Spotting the Enemy for a Comparison

Now that the Varsity football team is beginning to take on definite shape, it isn't a bad time to see what has happened to some of the outfits that the Caseymen are due to tangle with during the next few weekends. Dartmouth, Army, Holy Cross, and Brown have all swung into action, and their performances over the Sabbath will not ring any sweet music into the ears of E. Casey & Co.

Dartmouth, for instance, whitewashed Norwich 39-0 despite the fact that the Norwich Cadets are reported to be "better than average" this season. Not one pass did the Indians have to use all afternoon; only twice did they resort to deception. The rest of the time it was a case of simple off-tackle plays and bucks performed by a team that operated like clock-work. Red Blaik has installed the old Army precision to the nth degree up at Hanover. His backs start fast and head for the opposition with beautifully coordinated interference, while his line has a good, fast charge. Right there are two things that Harvard needs terribly right now: some real interference for the ball carriers and a potent, effective line. There are about 12 men on the squad who have A-1 possibilities as backs, but no man living is going to get by a Princeton, Dartmouth, or Army defense unless his team gives him a lift all the way. In the two scrimmages so far the Jayvees have shown an unpleasant tendency to cut by the interference and stop the Varsity before it gets started.

Tough Lines

Then that matters of linesmen: Dartmouth has a good line; Holy Cross, which wiped out little St. Joseph's 51-0, has a row of 210 pound giants that stopped the Hawks' running attack and wrecked all attempts at passes; Brown, too has a heavy line that were down an unusually good. B. U. eleven; Army's frontier is at sector this year. Captain Gundlach is the only member of long experience, though Fran Schumann saw some action in 1933 and would have been in a good deal more if he hadn't been put on the injured list early in the season. Apparently Casey figures that Schu is a bit off his feed just at present, for large Fran is not the ranking guard on the team that was announced this morning.

In fact the only man who seems fairly certain of a permanent berth on the "A" team firing line is Henry Adlis. Adlis is one of the brighter prospects from Cliff Gallagher's 1933 Freshman outfit and is the only 200-pounder on the team despite his 17 years. Weight, it might be added, is at a premium right now on Soldiers Field. Adam Walsh, new line coach this fall, may reach down into his years of experience at Notre Dame and Yale and find an inspiration that will help to whip together a fighting, charging line, but trainer Eddie Farrell and Doe Therndike will have rather a tough time building on enough beef to give the Varsity at even break on the scales with Holy Cross and Brown, to mention two places that possess impressive heavyweights.

To return to comparisons, for the benefit of any one who is still interested in them, Dartmouth managed to reel off 420 yards and achieve 18 first downs against Norwich, while Brown went through B. U. for 299 yards, and 15 first downs during the course of an 18-0 victory. West Point found that its running attack wasn't going well against Washburn because of the wet field, so the Cadets took to the air for 24 yards on two passes. Holy Cross wasn't really faced with very tough opposition.

Looking it all over, then, Harvard is going to have a lot of well-trained football brawn to stop if the long victory yell is to be heard in the Stadium this fall when the dusk of a Saturday evening is dropping down on Cambridge. There is a lot of backfield material available; the line squad may overcome its lack of experience and toughness and start working as a unit. The job now rests will Messrs. Casey, Walsh, Fesler, and Lane, who form one of the most capable staff the Crimson has had in years. So while there's life there's hope. --BY TIME OUT.