A Princeton football team that has fooled the experts by winning five of its first six games, and a Harvard eleven that has equally proved the forecasters wrong by dropping two of its five games, in addition to tying Bucknell, will meet for the 48th time on a very wet Stadium Field, 1:30 this afternoon. This is also the Big Three opener for both squads.
The Tiger, picked to finish no higher than fourth in the League without its captain and brilliant tailback Royce Flippin, will start Sid Pinch at that position for the sixth straight time today, and will be favored to move into the League lead by defeating the Crimson. Princeton has not lost to an Ivy opponent, and is rated a solid touchdown better than Harvard.
This is a good Princeton team with adequate depth in the line and backfield, but it is far from the Tiger teams which have performed at Cambridge in recent years. It is certainly not so strong as the Homer Smith team which edged the Crimson on an equally wet Saturday in 1953, 6-0; it couldn't touch the Dick Kazmaier eleven which slaughtered a helpless varsity in 1951, 54-13.
The Tiger this year has won all four of its League games, but each time by the slimmest of margins--20-7 over Columbia; 7-0 over Penn; 26-20 over Cornell; and 14-7 over Brown. Lloyd Jordan, the Crimson coach, knows that the Tigers are good, but also not unbeatable.
His football team this season has been one big disappointment as far as the Harvard fan is concerned. It started its schedule by crushing UMass, 60-6, but with the exception of the Columbia victory in New York, it has been very sluggish on both offense and defense.
It couldn't stop Cornell's winged-T, and was defeated, 20-7, it was out-rushed by a passing Dartmouth team, 14-9. But the biggest ignominy was suffered last Saturday when a Bucknell squad from Lewisburg, Pa., had the Crimson with its back to the goal for most of the second half, and the varsity was just able to tie, 26-26.
Although Charley Caldwell can well claim injuries with Flippin not expected to see much action at tailback, and guard Bob Aldrich out with an injured knee. Jordan this week suffered two severe losses in the line which may just about ruin an already thin front wall.
John Maher, a huge 6-3, 210 pound tackle, will not play, and will be replaced by an inexperienced sophomore Dave Schein. And sophomore Marv Lebovitz who has played so well as center broke his ankle bone leaving only Jan Meyer at center.
Backfield Uncertain
In the backfield, the problem is not injuries, but picking the right man to start. At tailback, Jordan has three men of almost equal ability, none of whom has shown very much in the past three games --Matt Botsford, Jim Joslin, and Walt Stahura. Jordan has said he would start Botsford, but the other two will probably play a third of the game, too.
At wingback, John Simourian and Dexter Lewis are both ready, and Tony Gianelly and Dick Oehmler are the fullbacks. Leo Daley will start at quarterback, although Joe Crehore is expected to play almost an equal amount.
In Jordan's line there is Bill Meigs, the hard-working captain, who has tried to play guard and backer-up in an effort to bolster the front wall, which has never lived up to early-season expectations. Ted Metropoulos, the other guard, and Orville Tice have also performed well, but the ends have been weak defensively, leaving the opposition a very vulnerable area.
Lack of Depth
But Jordan's main trouble has been depth, and with three games to go, the Crimson is as weak as it was early in the season. There are just not enough linemen to rest the starting seven and there is not a more tired sight than the Harvard line in the second half.
Princeton uses the single-wing also, but the Caldwell version is similar to Jordan's only in that they have the same name. Harvard relies for the most part on the power-play--the smash up the middle or off tackle, using little deception. Princeton uses a buck-lateral sequence, a fullback spin series, and a whole cluster of deceptive, crowd-appealing plays.
The success of both formations relies on the blocking up front, and that is where the Tigers appear to have the edge. They have a line which was not expected to be very strong, but which has come along better than anyone anticipated.
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