THE REAL FOOTBALL STATUS.

If the Harvard football team never faced a real situation before, it faces one today, and one that must be met with shrewd and judicious calculation. There is no call to harp on the old cry of overconfidence; the clippings that are printed in another column do that convincingly from the standpoint of the expert spectator. And as for comparative scores, it may as well be admitted at once that they are almost meaningless, unless all the antics of wind and weather and moods and training can be allowed for with delicate accuracy.

The vital point with which we are concerned is not the supposed strengths and weaknesses of our rivals, especially of rivals who have been famed for their "come back." We must simply ask ourselves this question: has Harvard a team to compare with teams of the past? We like to say, "Yes," and we certainly believe it, to this extent: the regular University team is as strong as any team we have seen. But Cornell's touchdown and indeed, her showing during the entire fourth period last Saturday, proved beyond a doubt that the second string players could not be relied upon to win a final game. Imagine the team without a single one of its regular backs! Then we will realize that the luck element may play some part in our season before it ends; anl the only safe way to count on luck is that it will turn against us.

Now one definite word of warning. Princeton piled up fifty-four points against Holy Cross by the same plays that scored against Harvard last year. Can the University team break up these plays?