For the first time in four weeks the Varsity will have a chance to catch its breath and try to solve its troubles without the worry of a major opponent. The long stretch of defeats by Holy Cross, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Army has at last ended and there is a supposed breather ahead.

New Hampshire, which succeeded in scoring on Dartmouth last Saturday, may not be the entire setup that was expected; but since Tufts defeated it by the overwhelming score of 26-0 two weeks ago, Harvard should have no difficulty in coming out on top.

This cheerful prospect doesn't mean that Casey will give the Varsity a vacation this week. On the contrary, the layoff yesterday is probably the only rest the gridsters will have until Sunday. For there are plenty of major weaknesses in the Varsity's play, as the Army's 27-6 experiment in demolition showed over the weekend.

For example, after weeks of repeated effort Casey and his tutees have not yet developed an effective running offense. Or again, Harvard is still pass vulnerable, although way back in the Holy Cross game this hole in the defense was demonstrated by the talented Jim Hobin, with fatal results.

These are probably two of the main defects with the present setup at Soldiers Field, and they go deep into the fundamentals of the game. For the ineffectiveness of the ground attack should not, as it might at first seem, be rung up solely against the men who carry the ball. More than half of the blame rests on the line's slowness and lack of power in charging and the guard's equal slowness in running interference. Even Jack Buckler of the Army wouldn't have been a world-beater last Saturday if his frontiersmen hadn't been opening huge holes in the Harvard defense.

As for the pass defense, it's a traditional Crimson weakness that has got to come to an end pretty soon if Harvard is going to win any other game except New Hampshire.

The eleven is in for two weeks of hard practice if it expects to conquer Yale.