Evening star., 1940-12-18
Eastern Rapidly Winning Status School to Beat for Basket Ball ono
The
SPORTLIGHT
Strength in Line Key
To Stanford Success
By GRANTLAND RICE,

To Stanford Success
BY GRANTLAND RICE,
Special Correspondent Of The Star.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18 (N.A.N.Ao.
There are several details about
this miracle Clark Shaughnessy-
Stanford team one of the greatest
surprises of football, which are un-
known around the map.
Practically all that you hear about
Is the famous Chicago Bear-"T' for
nation on attack and set of fine
backs, headed by Frankie Albert
and Norman Standlee.
"You hear this is the same team
that lost eight straight last fall"
an old-time coach told me. 1T isn't.
Yes, about the same backfield is
there. But there are five linemen
on this Stanford team who didn't
play last year. And they are among
the underrated of all football. For
they can match any line in America,
and I don't care whether you name
Minnesota, Tennessee or Boston
College.
They are Ed Stamm at left tackle,
Chuck Taylor. Vic Lindskog, Dick
Palmer and Bruno Banducci. All
except Lindskog are sophmores.
And Lindskog is the smallest of the
fivesome. He weighs only 1875 pounds.
All others range from 200 to 2l5.
"Shaughnessy Is a great coach
with a great backfield. But even
Shaughnessy couldn't use that
tricky. wide open offensive, without
a great line. And Stanford has q
great line.
Stonford Line Yielded
Only II Yords to Beers
ut is seldom that opposing linemen
ever can break through this bunch.
II Nebraska can do it, then Nebraska
has the best line in the country,
barring nobody. In their closing
game with California, for one ex-
ample, Stanford lost only II yards
from scrimmage to the hard-charg-
Ing Bear forwards And remember,
this loss came after taking big
chances for big gains.
I'll admit that Albert, Standlee
Kmetovic and Gallerneau complete
a great backfleld-I mean ball car
riers, passers, kickers and blockers.
1t has been rare occasion when
Stanford needed backfield substi-
tute.
"The one exception has been the
giant Standlee, who practically was
away from three big games. But
Shaughnessy had 204-pound Milt
Vucinich to replace Standlee, and
Albert's kicking was even better
than Standlee's. The other backs
have gone through the season with
out injury, and this has helped to
make Shaughnessys hocus-pocus so
effective, for the bunch has devel-
oped It's timing far more expertly
than most college teams ever could
know.
stanford has a great backfield.
But please don't forget it has just
as good line-big, fast, aggressive.
Yes, know it is young, with four
sophs know their stuff. They are
big, fast and keen"
Lock Of Reserve Is Held
Sole Stonford Weakness
Then I ran into Paul Schissler,
who was once coached at Nebraska. 1
Paul believes the Cornhuskers have
. good chance to beat Stanford.
Just how?" asked him.
po1,1 eoiI GCfo pf cfr iof1 {e
offensive team. Stanford depends
on outscoring the other fellow. It
follows closely a deceptive man-in-
motion attack combined with quick
opening plays from that deceptive
IT" formation. such as the Chicago
Bears used against the Washington
Redskins for 73 points.
"Stanford's personnel is exactly
suited for this style of football.
Albert is great passer, great
field general, an excellent kicker.
To me his deft handling of the ball
is the most important factor in STAN
ford's amazing comeback. He prob
ably is the most useful player of
the year.
stanford, however, has one def
mite weakness. When the first team
leaves the field, there is little left.
I'm most of the toughest games
won by Stanford this season the
team has done its heaviest damage
In the second half. Many teams can
not do this because of injuries to
key men and consequent lack of
replacements. But Stanford's first
string is well trained and has es-
capped serious injury; hence the re-
tention Of full scoring power in the
second half.
Nebrosko's Best Chonce
Seen in EorIy Drive
IF the Nebraska team can stop
Stanford early, I believe the Corn
huskers, with their strong line and
excellent substitutes, have a good
chance to win. Biff Jones is highly
regarded by us members of the
coaching fraternity and no we'll
posted football fan expects anything
but the toughest kind OF game
from Nebraska"
These are only early advance opin-
Ions about the next Rose Bowl game,
which may be subject to later cor
rections.
But If the Stanford line is up to
the standard named by our West
Coast scout, plus the Stanford back
field. plus the Stanford offense, it
would seem at this moment that
Nebraska would need the best foot
ball team in the country to insure
victory. Which means that Nebraska
will have to be at least two or three
touchdowns better than the Huskers
were against Indiana, Oklahoma,
Iowa or Pittsburgh.
There are no certainties in foot
ball. can give you Cornell and
Dartmouth. Texas and Texas A. and