Evening star., 1946-12-04
Army, Irish Place Two Each on A. ?. AIl-America
Davis, Lujdck, Trippi
And Blanchard Win
Posts in BackfieId
By Ted smits
Associated Press General Sports Editor

NEW YORK, Dec. 4.-Glenr
Davis and Felix Blanchard, Army:
Irresistible backs, became today the
first pair of teammates ever te
achieve the All-America football
team for three consecutive years.
This gave Army two places or
the 1916 Associated Press team, 9
distinction also won by Notre Dame
Starting with Walter Camps first
America selection in 1889, anc
|continuing through the AP teams
lonly Is men previous to Davis and
Blanchard won first-team honors fol-
three or more consecutive years
The last was Red Grange, Illinois
halfback of 1923, 1924 and 1925
Never before have teammates &C
complished this feat.
Lujack and Connor Picked.
Notre Danes finest were Johr
lLujack, crafty quarterback, and
George Connor, towering tackle.
Whereas in 1945 Army so COM
pletely overpowered all collegiate
competition as to place five men or
the first team, this year found the
Cadets much closer pressed.
/ Geographical distribution OF mer
on the first three teams reflects q
swing of footballs wartime center o1
gravity in the East toward the West
and South.
The East placed two uen on the
first team-Blanchard and Davis;
the South three, the Midwest four
the Southwest one and the Far West
one.
I Other Midwesterners.
Standing in the front rank in the
Midwest with Notre Danes Lujack
and Connor are Elmer Madar, Mich
igan's powerful defensive end, and
Alex Agase, guard on strong I'LL
nois team.
The South's contributions to the
first team are Dick Huffman, 230-
pound Tennessee tackle; Paul Duke
Georgia Tech center acclaimed by
many as the greatest collegiate CEN
ter of recent years, and Charles
Trippi, the Georgia back who is q
worthy running mate to Blanchard
and Davis.
From the Southwest came We'll
don Humble, mighty Rice guard
and from the Far West Burr Bald
win, U. G. L. A. end who was
such a great factor in his teams
victories.
1t was fitting that the 1916 sea-
son, which broke all collegiate at
tendance records and sent football
surging back into the sunlight after
being shadowed by war for five
years, brought out backf1eld COM
petition of the highest order.
Oldest Team Selected.
The 1946 team, fittingly enough,
is the oldest since the AP began
selecting All-Americas In 1925. Two
of its men, Humble and Madar. are
Is, and the average is 22.7 years,
compared to 20.6 in 1945.
AS might be expected, every MEM
Der of the first team is either a
discharged veteran, or, in the case
of Blanchard and Davis, MEM
ber of the armed forces.
Blanchard and Davis, although
listed as juniors, finish at West
Point in June because of the ac-
celerated course of study imposed
by war.
Rarely have superlatives been be-
slowed so freely on two backs as
they have on Davis and Blanchard.
Some observers call Davis the
greatest running back ever. Be that
as it may, Army's opponents, from
Notre Dame and Michigan down,
found him a constant menace.
Averaged $50 Yards.
In nine games. not including the
Navy test, Davis ran with the ball
liz times for a total Of 626 yards
Or $50 yards per effort-and
threw 43 passes for 16 competitions
of 1856 yards, with only four inter-
ceptions. He caught IT passes for
282 yards, ran back % punts for
272 yards and two kickoffs for II
yards.
Injuries beset Blanchard, bench
ing him for two games and slow
ing him down in others, but he
| went on to stamp himself as the
superb player that he is-mighty
on defense, a great team player,
dangerous because of his great
speed and weight, and seemingly
always capable of picking up what
ever yards were needed. Blanchard
carried the ball up to the Navy
game 105 times for 510 yards.
Quarterback of this above aver
age All-America backfield is Lu-
| jack, cool field general of Notre
| Dame. Under the Notre Dame
system he rarely carried the ball
but when 1t came his way he
showed he could run with it.
Completed SO Passes.
An accurate passer, keen analyst
of opposing defenSes, an inspiring
field leader, and-above ala key
secondary defender whose flying
| tackles cut down many touchdown
run, Lujack bids fair to go on to
another sensational season in 1947
In seven games Lujack threw 81
passes for SO completions, with six
interceptions and total yardage
of 626.
In their specialized fields there was
not much to choose between Lujack
and the man who directed Davis
and Blanchard, Arnold Tucker
When they opposed each other the
honors were almost even, but over
the season Lujack emerged with the
better record.
As if LuJack's passing and Davis
and Blanchard's running were not
enough for the first team backfield,
the fourth member Trippi, came up
with enough kicking, passing and
running ability to be backfield
in himself. Fearless, he sometimes
would run toward his own goal when
cornered and somehow find an open
ing that did not seem to exist for q
getaway that meant gain.
Trippi Consistent Gamer.
Against Florida, Trippi gained SO
yards in 20 rushes and completed
seven out of seven passes for 126
wards; against Alabama he over