Evening star., 1945-11-02
Redskins, Who Found
/ Tough, Expected
Navy's Trouble
BY LEWIS F. ATCHIsoN.

NOBODY around the RedSkin wig
wan was much surprised by stories
Of dissension, confusion and plain |
CONSERVATION in Nays football |
camp. The Tribe expected 1t all
along because they, too, have had
their ups and downs putting in the
r formation.
President George Marshall, who
held out for the r, the whole r and
nothing but the I, s'help us, when
others were ready to heave 1t intoI
the ash can or compromise with a /
hybrid offense, told Col. Emory
(Swede) Larsen, Comdr. Oscar Hag-
bergs predecessor, Navy could ex-
pect trouble. That was early last
summer when Hagberg first an
nounced his intention of using the 7.
The Redskins went through the
first painful phase of reconversion
from the old single-wing attack last
year when they resembled funnymen
from Barnum & Bailey more than a
pro football outfit. 1t got so bad
the coaches seriously considered
printing road maps to guide their
wayward boys and some of the backs
were so completely lost searching
parties had to be sent out for them.
In Ogden, Utah, playing an exhi-
bition game with Brooklyn, for ex-
ample, Ed Merkle almost murdered
Mike Micka with one of the most
vicious blocks seen on any football
field. The trouble was that Ed was
in the wrong SLOT That happened
more than once and Merkle wasn't
the only culprit.
Baugh Is ComicaI.
Sammy Baugh looked great crouch
ing behind the quarterback, barking
signals like an old sea captain
Looking at him you would have
thought he was raised On T instead
'Nof milk, but Sammy one day turned
and held out the ball for the runner
while everybody traipsed gaily
through an opening on the opposite
side. 1t was fun. A belly laugh a. |
minute was guaranteed.
Turk Edwards began studying the
mysterious T in February and by
the end of November admitted he
was as puzzled as ever. Dud De
Groot was introduced to it in March
and in September was ready to di-
lutte it with variations of single
wing. Baugh not SO long ago told
this writer he didn't know what the
devil he was calling last year.
Il knew what I wanted to do, who
wanted to carry the ball, but
damned if knew the combination
to get EN- there" he confessed.
Even Clark Shaughnessy, who is
master -minding the T for the Tribe,
hedged a bit when it came down to
the question of whether to go whole
hog or halfway. When the team
came East from the West Coast it
looked so ragged and was assimi-
lating the formation so slowly
Shaughnessy thought it might be
better to take it in small doses,
retaining some single-wing opera
tions. Baugh, in several games, did
that and took the ball on a straight
pass from center after running for
his life trying to operate from under
the center. .-.5-
A Moral for Navy.
! 1t was only several weeks ago that
We quoted Ray Flaherty, former
Redskin coach, that the Skins would
be more powerful team if they
mixed single-wing with the T, and
We, ourselves, thought they looked SO
shoddy in some earlier games they
should throw the whole thing out
the window. Events of the last two
weeks have changed that viewpoint
considerably. You can't criticize
success.
4 But Hagberg and Navy and the
Midshipmen's critics, can find
moral in all this. If a pretty good
pro team can't click with the T in
two years, how in the world can a
college team do it in one?
Bill Dudley, All-America at Vir-
ginia in 1941 and an All-National
League halfback the following year,
has been discharged from the Army
and will rejoin the Pittsburgh Steel
ers next week. Dudley is visiting his
alma mater and will accompany the
; Cavaliers to Morgantown tomorrow
for their game with West Virginia