The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-12-16
ALABAMA NAMED SUGAR BOWL
 U N D OERDOGS s
BY WILLIAM H. TILLY United Press Staff Correspondent

NOhuSSW NHCSS 0t1AA NVEECSPUlUcHbJ
 Tuscaloosa, Ala, Dec. I6-(UP)- Alabama's kids are going into their Sugar Bowl football game with Duke on New Years day as def mite underdogs" but if their "runt- formation backfield gets going, the vaunted Blue Devils may get more opposition than they reckoned for.
 Four teen aged and short-sta- tured youngsters comprise the starting backfield for the Crimson tide, but the mites are mighty. They sparked the tide to five vic- tories, two ties and defeat in a season when Coach Frank Thomas hadn't even dared to hope that the team would have chance to fin ish with 8 high rating.
 Sure we're definite underdogs," he said. "A younger, smaller civil ian team can't compare with an ex- perienced, heavy naval V-12 squad such as Duke. And you can't com- pare this team to one of our pre- war bowl teams"
 Thomas is banking for victory on 8 passing and running offensive built around bomb sight" Harry Gilmer, and 17-year-old Lowell Few. Gilmer, praised by the vet eran Alabama coach as "one of the best passers I ever handled" con- nected with 32 of 66 forwards dur ing the season for net gain of 418 yards.
 The slim 16O-pounder, who at five-foot, 11-inches is the 'big guy" of the backfield, throws a sharp low-type pass with such &C., curacy that his team mates nick named him bomb sight" He usual ly gets around 40-yards on spot passes and on occasions has tossed more than 50-yards from a stand- ing position, right into the arms of a receiver.
 Few, squat 109-pounder from Waynesboro, Miss, is the Tides leading ground gainer with a total of 253 yards, mostly on slashes through the forward wall which have given him an average of 5.9 yards per try. He runs with a pecu- liar hopping motion that baffles would-be tacklerS.
 Another scoring specialist but a different kind Is 156-pound Hugh Morrow, a freshman place kicking expert, who has made 30 out of 36 conversions. Aside from this, despite his lack ofg size, he is rated the best blocker in the backfield
 Although it hasn't been stressed, the Tides defense has been one of its principal assets Using the sub terfuging" or shifting style of de- fense made famous by Coach John (Ox) Da Grosa at Holy Cross this year, Thomas has switched from seven, to six to five man lines to off, set offensive shifts. It worked well enough for the Tide to hold it's com bined opposition to 54 points with only Georgia able to score more than one touchdown against it.
 The cornerstone" of the line is aVughan Mancha, rated as one of the centers in the southeast, who carries his 230 pounds with amazing speed, He backs up a light line which features Jack McvConville 
 and Ralph Jones a pair of rangy ends. Johnny Wozniak and Jack Green are the "old men" of the squad at guards because they are the only lNayers in the starting line up over 20-years-old. The tackles are 17-year-old Buddy Edwards, a hard-hitting 195-pounder and Tom Whitley, defensive standout from Birmingham.
 Fourth starter in the backfield is Fred Grant, 180-pound fullback, whi will go into the game with an extra score to settle with Duke. He and Reserve Halfback Jim Robertson played with Wake Forest earlier in the season when Duke handed the Deacons their only defeat.