REVIEW OF YALE'S FOOTBALL SEASON REVEALS LITTLE AS TO STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS OF VISITING ELEVEN

During the early part of the season, the strength of the Yale eleven was a matter of considerable doubt, and even the results of the recent games have not cleared the situation. The first few contests, played against weak teams, gave the impression that the Blue eleven was equipped with only a fairly good defense and a mediocre offense.

The Boston College disaster seemed to have been a good lesson for the Yale eleven. Up to the Princeton game, they appeared to have developed a well-drilled, hard-hitting, aggressive machine.

Last Saturday's game again throws doubt on the strength of the Elis. Collectively and individually the Yale eleven was in a decided slump against Princeton. That they will recover from it today and return to their mid-season form, seems more than likely.

Summary of the Season.

Despite a 20-0 victory over the light Springfield team, the outcome of Yale's first game gave anxiety to her supporters and an opportunity to her critics for belittling her attack. Every sporting writer in the Eastern cities topped his story of the game with heads such as, "Yale's Attack Proves Weak," "Elis Held for Downs." They said that, although Yale's defense was seemingly strong, it had been developed at the expense of its attack; that its attack was blunt and ineffective; that its aerial work was neglible; in short, that Doctor Sharpe had been unsuccessful in his work.

For, to be held for four downs five times by a very much lighter team is not an enviable record for any eleven. Twice the Elis saved themselves by kicking a field goal after they had been unable to gain for four downs, twice they were unable to gain their ten yards and lost the ball, and once, on the fourth down, they lost the ball on a fumble.

Thorne Murphy and Jim Braden were revealed to be the strong men in the Blue eleven. Each kicked a goal and each was a consistent line gainer in a disorganized backfield.

Little significance could be attached to the results of the North Carolina game. Although the Bull Dog showed a somewhat improved attack in tallying 34 points, the Southerners were even weaker than the Springfield aggregation. The visitors' lone touchdown was due not to the weakness of the Yale defense but to an unusual circumstance; one of their backs scooped up the ball, which had bounced back from the goal post after an attempted field goal, and carried it across for a touchdown before the amazed Elis had realized what had happened.

Thorne Murphy again distinguished himself for the Blue, while Kempton, French and Welles began to loom up as potential factors on the Yale gridiron.

Boston College Scores Victory.

In the now famous Boston College game the fears and prophecies of the early season critics were realized. In a game in which the "mighty" Yale eleven was clearly outplayed and outclassed by Coach Cavanaugh's machine it was evident that Yale's attack was entirely lacking in drive and in organization. Nor was the strength of her defense sufficient to justify the claim of the Yale supporters that Dr. Sharpe had intentionally neglected offensive training in order to first construct an impregnable defense.

The most serious fault in Yale's performance was the lack of team work resulting from a lack of training in the fundamentals. Co-ordination between the backs and the ends was not sufficient to permit successful completion of forward passes. Co-ordination between the line and the backfield was not sufficient to provide interference for the rush-line plays; and finally co-ordination between the different backs was not sufficient to carry through the plays in a critical moment.

Not only was the team as a whole at fault but there were many examples of poor individual playing. French was too slow in getting his kick away on nearly every punt, while La Roche twice showed poor headwork. First, when, in the last quarter of the game Yale had carried the ball to within ten yards of the Boston College ten-yard line by a series of desperate rushes, and then was thrown back three times by the stiffened Cavanaugh defense, La Roche attempted to make fourth down on a forward pass. And later, on another fourth down, he sent his backs through tackle in a vain effort to overwhelm the Boston line by sheer weight. Finally Acosta, at centre, showed himself incapable of filling Tim Callahan's position in the snap-back position Worried by the aggressive Boston centre, his passes were erratic.

Kempton Lone Star.

But in contrast to the work of the Yale team as a whole and of certain individuals, Kempton's splendid performance stood out in strong contrast. Whatever the critics of Yale said about her team they all insisted on praising him. Not only did he kick the field goal, but he was the only steadying influence on a badly rattled team.

Except for the fall to Yale's pride, however, the defeat was decidedly beneficial to Yale. Making no excuses for their failure Dr. Sharpe set to work to build up again his shattered team; and, what is most important, the entire University stood behind their coach, letting it be known to all the football world, that they had every confidence in the ability of their team to come back.

Come-Back Surprises Tufts.

And, in the next game, when Tufts, hoping to emulate Boston College, confidently invaded the Bowl, the supposedly feeble Bull Dog did come back. "Yale Awakens and Runs Wild," said the headlines. There was little resemblance between the hard hitting, smooth running machine which tallied 37 points against the Medfordians and the collection of players which had been routed the week before. The bewildering assortment of trick plays which Tufts uncorked failed to baffle the Blue line as they nailed the Blue and Maroon runner behind the line time and again. Tufts won their first down only twice. And despite the absence of Callahan, Murphy and Braden, the Elis pushed the disheartened men from Medford before them with little difficulty. They relied chiefly on line plunges, attempting little aerial work. A feature in the Yale offense and defense was the way in which they took advantage of the misplays of their opponents.

In the next week the still improving eleven pushed 31 points over on the Maryland team, registering a touchdown in every playing period and injecting a field goal for good measure. As the Maryland team was the weakest they had met, the strength of their attack still remained a matter of doubt. But as to the ability of Kempton, as a field general, there could no longer be any question. He handled his eleven with consummate skill, taking advantage of every opportunity that was offered.

Brown Humbled, 14-0.

Against the comparatively strong Brown team it seemed at first as if the Bull Dog was dropping back to its earlier season form. Fumbling and stumbling through two quarters of erratic football, four times bringing the ball within scoring distance of the Brown goal, the Yale attack lacked the final drive necessary to put the ball across. But in the final half, the Bull Dog recovered from its temporary slump and scored their two touchdowns.

One particular weakness that had not been hitherto revealed was the inability of Yale to cope with an aerial attack. Brown made several gains, of from ten to twenty yards, on passes that could easily have been blocked.

Lateral Pass Gives Tigers Victory.

But last Saturday, it was shown that Yale had not so much to fear from her opponents' passes as from her own. With the score six to six in the third quarter Neville hastily threw a lateral pass to Kempton. The pass went wild and fell to the ground. Scheerer, a Princeton substitute, scooped up the ball and before the Yale players knew what had happened, he had crossed the goal line for the winning touchdown.

The Bull Dog had the weight and it had the fight, but that was all. It had nothing but the battering ram style of play of the early nineties, which is helpless against the defense--of a modern team. Kempton, who had hitherto been regarded as Yale's best bet, showed little and neither Lay not Neville was a match for Garrity or Strubing.

This game, disappointing as it was as a semi-final contest, showed Yale where her mistakes lay, where her powerful team had misplayed, and laid a basis for the final reorganization of the eleven into the more consistent machine which invades the Stadium today