Encouraged by the hope that over-confidence will dull the edge of the Princeton attack, a vastly underfavored Crimson eleven will tackle the Tiger in his lair at 2 o'clock this afternoon in the 31st meeting between two of America's oldest colleges.
Rarely has a Harvard team taken the field with the odds stacked more heavily against them and rarely has Princeton fielded a potentially more dangerous unit.
For Harvard the combination of a string of injuries and the chaos incident upon a change in the coaching regime has produced a gridiron squad which has yet to show its teeth against a strong opponent.
Crisier and Harlow
In this the Crimson is in exactly the same position that Princeton was during the first year of Fritz Crisler's administration. The experience of the two colleges has proved that injuries and lack of attacking power must inevitably dog the course of any man who tries to reform a football outfit within the space of a single year.
Few people expected Harlow to produce a Rosebowl team in his first season and considering the material at hand Harvard's first non-graduate coach has not done badly.
He has produced a unit which, despite injuries, should be able to put up a stubborn fight for a full 60 minutes today. Holy Cross, Dartmouth, and Army have all defeated Harvard but none of them have stampeded it.
On the Defensive
Probably Princeton's experienced and dangerous eleven will keep Harvard on the defensive during the greater part of the afternoon and will give the Crimson little chance to show what progress its previously underdeveloped attack has made.
When an opportunity to hit does arise, Harlow's pupils will find themselves considerably hampered by the absence of the brilliant Johnny Adzigian from the key post at left half back, the running and passing back.
Adzigian was injured just before the Brown game a week ago and has not fully recovered since. It is extremely doubtful that he will be used today. His place has been taken by George Ford, who has previously been at right half.
Ford has moved over to fill the vacancy and has thus made way for his former schoolboy teammate, Leo Ecker. Ecker was the starting right half against Brown and looked like the finest addition the Harvard backfield has received since quarterback Tommy Bilodeau returned to service after a lengthy ailment.
Mighty Mite
The fourth man in the Crimson backfield will be George Hedblom, a little 158 pounder whose grand fighting has made him a defensive giant capable of stopping 200 pounds of football tonnage, steadily and consistently.
Of these four Hedblom, Bilodeau, and Ecker will be used for most of the game whereas Ford will probably be understudied frequently by Freddy Moseley and Arthur Oakes.
Moseley is the widely heralded "hulahipped back" who is one of the most elusive carriers Harvard has had in years. His particular type of running has suffered peculiarly from the lack of adequate blocking provided by his teammates.
Replacements
Oakes, far less experienced, proved in the Brown game that he is a passing genius and a hard-driving runner. Quarter back George Blackwood and full back Bill Watt are two more players likely to see service as replacements.
In the line the situation is far more undecided, with both tackle positions and one of the guard posts subject to change without notice. Jim Maser will probably be able to start as one tackle and Blimp Spring is slated to be the other. Jim Gaffney will definitely be one guard and young Joe Nee will probably be given a chance at the veteran Charlie Kessler's post as the other guard.
Seeing Stars
Against them will be a Princeton backfield that will be studded with such stars as LeVan, Constable, and Sandback, a line that contains Stoess, Montgomery, Weller, and Ritter, and ends such as Lea.
All told it is a bad situation for an admittedly crippled Crimson team. As studied from the Princeton angle Harvard's chief hope is that a long career as a victor will have rubbed off the fire from the Tiger attack.
Prior to last Saturday's 26-0 annihilation of the Navy, Princeton seemed to be definitely off color. Then Fritz Crisler brought his team back into top form for that game. The problem thus is; has he been able to keep it there during the intervening week?
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