The Wilmington morning star., 1940-12-07
BUCKEYES BIGGEST
DISAPPOINTMENT
Duke, lie h, Tulane Disap'
pointing In South; w. &
M. Among Surprises
BY BILL BONI

Bowl in 1910, was the o p
ingly improved college football team
of the past season.
The annual Associated Press sur
vey reveals Ohio State just as dell
nitely vas the most Disappointing
team of the year..
Preseason talk of the Pacific
Coast dealt chiefly with Washington
and Southern California. Stanford,
in it's first season under Clark
shaughnessy and with virtually the
same material, wasn't expected to
prove much more than an interesting
experiment. 49, .
Yet the Indians CAM through nine
games without loss or tie, Wills
Washington had to be content with
second place and southern California
robbed by graduation of the men who
made up its two Rose Bowl teams
and further hampered by the early
season loss Of Lloyd Phillips, key run
ming guard, had n of its poorest
years in recent history.
Ohio States case was the direct op-
posite of Stanford's. Strong enough
in 1899 to win the. Western confer
ence crown, the Buckeyes started
he season with ma~tefiaf>that made
them seem a sure threat for top ma
tional ranking.
Instead they lost four out of eight
and even at Columbus no n is sure
lust what happened. There has been
talk of pickering among the players
of jealousy over the preseason pub
licity given Quarterback Don Scott.
There have been tales the Buckeyes
had to learn over 300 plays, and con-
seouently had almost no time for
fundamentals.
But the Buckeyes weren't the only
disappointment. S~ectionally, other
major teams which failed to live up
to preseason buildups (some because
those buildups were. unwarrantably
high included:
Pacific Coast-U. c. L. A., which
tied with Southern California for the
Coast conference lead q year ago and
this season won only one out of nine.
The reason? Graduation of Kenny
WASHINGTON, with no back around
who could do as many things as that
lad could.
East-Syracuse, which never quite
recovered from that 500 going-over
by Northwestern; Princeton, expect
ed to be chief Ivy league threat, a
size up which failed to consider the
Tigers lack of a real running back
and graduation Of the left side of
their line; Cornell, which got STUCK
in it's last two games. also through
lack, of a real power runner.
Midwest - Notre Dame, where
poor blocking and tackling were FAC
tors in reducing a m~id-season great
est team since Rockne" to a late
season Gust another ball club" In
diana, another team which found 1t
takes Il running threat to make a
pass attack. go; Marquette where
lack of reserves offset a high-scor'
ing offensive a,, 49,
south-Georgia Tech, Southwest
ern conference coleader. in .'Se but
hurt by injuries; Duke which didn't
have the depth; Tulane. where
first and second-stringers were lost
through graduation and two star
guards went out early on injuries.
Southwest - Arkansas and Texai
Christian, which also discovered
passing alone won't pay off in the
tight spots.
Rockies-Colorado, where the play
ers demanded a. new coach after VIM
ming last years Big Seven race, then
turned up with little deception ano
moor fundamentals this season..
On the other side of the picture
were S, rprises as,
south-Florida, off to a slow start
under Tom Lieb but late-season.wln
ner over Georgia, Georgia Tech
MARYLAND and Miami and able to '1old
Tennessee to two long-run touch
downs; William and Mary, setting
into Carl Voyles' system in MS
second year to win the Virginia
championship for the first time and
finish third in the Southern confer
ence; Mississippi State, which won
Its way into the Orange Bowl behlno
a. light but hard-charging line; Van
derbilt. Georgia and Auburn, the las
1.-TWO largely through sophomores vino
clicked.
Southwest - Rice, which took tt
: less Neely's coaching with ne"
I spirit, a stronger running. game ane
better physical condition. :.
: Mid-West-Iowa State, a tast-cios
ing team which gave Rose bow
bound Nebraska a scare; Wisconsin
, which got a one-period jump on MIN
nesota. y.
East-Penn, helped by a fine clos
; ing season for Frank Reagan; Navy
which generated great running powe
= and had lots of material; Columbia
. where line play was decisive.
& Rockies - Utah, moving into tn
Big Seven title, on a versatile 4offens
and sound fundamentals despite tn
d loss of six. ;:3s regulars.
For the frankest estimate, : tn
+ palm goes3to Alb :Kirwan of Ken
S lucky. Noting the Wildcats wer
I labeled in several quarters the @bes
3 Kentucky team in years, Abs 'onl