The end of the second week in October finds the make-up of the Yale eleven still very uncertain. For at least six positions the competition is even, and it is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty whom the coaches will finally select. The five men who have played in their positions with considerable regularity and who, if they continue to improve as expected, seem reasonably sure to have the preference for the championship games are: Holt, centre; Glass, left guard; Goss, right guard; Hogan, right tackle; and Captain Chadwick, left halfback. All five were members of the 1901 eleven, although Glass did not play the latter part of the season. The greatest difficulty for the coaches lies in the choice of the ends and backs. From tackle to tackle the team has been playing up to the usual Yale standard for this part of the season.
At left tackle the competition appears to have narrowed down to Hamlin and Shevlin. The latter is handicapped by inexperience and a tendency towards careless play, but is a more natural player than Hamlin. The two men have alternated about evenly in the games played thus far. The ends are still weak, and the development of the leading candidates has been hindered by injuries. Coffin has played regularly at left end when in condition. His weight has proved valuable in the offense, but he is slow, especially on kicks. At the other end Neal, Hare and Moorhead have been tried. Neal was doing the best work of the three until his injury in the Wesleyan game. He also has an advantage in weight over the other two men. The best of the substitute line-men appear to be Morton at centre, Kinney, Lewis and Brown at guard, and Bissell and Turner at tackle.
The back-field is very unsettled. The material is fairly promising, although most of the men are inexperienced; slowness and weak defensive play are the chief faults. Metcalf and Winslow are being used at quarterback. Metcalf fumbles very rarely and uses good judgment in directing his plays, but at present is in poor physical condition. Both have made some brilliant runs through broken fields in the minor games. Captain Chadwick is the most consistent and reliable ground-gainer on the team, and is playing better than ever before. Hinkle has played left half whenever Chadwick was not in the game. He is perhaps the fastest of the backs, but is weak in defensive work. The candidates for right halfback include Ward, Wilhelmi, Owsley, Soper and Preston. Ward's efficiency lies in his weight and his kicking abilities; he has made a strong showing thus far. Wilhelmi has just returned to college after being ill for some time. If he can recover his form of last year he will prove very valuable to the team. Owsley is one of the strongest defensive backs on the squad. At fullback Farmer, Bowman, McClintoch and VanderPoel seem at present to be about equal in ability.
The games played thus far show that the team is developing steadily, though slowly. The defence had not been really tested up to the Brown game. In offensive work the team has shown excellent scoring ability. Nothing but the simplest plays have been used. The coaches who have assisted J. R. Swan '02 during the past week are L. T. Bliss, W. O. Hickok, Morris W. Ely, P. H. Stillman and B. C. Chamberlin.
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