New Haven, Oct. 13, --Yale will have to do a great deal of reconstruction work, especially on the line, during the coming week, if the Bulldog is to triumph over Dartmouth in the Bowl next Saturday. This is not alone the humble opinion of your correspondent after watching the 7-6 victory over Georgia University last Saturday; it is the opinion of Head Coach Woodruff of the Southerners, all the critics who saw the game, and the majority of the spectators. Many of the local sports scribes give Yale no chance at all, but after following Yale as, closely as we have and from the comeback that the Blue staged in the second half we are inclined to think that a week of hard work under the careful teaching of Coach T. A. D. Jones will iron out many of the wrinkles in the Eli football problems that have been brought to surface in the games with North Carolina and Georgia. Coach Woodruff, in his statement after the game to the Yale Daily News maintains also that Yale is weak against a strong forward passing game. This does not quite seem to follow from the Georgia game, since out of seventeen attempted passes the Georgians completed but six, while one was intercepted and the others failed.
New Line Combination Fails
After the Nort Carolina game a week ago Head Coach Jones spent the week rearranging his linesmen and backs, several new tackles and guards being tried out. The Red and Blacks on Saturday faced Richards and Sturhahn, on the left side of the line in place of Joss and Wortham. The new combination did not go as well as the old and in addition the right side crumbled under the fierce attack of the Crackers, Georgia on straight line plays making 73' yards in the first period against 23 for the Blue. Jess, Wortham and Root were put into the game in the second period in place of Richards, Eckart and Butterworth and the line showed more power, holding their opponents even on rushing gains in that quarter and outdoing them in the last half. It would seem as if this latter combination is the most logical, to face Dartmouth.
Georgia players, in commenting upon the playing of the Eli linesmen, declared that Bingham and Luman on the ends. Captain Lovejoy at center and Joss at tackle, played best against them, bearing out, the opinion that the Blue tackles and guards in general are weak, Luman and Lovejoy were especially praised, while Bingham was characterized by the Southerners as a good man but lacking in experience.
Crackers Cracked By Cottle's Plunges
In the backfield the work of Cottle, Allen, Failing, Cutler, Lindley and Pond restored the optimism that the linesmen removed. Cottle had a terrific work-out against Georgia, and stood up under the test with extraordinary ability and results. Few people realize that Yale's touchdown was due almost entirely to his brilliant playing. It was not spectacular in that there were no length of the field runs but when one player can hit a line as heavy as Georgia's, carrying the ball himself in eleven out of thirteen plays, and in those plays, bringing the pigskin from one end of the field to the other, so that on the thirteenth play his teammate takes the ball over for the only score--then you can be sure that that player is a good back. That is what Eddie Cottle did against Georgia on Saturday. He was sent in for Failing in the second half and made things hot, and the Crackers cracked under the strain of his line hitting. He should prove a big asset against Dartmouth and the Army.
Lindley of Baseball, Not Crew Fame
Cutler and Lindley came to the fore when they were sent in toward the end of the game and were the chief participants in the march from the field that was terminated by the final whistle with the ball on Georgia's three-yard line and three downs to go. Lindley is a hard man to stop when in an open field and he is a fiend on end runs. He is not the Al Lindley that stroked the Yale crew to the championship of the world, but gained his fame prior to football as second baseman and right-fielder on the Yale baseball team last spring.
Georgia Is Surprised By Yale Weakness
Lack of proper interference and a poor defense against forward passing are Yale's weakest points in the opinion of the Georgia players, who were chagrined at having lost by but a single point but admitted that the whistle alone prevented Yale from scoring another touchdown. All were loud in their praise of Captain Lovejoy and the ends and backs but none of them thought that the Yale team was as formidable as they had expected it to be. One of the Southern backs was heard to remark after the game: "If we'd known how poor they were we could have scored four touchdowns."
Need Stronger Aerial Defense
Head Coach Woodruff of the Georgians believes that Yale needs a stronger defense against the pass, making his opinions known in the following statement to the Yale News:
"Yale's interference in the first half was very poor and afforded the runner practically no protection. When we had possession of the ball the Yale line shifted much too far on end runs and our backs were able to reverse the field for substantial gains. In the second half, however, both these weaknesses were corrected to a large extent. That rush after the kick-off, which ended in a touchdown was one of the best I have ever seen. (He is here referring to Cottle's parade down the field.)
"Throughout the game Yale found great difficulty in stopping our forward passing attack. This is the weakest point and must be improved before Yale meets Dartmouth and the Army. The punting was consistently good but the kicks should be gotten off faster. Against a more experienced team than I have, several kicks would have been blocked. My ends and tackles almost succeeded in doing this on more than one occasion.
"The backfield has plenty of power but is rather sluggish.
"In my opinion the best players on the Yale team are Lovejoy, Pond and Luman, Bingham is also a first-class end but lacks the experience of Luman".
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