Amherst Primed For Big Upset

Harvard drawn a stiff opening grid assignment this coming Saturday afternoon in little Amherst, a 32 to 7 victor over Hobart. Both their line and the backfield were raked heavily by last June's graduation, but the present Purple and While gridmen are primed to shoot the works against the Crimson. Amherst still remembers an October day in 1903 when its plucky eleven authored a stunning 5 to 0 upset of mighty Harvard.

The Amherst student body is convinced to a man that this is the year for another giant-killer act. The Lord Jeffs are making but one venture into the big time this fall with everything to gain and nothing to lose. Harvard would not have been more than a slight favorite over their 1939 team and certainly will not be a prohibitive choice on Saturday.

Fumbles Decided Game

Jack Hubbard, chosen on Walter Camp's All-America team in 1905, sparked that miracle victory in 1903, and he has a son Gene in the starting lineup of the 1940 Amherst eleven. A flurry of Crimson fumbles and misplays decided the game that day, but such things continue to happen in modern football. As Bob Zuppke of Illinois once said when illustrating the folly of making one team a heavy favorite over another, "Don't discount the fact that a football is of peculiar shape and sometimes bounces funny." He went on to add that football games are decided 60 per cent on the comparative ability of the two teams and 60 per cent on their respective mental attitudes for the game. So you can't pick a winner for any game.

Amherst is a small college which takes its football pretty seriously. No man is ever cut from the squad, and everybody dresses for the games. About 55 men reported to Coach Jordan this fall, and almost all of that number will make the Harvard trip. It's not unusual to see five or six different Purple and White teams roll across the field in pre-game signal practices. Coach Tuss McLaughry of Brown watched team after team march up and down the field last year and thought that he might be in the wrong stadium. Coach Jordan's Amherst squad looked like Notre Dame.

There is an unwritten athletic law at Amherst that none of its teams shall ever sit down. Timeouts mean nothing to those Sabrinas; they wait on their feet, anxious for the next play. They didn't have to open up very much last Saturday against Hobart, and Harvard can expect the Lord Jeff quarterbacks to dig down deep into their bag of tricks.

Smythe and Blood

Left tackle Charley Smythe is the heart and soul of the line, and Bob Blood stands head and shoulders above any other back. Blood is a threat every time he lays his hands on the ball. Coach Jordan used his best men only sparingly against Hobart and had the satisfaction of seeing them come out of the game without a single injury. Barring practice session accidents this week, Amherst will be at full strength for the Harlowmen.

Coach Jordan doesn't usually make much use of the forward pass, but if his men can't shake Blood loose on any of his wide sweeps, they may turn to the air. One of Blood's favorite tricks, however, is the quick kick, a strong offensive weapon at Amherst. The reserves are not too strong but there are enough of them to provide Harvard with determined resistance for 60 minutes.