Evening star., 1952-12-01
Cleveland and Detroit Favored Meet for Pro Football Title
College Grid Season
|vindicates Forecasts
with Few Exceptions
BY the Assoeioted Press

NEW YORK, Dec. Except
for the big bowl games a month
from today. college football has
written f1nis to the 1852 cam
|paign-one that. strangely, lived
up to most preseason expectations.
Every one knew Michigan State
and Georgia Tech were loaded,
and these two outfits proved the
experts right clear down to the
wire. They finished the seasons
business as the only undefeated,
united major teams in the country.
The Spartans have won "a
straight. while the Engineers, who
wound up operations with q 23-9
victory over Georgia Saturday.
have not been defeated in Is
games and own a 16-game win
ming streak. They'll meet a
severe test January 1 against
Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl.
Ole Miss, tied twice, also is un-
defeated. so this will be the only
bowl game involving teams that
have not been whipped.
Biggest Disappointment.
The seasons biggest disappoint-
ments, perhaps, were Illinois, Cal
ifornia and Texas Christian-al-
though at the end some were
placing Maryland in this cate
CORY.
The Illini were supposed to be
the class of the Big Ten, but even
lat the start they showed the ex-
perts to be wrong and could do no
better than compile a As record.
Wisconsin was rated second best,
but emerged with the Rose Bowl
nomination on the basis of q 6-2-1
season.
California was regarded as the
likely heir to the Pacific Coast
Conference crown. but Pappy WAL
doris Golden Bears did not reckon
with Southern California, and to
Ia lesser extent. UCLA. Both proved
great defensive powers that also
could score. The league title and
bid to the Rose Bowl was not de-
cided until they met. and South
ern Cal won two weeks ago.
1t was risky business predicting
that Texas Christian would win
i'm the Southwest Conference.
which rarely follows form. TCU
dropped its first two games, then
steadied, but was no match for
Texas, which lost only to Notre
Dame and Oklahoma.
Terps' Position UNIQUE.
Maryland. ranked right behind
Michigan State before the season
got under way, is in a unique DO
sition. 1t would be unfair to call
the Terps major disappointment,
even though they lost their last
two games. to Mississippi and Ala
bama. Before that, they had won
seven in row and looked like
champions all the way. They ap-
parently suffered a letdown when
the Southern Conference refused
to waive the rule prohibiting post
season games.
To Notre Dame went the title
OF upset king" of the year. Coach
Frank Leahy predicted he'd have
a weak team, but with each pass
ing Saturday the Irish looked bet
ter until they polished off Okla
homa and Southern California.
Neither had another defeat.
Rule May End "Sucker Shift"
Leahy and his sucker shift"
also have given the Rules Com
mittee something to think over
this winter and it seems fairly
certain the loopholes in the rule
that permitted Notre Dame to work
the formation will be blocked.
Notre Dame first used the shift
against Purdue after Pitt sprang
the play on the Irish the week
before.
All officials queried say it is
legal. The rule states that any
shift or movement not a basic
part of a teams normal offensive
pattern is designed to pull the
opposition offside. Coach Jesse
Hill, whose Southern California
team dropped a 80 verdict to
Notre Dame Saturday, said he
agreed 1t was not a violation Of
the rule. but that it was a VIOLA
ton Of "the spirit of the game"
In the shift, the backfield moves
from the split-T to the box. AS
the backs are shifting, the over
eager opposition often jumps over
the line of scrimmage. There's
no doubt that it's tricky. The
Rules Committee will have to de-
eide If it goes too far in deception.
Discovery of Defense.
If the season produced any
trend, it was the new glorification
of the defensive platoon. Coaches
all over the country discovered al
most as the first gun went off
that you can win football games
by holding the other fellow just
as easily as you can by running
all over him.
Southern Cal and UCLA were
the main exponents of the "de-
fense is king" theory, and both
went through their successful sea-
sons mainly as a result of keeping
the enemy away from the goal.
Southern Cal, in fact, could not
get started extensively until about
a third of the season was gone,
but the Trojans still rode along
the victory trail.