The Big Red

"Go, go, go, go . . . " The Cornell cheering section, nestled in the crook of Schoellkopf crescent, chanted their plea for a touchdown. The game was only ten minutes old, but their beloved Big Red had already crossed Columbia's goal line once, had just intercepted a Columbia pass, and there they were on the visitors' 20-yd. line. Go they did -- for another touchdown in the second quarter, two more in the third. As twilight settled above Cayuga's waters, Cornell had scored its fifth straight victory this season, 27-to-o.

That night, over "drinks at dear old Zink's," homecoming Cornellians exchanged backslaps about their Big Red.

At long last, Cornell had a football team that could be mentioned in the same breath with George Pfann & Co., the famed outfit that, in the early '205, rolled on undefeated, untied for three seasons.

Last year Cornell was unbeaten and untied. In five games (against Colgate, Army, Syracuse, Ohio State and Columbia) this year's Big Red has rolled up 160 points to its opponents' 13, has gained an average of 414 yards a game--a record far better than any other U. S. college. Of 95 passes, it has completed 60.

What makes this year's Big Red roll? Not Matuszcak (pronounced maa-too'-shack), the quick-thinking quarterback whose genius at calling plays is exceeded only by his downfield blocking nor Landsberg, the spinner specialist who can wriggle through a hole and run like a doubling fox, nor McCullough, nor Murphy, nor Bufalino, nor Schmuck, nor any of the other Big Red ball hawks who can not .only throw and catch but almost smell a pass coming their way. Cornell rolls because it is a coordinated machine with a beautifully balanced running and passing attack. "They are the most intelligent group of men I've ever coached," says Coach Carl Snavely of his team. "I give them seven new plays . . . yet the following day they have them down pat." But every football fan knows it takes more than intelligence to win 13 games in a row.

Coach Snavely, 46-year-old minister's son who never swears nor smiles on a football field, has a simple formula for winning games: "Leave nothing to chance." Cornell's remarkable timing, brilliant deception and smooth execution of assignments are the result of intelligence but also of drill. With the meticulousness of a scientist, Snavely has moving pictures taken of every move his players make. He spends the first three days of each week poring over slow-motion pictures of the previous Saturday's game, sends his players long letters analyzing every play, pointing out each one's errors, how they can be avoided. Cornell hired Snavely four years ago mainly because of his fascinating lecture in connection with the moving pictures of teams he had coached at North Carolina and Bucknell.

Last fortnight, after Cornell had given Ohio State a 21-to-7 drubbing, Ohio State's Athletic Director L. W. St. John complained that Snavely had signaled his players by wigwagging from the bench with a roll of papers. Few winning coaches have escaped such a charge. Football experts, more amused than annoyed, last week agreed that, wigwag or no wigwag, Cornell is the No. 1 team of the year.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.