Evening star., 1939-10-09
Struggle for National
Honors Already Is
Grand Scramble
Best Bet for Mythical
Crown Apparently Is
Somewhere in Dixie

Somewhere in Dixie
BY HUGH S. FULLERTON, Jr,
Associated Press Sports Writer.
NEW YORK, Oct. 9.-The hunt for
a national football champion, ordi-
narily just getting under way at this
stage of the season, has reached a
state of confusion comparable only
with a National League fans ex-
planation of the World Series.
On the basis of last Saturdays dis
turbing results, the best bet for the
1889 champion seems to be some
where in the South, but even there
strength seems to be so we'll distrib-
uted anything may happen before
the end of November.
Such highly touted outfits as Min
nesota. Northwestern, Fordham and
Holy Cross thoroughly and unex-
pectedly were beaten; Army, Navy,
and Notre Dame had narrow escapes.
Among those that have displayed
real strength are Pitt and Cornell
in the East; Iowa, Ohio State, Ne
braska and Oklahoma in the Mid
west; Texas and Texas Aggies in the
Southwest; Utah in the Rocky
Mountains, and U. c. L. A.. Southern
California and possibly oregon on
the West Coast
The South, however, offers Duke,
North Carolina, Alabama, Missis-
sippi and Mississippi State as can
didates. for top ranking with half
dozen or so others that may emerge.
This weeks intersectional program,
however, may eliminate some OF
them.
Pitt a Power In Air.
Briefly, here's the situation now:
East: Pitt. which followed its tri-
umph over Washington with a 300
win over its old rival, West Virginia,
shapes up as an outstanding for
ward-passing outfit. The Panthers
will entertain Duke, which went to
town, 37-0, against crippled Colgate.
next Saturday, and the game should
settle titular aspirations of one or
the other. Cornell. in walloping
Syracuse, 1876, In its opener. looked
trif1e too strong for its ivy
League" rivals. The Ithacans play
Princeton Saturday.
Possible Eastern contenders in
clude Boston College, which meets
Florida Thursday: Georgetown.
which meets Syracuse, and Carnegie
Tech and Villanova.
Yale, which tossed mild surprise
into the old-guard ranks by whip
ping Columbia, 10-7, tackles Penn,
GO winner over Lafayette, while the
Lions face Army, which barely eked
out 9-6 win over little Centre.
Fordham, brought up short, rs. by
Alabama when the Crimson Tide
came up with a better line and a
well-balanced attack, heads an East
ern invasion of the South, playing
Tulane at New Orleans. Holy Cross.
swamped, 26-7, by Louisiana State,
meets Georgia, 300 victim of Fur
man, in Friday surprise. New
York University tests North Caro-
lina's Tarheels at Chapel Hill.
Tar Heels Head Conference.
South: Virginia Tech gave North
Carolina its best scrap so far, but
went down, 1876, leaving the Tar
Heels at the head Of the Southern
Conference parade with three VIC
tories. Clemson, " M. I. and Rich
mond Joined Duke in a second place
tie by marking up their first confer
ence victories. Clemson's Tigers
trimmed North Carolina State. 25-6:
v. M. I. beat Davidson, 20, and
Richmond defeated Washington and
Lee, TO.
Mississippi State. backed by two
major victories. including Saturdays
14-0 win over Florida, faces Auburn,
beaten, 1910, by Tulane. in this weeks
only Southeastern Conference game.
Louisiana State. beaten by Missis-
sippi in its opener, plays Rice Of the
Southwest Conference, and can
enhance its prestige considerably by
winning as easily as 1t did against
Holy Cross.
Midwest: The headache-producing
defeats of Minnesota and North
western have left Ohio State, Mich
igan and Iowa in the Big Ten fore
front. DR.. Eddie Anderson's Hawk
eyes outlasted Indiana, 1929, in the
opening conference game. But Iowa
runs right into Michigan, 26-13 win
ner over Michigan State Ohio State,
which defeated Missouri, 1910, gets
Northwestern. Minnesota and Pur-
due clash in consolation game,
while Illinois plays Southern Cali
fornia at Los Angeles, and Chicago
meets Harvard.
Notre Dame Struggles.
Notre has had two close ones, beat
ing Georgia Tech, 17-14. after a 80
win over Purdue. Southern Meth
odist, next in line for the "Irish,"
hasn't showed much yet.
In the Big Six, the sturdy Ne
braska line doesn't figure to have
much trouble against Iowa State,
beaten. 14-0, by Kansas, unless there's
a reaction after that Minnesota tri-
umph. Oklahoma plays Texas at
Dallas, which should put the winner
right up in the thick of the national
title fight. The Longhorns continued
their rise last Saturday with 17-7
triumph over Wisconsin.
Southwest: Last years champion,
Texas Christian, is at the bottom of
the heap. while Texas and Texas A.
and M. share top ranking as re-
suit Of intersectional triumphs.
Pacific Coast: It's Southern Cali
fornia and U. c. L. A. again in the
Coast Conference since the Trojans
recovered from their tie with Oregon
to swamp Washington State, 27-0;