With bookies giving the Elis an advantage of anywhere from 12 to 26 points at press time last night, the Harvard eleven finds itself the underdog once again in the first Crimson-Blue struggle since 1942. Ignored by the daily press, consistently under-rated by every so-called expert throughout the nation, labeled "informals" by sportswriter after witty sportswriter, Coach Harlow's 1945 squad has had to prove itself over and over during the season; tomorrow's encounter will be the final and conclusive test.
Weather permitting, 40,000 fans will be on hand in the Bowl at 1:30 o'clock for the contest, which despite the odds can hardly fall to be a down-to-the-wire battle. Last-minute predictions call for cloudless skies and air on the snappy side, a combination which ought to help fill the huge New Haven stadium, capable of holding 72,000 people.
The game will be broadcast over station WNAC.
Dick Harlow will not find his team at peak strength for the encounter, for Leo Flynn, sparkplug of the Cantabs' offense all season until his injury in the Merchant Marine game, will see little if any action in the Bowl. With his leg in almost perfect shape for the final contest this week, he pulled the tendon once again in a practice session Wednesday. Right end Bob-Champion is also a doubtful starter, but the chances are that he will see considerably more action than will Flynn.
When the Harlowmen leave the field tomorrow they will have conquered or been conquered by the "informal" bugaboo that has been trailing them all season. Uncertain as to their own potentialities, they will face a Yale team that has been paraded up and down the sports pages of the East. Perhaps the Crimson can take heart from the 10 to 3 victory of 1919, first year of formal football for Harvard after a three-year lapse during the last war.
On the basis of the season's records, neither team can claim any definite superiority. Yale won handily from Tufts, while the Crimson lost an early encounter by 7 to 6. Brown, on the other hand, defeated the Elis by two touchdowns and lost to the Harlowmen by one, both games being recorded by the sportswriters as upsets. Popular prognostications, as mentioned above, side with Howie Odell and the Blues. Even the Boston newspapermen, including Jerry Nason of the Glope and happy Davo Egan of the Record are picking Yale--only Arthur Daley of the New York Times has been gracious enough to go out on a
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