Whatever happens the Harvard football team is a sure bet to be a better functioning aggregation than the one which was fielded last year when not a major victory was won. A more brilliant offense has been promised by Coach Dick Harlow for the 1936 season, and Stadium crowds are expected to have some chance to cheer this fall when the
Wide Open Game
Crimson forces take the field.
Last year the Harlow regime was just getting underway, and stress was laid almost completely on fundamentals while the offense never really got rolling. This year a shift has been promised, and the wide open game which featured the Maryland teams which Harlow coached before he came to Harvard is expected.
All this, in spite of the fact that graduation and scholastic difficulties took an almost unprecedented toll among letter men. Among those laid low by probation are Captain Emile Dubiel, who was a stellar end last year, Don Jackson, who bore the brunt of the line bucks, George Blackwood, another back, and Thomas Husband, a line man. In addition to these who were expected back is Leo Ecker, who is still incapacitated by a leg injury suffered in the hockey season last winter.
Dubiel's Loss
Dubiel's loss will be felt most seriously not only because of his ability but because of the psychological effect that it may have on the rest of the team. A jinx seems to have been trailing Harvard captains for two years now, Dubiel being unable to muster the necessary number of C's, while the year before Bob Haley was put out of the lineup on the very eve of the first game on charges of professionalism.
A new captain is being elected by mail this summer but the results of the poll have not been announced as yet. Jim Gaffney, mainstay in one of the guard positions last year, is thought to have the inside track, but Bob Jones, center, Bill Watt, George Hedblom and George Ford, backs, should also garner some votes.
Ends Weak
The way the team shapes up now, the greatest weakness appears to be at the end positions with no lettermen returning due to Dubiel's downfall. Bob Daughters, who is coming up from the Freshmen, will be in the thick of the fight, but this Sophomore, though fast and a marvelous pass receiver, will probably need another year of seasoning before his defensive work comes up to par. Ben Smith is the other Freshman who will report on September 15, while Gibson Winter and Joe Kennedy, a pair of Juniors, are all applicants for the post. Unless some shift is made, however, the ends appear to be the weak links in the chains.
The rest of the line has a wealth of material to choose from. Alex Kevorkian, standout Freshman tackle two years ago, has returned from the probationary wars, and appears ready to offer a load of opposition to anyone who wants a scrap. Graham Spring, who played tackle last year is also coming back.
Nee and Gaffney
In addition to these two, Joe Nee and Jim Gaffney will both be taken from their guard posts to try out here, with Gaffney being the most logical choice to be retained here. Nee will probably be shifted back to his original guard post while Russ Allen and Charley Kessler are the logical choices for the other hole.
Bob Jones, who looked a hundred percent better in spring practice than he did last year when he started almost every game should win the center fight hands down there.
In the backfield there are at least a dozen men who are definitely Varsity prospects, a good half of them members of last year's Freshman eleven. To take over the bucking back job there is Cliff Wilson, captain of the Freshman, Phillip Brooks, who was carrying the opposition all over the field during spring practice, and Clarence Boston, another Freshman.
Seniors and Juniors
The Senior and Junior classes can boast such standouts as Tom Bilodeau, recently elected captain of the baseball team, George Ford, George Hedblom, Vernon Struck, the only Sophomore besides Nee to get a leter last year, George Roberts, one of the few punters on the squad, and Bob Stuart. Every one of these boys is capable of winning the starting call.
A wild guess at what the starting lineup will be in October when Amherst Journeys down to the Stadium for the first time in years, a guess unsubstantiated by much evidence since practice is still two weeks away, would make the lineup as follows: Guards, Nee and Kes-
