Big Red Team Looms as Number One Power of Ivy League

In his three seasons as head football coach at Cornell, George (Lefty) James has compiled a distinguished record of 20 victories and seven losses. Two of the wins have been lop-sided triumphs over Harvard elevens and few in the crowd which will attend this afternoon's contest between the Big Red and Crimson at the stadium expect that James' dominance over local teams will come to a sudden halt.

Despite the loss of such name players as Hilary Chellet and Pete Dorset, Cornell is an almost unanimous choice among football experts to capture its third straight Ivy League championship. The Big Red is being mentioned in the same breath as Army as tops in Eastern football and, harring upsets, James may record his first undefeated season.

Whatever doubts James had about finding adequate replacements for the 15 men lost through graduation have been erased by the Big Red's performance to date. The Ithacans opened their season with an easy 27 to 0 victory over Lafayette and followed up last Saturday by thumping Syracuse, 26 to 7.

James' immediate concern at the start of the season was finding replacements at five key positions--offensive quarterback, both offensive guards, offensive left tackle and defensive safety man.

For the most important of these vacancies, the quarterback who is vital to the Big Red's T offense, James had an ace up his sleevo in Rocco Calvo. Calvo had all but won the job from Dorset during pre-season practice last year, but then he suffered a knee injury which sidelined him for the season.

Dorset took over, and did an admirable job in steering Cornell to eight wins and one loss, a 16 to 7 upset by Dartmouth.

Calvo, a junior, stopped right into the gap at the start of the season and has been fulfilling all the promise he showed as a freshman and sophomore. He threw a 35-yard scoring pass in the opener against Lafayette and exhibited the important qualities of deceptive ball-handling ability and coolness under fire.

Despite all the backfield talent found at Ithaca, James probably never really expected to come up with one man with the all-around talent of the departed Chollet. One of the best halfbacks in recent Ivy League history, Chollet was not only a superior passer and runner, but he was invaluable as a defensive safety man.

Accordingly, three men have taken over for Chollet and among them have succeeded in taking up the slack. Lyndon Hull has been starting at offensive left-half and will probably open today's game. He is being pressed for the starting assignment, however, by Sophomore Bob Engel who scored three times against Lafayette. Reginald Marchant, a junior, has been operating as the Ithacans' safety man.

Two veterans round out Cornell's big backfield. At fullback is Jeff Fleischmann, acclaimed as the best power runner in the Ivy League, and speedy Frank Miller, a 165-pounder, is the right half.

Fleisehmann, who once almost gave up football after a serious head injury, weighs 195 pounds, but is very fast for a big man. A threat around the ends as well as up the middle, Fleischmann scored three touchdowns against Syracuse. Miller, who experienced a great year as a sophomore in 1948, is considered to have been off form in 1949. He has shown well so far this season, and is one of Calvo's favorite passing targets.

On the line, the Big Red is loaded. James employs the two platoon system and can field an offensive forward wall which averages 200 pounds. Bulwark of the Ithacans' line is John Pierik, the co-captain, who weighs 200 pounds. He is rated one of the top pivot-men in the East.

Harvey Sampson and Vic Pujo, a good pass receiver, start at ends for the offensive platoon. Dick Ramin and Chuck Mettzler, at 205 and 220 pounds, respectively, hold down the tackle posts while the guards are sophomore Russ McLeod and Frank Vitale, a junior.

When Cornell goes on defense, Thurman Boddie and Russ Schuh take over at ends; 220-pound Jim Jerome and Frank Micklavzina, who is just as big, go in at tackles and John McCarthy and Zane Unterzuber play the guards.

The linebackers are co-captain Chuck Taylor and Bill Kostes, Bob Haley and Andy Hanley play the halfbacks and Marchant is the safetyman.

In addition to its nominal first string platoons, Cornell has a number of capable replacements at every position. Behind Calvo at quarterback is John Jaeckel, who was highly rated by Harvard scouts who saw the Syracuse game.

Bill Whelan is the boy who does the punting for Cornell and has been consistently good this year. In six kicks during the first two games, Whelan averaged 44.5 yards, which is just about tops in the country.

By all odds, Cornell is a heavy favorite in this afternoon's contest which marks the opening of the Big Red's drive for its third successive Ivy League title. But one factor is in favor of the Crimson: the Ithacans face their biggest challenges for league supremacy in Yale and Princeton in the next two Saturdays.

Should Cornell be looking ahead to these contests, the Crimson might well have a chance to pull the upset of the season in Ivy League competition.