Football Matches

There must be heroes. The people crave a new "Red" Grange. None has turned up. This year there are Myles Lane at Dartmouth, Bruce Caldwell at Yale, Oosterbaan at Michigan, Wilson at West Point, Flanagan at Notre Dame, Drury at Southern California and others. But no one at whom the mob may scream: "Long Live the King"; not one yet good enough to get a cinema contract.

Meanwhile, the hero manufacturers (the coaches) are hard at work. No one of them makes a hero purposely; they make good football players who will help to win games. Too bright a hero steals most of the glory from his college; all of it from his coach. Though stars burn out quickly, the quieter light of coaches burns steadily in the football background. Who now knows the names of Russell Lloyd or J. T. Haxall?* But who does not know of Robert C. Zuppke (Illinois), Hugo Bezdek (Penn State), Glenn Warner (Stanford), William W. Roper (Princeton), Gilmour Dobie (Cornell), Fielding H. Yost (Michigan), Howard H. Jones (Southern California), T. A, D. Jones (Yale), Capt. L. M. ("Biff") Jones (Army) and Knute Kenneth Rockne (Notre Dame)?

Since Knute K. Rockne came as coach to University of Notre Dame in 1919, his team, playing desperately difficult schedules, has won 64 games; lost 6; tied 2. Many regard him the greatest coach of football.

Various reasons for his success have been advanced. Some say it is because he takes his men in preparatory school and trains them for seven years;/- some say he makes his men play football all year round (untrue); some say he is successful because he is religious. He is religious, as are his players (many, but not all, are Roman Catholics); but this feature of the game he does not like to discuss; he shrinks from exposing it to public exploitation. He has no secret of success; no formula. He knows what to do; tells his players and they do it. Among the things he tells them: "Don't be a mollycoddle"; "See everything"; "Eat no chocolate, cocoa, greasy fried potatoes, pork or bananas"; show "brains, courage, self-restraint, coordination, fire of nervous energy, an unselfish point of view"; "No star playing, just football, and if there's any dirty work, home you go for good."

Rockne, in his tenser moments, looks like an infuriated bulldog. Sometimes he talks that way. His talks to the team have made Notre Dame the best advertised football college in the land. Rockne also talks publicly, usually on football, at banquets, from lecture platforms. Time was when he talked in a classroom at Notre Dame as chemistry instructor. In 1925, he talked out of turn. He said he would come east to coach at Columbia. The genial Columbians to whom he, genially, had talked, telephoned the newspapers. This was embarrassing because Mr. Rockne was contracted to Notre Dame. He later stated he had said he would coach Columbia (for some $10,000 more than he was paid at Notre Dame) if Notre Dame would let him go. He is firmly contracted to Notre Dame until 1932.

K. K. Rockne came to the U. S. from Norway some 40 years ago, a baby. His rearing was rude enough to harden his muscles against the time he should go off to college and play end on the eleven. These muscles he employed particularly in the reception of the forward pass. His brain played also. Once Jesse Harper, coach who had learned football from Amos Alonzo Stagg at ^ Chicago and has since retired, put into this young Norwegian's brain idea germs which have grown into strategy systems unsurpassed in mod ern football.

The brain works also on paper. He writes books, newspaper pieces, on the theory and practice of foot ball. He wrote also a novel, Four Winners, gridiron romance for boys.

Notre Dame travels far to make its touchdowns, playing away from home this season against Detroit, Navy, Indiana, Army, Drake, Southern California. Last week students howled happily to watch the eleven at home for the second time this year. The solid southern line of Georgia Tech was blasted and through the holes Notre Dame made four touchdowns. Standing with his back to centre, Durant, Tech quarterback, received the ball through his legs, hid it, fed it to backs, engineered one touchdown. Score 26-7.

Eleven men came from Missouri to be shown football by Northwestern. Northwestern showed them how to make 19 points. Missouri men showed Northwestern how to make five touchdowns, 34 points.

Syracuse went west; finding at Nebraska that men were men; but that there were no open spaces at the scrimmage line. Nebraska scored 21; Whitewashed, weary, Syracuse walked off the field.

At Cambridge, Mass., burly westerners swaggered onto the gridiron; stumbled off beaten. Harvard 26, Indiana 6.

Soldiers and sailors marched and navigated satisfactorily; Army through Bucknell, 34-0; Navy through, around, and especially over Penn, 12-6.

Internecine strife by the Pacific showed Southern California superior to California, 13-0; Stanford ravaged Oregon, 19-0; Utah Aggies beat Brigham Young, 22-0.

Two Manhattan colleges strove lustily on different gridirons, getting nowhere, yielding nothing. Columbia 0, Cornell 0; New York University 0, Colgate 0. Williams-Union; Swarthmore-Franklin & Marshall; Bowdoin-Bates also in dulged in scoreless Saturdays; but the Kirksville Osteopaths beat Jackson University 132 to 0.

William, & Mary came up to Princeton " and the annual crack about "Mary playing (with William on the sidelines) went the rounds. Princeton's captain and four regulars were the ones missing on the field; but Princeton won 35-7.

For the eleventh time Dartmouth tried to beat Yale and failed. Yale locked up Dartmouth's star, Myles Lane, in a cell of vicious tackles and won, 19-0. Though Lane went without his touchdowns he retained his lead in individual point score in the East, 101; since his nearest rival Booth of Pittsburgh (62), rested while his undefeated team sent substitutes to trample Allegheny, 52-0.

Illinois tugged itself higher in the quest for the Western Conference championship by crossing Michigan's goal line for the first and second time this season. Garland Grange, brother of famed Harold ("Red") Grange, iceman, professional footballer, movie actor, recovered Pucklewartz's fumble of a punt and put Illinois in position for the opening touch down. Score 14-0. Ohio State blighted Chicago's commanding position in the Conference by throwing a 50 yard forward pass over the goal line in the last period to win, 13-7. Minnesota, among the dwindling quota of elevens undefeated, gobbled up Wisconsin, 13-7.

Elevens tied but unbeaten in clude Geneva, Illinois, Minnesota, New York University, Southern California;, elevens neither beaten nor tied: Georgia, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Rochester, Springfield, Washington, Washington & Jefferson. No leading team has not been scored on.

*Hero Lloyd of Navy won a game against Colgate on a 99-yd. run (1926); Hero Haxall of Princeton holds the field goal record -- 65 yds. from placement, against Yale (1882).

/-There used to be a preparatory school at Notre Dame where, presumably, boys were taught Notre Dame football. This school was discontinued in 1920. Notre Dame authorities aver that none of Bockne's stars -- Gipp, Miller, Layden, Stuhldreher, Crowley, Flanagan, etc. -- went to that school.