FIERCE TACKLING AND AGGRESSIVENESS OF ATTACK FEATURE PRINCETON FOOTBALL

The following article was written for the Crimson by S. de J. Osborne '26, it is the second of a series of articles by the same author dealing with the development of football in this country

Whereas the games with Yale have always been characterized by new developments in the game of football, the games between Princeton and the University have been known for their viciousness and hard playing on the part of both teams. There is no doubt that the Princeton game has always been the biggest stumbling block for Harvard teams and it is with due regard that Harvard has held the fighting qualities of Princeton's football elevens.

The series was started in April 28, Harvard eking out a one goal win and it was continued with few interruptions until 1896. During this time Harvard managed to win but three games, Princeton ten, and one was a scoreless tie. Relations were started again in 1911 and since then Harvard, mainly through its great teams of the Haughton regrime, has won six to Princeton's five and two have been tie games.

Assimilate ideas Successfully

Princeton has been noted for one salient characteristic in her play. From the earliest teams to the present it has originated but little in the matter of defensive or offensivetacties and has contributed no outstanding changes in the games such as the "Deland flying wedge" or as the Notre Dame rushing and passing game, but it has been extraordinarily proficient at developing ideas started by other teams but not carried out by them to perfection. Princeton has been the team to accept other ideas, perfect them, and put them on without a flew. Such things as the great "Purtie Back" formation the "Hudole" and any number of other defenses and offensive plays which have made Princeton's teams such respected opponents have been nothing but adapted ideas of some opponent or contemporary.

Plays for the Breaks

Besides this, Princeton has been the greatest "break" team in the history of football. The Orange and Black has played for the break, has forced the breaks, and has been successful more than her share of the time. No teams have fought harder, have tackled so viciously, or have put on such amashing offences as has the long line of Princeton teams.

While Harvard was beating Yale by many touchdowns in the years just before the way Harvard was lucky to beat Princeton on more than one occasion. Of these pre-war games the 1911 defeat was one of the most exciting games ever played. The Harvard team was lined up on the right side of the field planning a drop-kick but failed to protect the drop-kicker, Paul Hollister '14, sufficiently, and Hart, Princeton's captain-end, who was playing with a broken neck, blocked the kick. White picked up the ball, and won the game by an 80 yard run. The very next week against Yale. White turned the same trick and ran '30 yards to beat the Eils.

Again in 1915 when Mahan and King were running wild for Harvard, they stacked up against a team of extremely hard tacklers, lead by the hardest tackling quarterback that has played the game of football, Glick. Time and again Mahan or King would get loose only to be tackled by Click. Harvard was lucky to win 10 to 6. Yale also managed to beat this Princeton team coached by "Speedy" Rush but when a Yale man started to boast to Rush about the great Yale victory Rush bet the overconfident Eli that Harvard would beat Yale by 40 points. The score was 41 to 0.

Huddle Perfected by Roper

The "huddle" came from the West but was put on by Roper with greater speed and perfection than had ever been shown before in the game against Harvard in 1924. The year before this in Harvard's 5 to 0 victory the Harvard scouts had expected Princeton to use a Notre Dame offence against us but they missed their guess and although the team was prepared to meet it this year, a green team the next year could not get both defenses and the Harvard coaches decided to use only the defense that would stop the offensive smashes that Princeton had showed that year, but the Tigers crossed them up and in two weeks perfected the huddle with the simple Notre Dame attack to win 34 to 0