REVIEW OF FOOTBALL.

Five years ago relations with Yale were resumed, and five match games have been played with them. The previous ten years had been disastrous to Harvard football. There were four consecutive defeats by Yale, four consecutive defeats by Princeton, three consecutive defeats by Pennsylvania. This did not seem a natural outcome of existing conditions as the situation seemed to present every element of success for Harvard--plenty of opportunity, plenty of coaches, plenty of candidates and plenty of enthusiasm, besides the favorable attitude of the University authorities.

A new system was adopted under which an effort was made to return to simpler methods. There were fewer plays, fewer formations, fewer signals, shorter hours for practice, and a determined effort was made to get rid of the injuries by analysis of the causes which led up to them and eliminating the dangerous methods. In pursuance of this policy there was no playing after dark, no playing on frozen ground, and care was taken to watch the individual players and not play them when they were becoming fatigued. In the first four years the result of this policy was only partially successful. The record shows that there was some improvement over the previous results, Harvard having broken even with Yale, each having won one game and two games tied; Pennsylvania was beaten three out of four times, having won the first year only.

The unsatisfactory feature of this period lay in the fact that the Harvard team did not do as well in its final game as its previous record would justify people to expect. The team after an almost unbroken record of excellent play, would come to their final game and disappoint their adherents. On the whole, the system may be said to have proved itself a distinct step in advance of the previous system, but it also showed that something was lacking which should be supplied before Harvard realized the fullest results from their system.

This fall fulfilled the fondest hopes of Harvard's well wishers, and the system as developed by Coach Reid has brought about the best results. The team composed of the usual good material, but by no means extraordinary, came slowly to a condition of strong, vigorous offense, safe and powerful defense, and general all round skill and team play. The prevailing characteristic which was noticed in this team, was the assistance lent by one man to another and the way in which the team stood together. This, coupled with the magnificent physical condition of the men, indicates a high mark in Harvard's football history, which it is hoped that future coaches will be able to maintain.

The material in my judgment has always been about the same, the quantity of candidates from which the team is selected, making it pretty safe that a first class eleven could be brought out each year. There is no space to mention the individual merits of the players or of the coaches, but there has been a harmonious pulling together of all the coaches and players of previous years, each one coming out in the autumn and helping along the new system with a spirit that commands admiration. I believe Harvard to be more faithful in the corps of coaches with their spirit and devotion to the team, than any other university.

While not on the ground this autumn and unable to analyze the causes that led to Harvard's fine victory I can only let the results speak. There seems to have been tremendous attention to detail, the utilization of the combined experiences of all of the best players who were willing to give assistance to the team, a wise selection of the valuable features of each one's advice, a system carefully thought out, thoroughly followed and ably administered, of which good sound common sense and co-operation were the ruling factors.

The result has been that the whole energy of the great student body of the University, of the graduates, of the candidates for the team, of the University authorities, the coaches, doctors, trainers, and every one connected with the establishment, was directed with such skill that it gave to the whole mass a momentum such that it carried Harvard through to a victory so complete that it was unprecedented in her annals.  W. CAMERON FORBES.

The signing of the five year agreement may be regarded as the dividing line between the new and old regime of Harvard football.

Under the old system there was no settled plan of coaching or training. Each year there was a head coach, who had under him from twenty-five to fifty sub-coaches, each with his own theories and ideas.

In 1897, after a two years' break with Yale, the five year agreement was signed, and W. Cameron Forbes took charge of Harvard Football, after one of the most unsuccessful seasons Harvard has ever known. To him is due much of the credit for Harvard's success during the five years that followed. Out of dissension and discord he produced concord and the well defined system of coaching and training which has brought Harvard to victory. Instead of having under him a large number of miscellaneous coaches, he established various departments each of which had a responsible man in charge, on whom the head coach could rely for advice. The offense was simplified, the number of plays cut in half, and the team made to know them so well that they became second nature. Under Lewis's able guidance, the Harvard defence was perfected, now as distinctive a feature of Harvard football, as are Crimson jerseys of the Harvard uniform.

A careful system of training was also inaugurated and far more attention was given to the individual characteristics of the players. At a speech made at the Colonial Club in the winter of '97, Mr. Forbes first advanced the simple theory which is now almost an axiom, that a man is most likely to be injured when exhausted, and succeeding teams have profited greatly by a careful application of this theory.

To sum up, the new regime introduced an intelligent system where there was formerly misguided energy and dissension.

Let us now look at the results of the five years. In 1897 a team was produced which tied Yale, but was defeated by Pennsylvania. The plays had been largely reduced, the whole scheme more systematized and simplified; but one mistake was made--cripples were allowed on the eleven. These results after Harvard had the previous year suffered four defeats were an advance; and although the season ended with little apparent gain, yet the foundations of an intelligent and efficient system were laid.

In 1898 Mr. Forbes was again in charge. The season opened with prospects none too bright for a winning eleven. Yale was the favorite at the start, but Harvard gradually advanced while Yale stood still; and as a result the Crimson eleven beat Pennsylvania for the first time since 1893, and Yale for the first time since '91. The coaching had been more systematic. The plan of having sub-head coaches was perfected and more strictly adhered to. The plays were cut down to a minimum and for the first time in the history of Harvard football a special defence was worked out to meet Pennsylvania's guards-back. The distinctive feature of the 1898 eleven was its kicking game, which was to my mind the most highly perfected that any team has ever had. This, the simplicity of the plays, the enthusiasm of the college, and particularly the careful way in which the eleven was handled were the causes of the success in '98.

During the next year the team was unfortunately no longer in Mr. Forbe's hands. His system was, however, adhered to as closely as possible. This year Yale began poorly and Harvard with flying colors. The Harvard team easily defeated Pennsylvania, but did not come up to expectations in the Yale game. Yale was satisfied with a tie, which under the circumstances was a moral victory.

After having tied Yale twice and won once in 1900, Harvard started her fourth season of the new regime under rather unfavorable conditions.

The team, however, found itself before the Pennsylvania game and won it handily. This year for the first time the experiment was tried of having three weeks between the Pennsylvania and Yale games. It proved a mistake; the team was keyed up too early. They were given a let up for a few days, after the Pennsylvania game, which proved unfortunate, as they had to work harder