost four games,
yet Harvard has played good football
against more manpower and has made
a fight of it at eVery start
Pitt Not InvincibIe.
In spite of this, I don't believe any
other team today is as we'll equipped
as Pittsburgh is in every department.
Now that It has taken up and i'm
proved its passing, there seems to be
no part of weak spot left.
The Panther has speed-power-
precision. You will find poise and
precision-one of the best backfields
known to college football-a fast, ag-
gressive line from end to end-in-
dividual stars blended into a great
machine by an able coach.
This doesn't mean that Pitt is in
vincible. There is no such word in
sport. But Pitt can be beaten only
by some strong team at its peak,
getting its full share of the breaks,
which often are important factors in
this game.
Fordham and Carnegie Tech might
do 1t. T. c. U. and California might
if they had the chance. Well know
more about strong Notre Dame
team on Saturday, with good Army
team all set to get up and move
Notre Dame has had no breathing
spots, and the pressure gets tougher
every passing week