Variety (November 1925)

^urednesday, November 4, 1925 SPORTS ;-H, 24 POINTS AND GRANGE VARIETY -■» To football fans who miKrated to day of Its j-oason while Penn wa pujiadclphla for the purpose of viewing the Illinois-Pennsylvania _«me the terrlflcally heralded Oranse was a revelation and a foot- hgil miracle come tru». To the Penn 'earn he must have been a horror from which there was no es- ospe and no capture. The wave of publicity which this boy has been ' rldinK> ^"'' which reached and has -taycd at its cre«8t since the Allchi- rtn-Illhiois game of a yeiw aso, was found to be based upon fact within three minutes after tho klcUoff. Xhe rtinn Is well nigh inhuman on / a football field. There will bo millions of words in 4lie eastern press this weelt on Grange and his work on a muddy Franklin Field, but there isn't any- one who can authentically describe aranjce in action. Ho defies dc- acrlptlon. Zuppke, the Illinois coach, who has seen GranRe in every varsity game he has played for three years, and who must be bit olf color made ine catastrophe complete. Illinois tore the hipjhiy rated Penn line to shreds, through whleh brit- ton (a prominent star if Cranse were not on the team and a f-rcal back, anyway) and (ireen plowed for y;ird after yard. Four tinics out of five X'enn'3 secondary Uofrn.se niade the tackle, and that went on .•ill day loiiK. Offensively I'enn could do iiuthiiiK. and arcompUshed as much. The Illinois line clearly out- played the e.isterners in all depart- ments of the Kame. Tlie hlu.ked kick which gave the Ued and lihie a Rafety and Its two points u-.t? par- tially can.sed by a faulty pass. First Flash at Grange The ^'inie o!)c>ned with I'onn kick- hv-x to Illinois. Tho ball went to flrauKo, but he pot back only as far as his own .I'l-yard line. Illinois immediately wont into a huddle, came out and two plays followed through the line. Grange never put a haml on the ball ellhei- time, prob- credlted with having developed this | ^'j'V .^izintr up his opponents dt gupernati-ra' ability, Is probably the only man In the country who could adequately depict to the lay and football mind just what Roes to mftkc up this gridiron symphony. Olhers have iriea and will con- tinue to do so as long as football la played, but after seeing him you are as much in the dark as to the manner In which he races through and around opposition as whon reading about it. Orange is everything that has been said about him. There never has been a back who could change direction as fast as he does. He has a marvelous change of pace, he sidesteps, twirls, straight arms, ■ways at the hips, runs in long, loping strides with knees high, and all without apparent effort. His ability to get by tacklers in an open field Is uncanny. One explanation, and it seems logical. Is that if he sees a tackier the least bit off bal- ance he runs straight at him to either sides .ep the opponent at the last minute or to rely on a pair of herculean legs to carry him through the contact of bowling such obstacles over. The Greatest Back There is no question that Grange ta not only the greatest back who jBVer s'epped on a gridiron but also the fastest thinker who ever out- guessed a secondary defense'. He proves it by the desperate and fu- tile tacklers who fling themselves in his path to meet nothing but air and turf. His gaining of 363 yards in this game establishes his abili;y to keep his feet in the mud, but what *raa otherwise remarkable about his performance in this respect was the fact that upon numerous occasions tacklers failed to even lay him prone, he being brought to a dead •top but still standing erect. An- other point, and as an Instance as to how hard he runs, is that "Re *aa never seen to fall backwards, when brought <J€wn he comrtstontly fell forward in'the direction of the goal line. Just how fast Grange is as re- gards actual speed is simply another of the myslerles surrounding him. He was twice felled from behind on Saturday, once when he was in » clear neld with no one to impede nis progress. It would seem simply * matter of speed In that case, but this particular occurence was on his Jong run-back of the klckoff follow- ing his f,r.st touchdown, and he had out gotten by the last defender When overUken. so that doesn't prove anything as to the speed Question. To see Grange Is to wonder how WESTERN FOOTBALL Chicago, Nov. 2. Western football was partially. If not wholly, vindicated lust Satur- day by the spectacular victt)ry of "Ked" C'liange and the tigbting mi- ni over I'enn, conqueror of y;iie and generally recognized as the East'.s best team, and Michigan's crushing tiiuinph over the ISavy. Nt>tr< Hame also regained some of tli'^ Wf.sta lost prestige by trouncing lleurgia Tech In the South. i'rovloiis to Saturnay's comhatn the Kast held a top-heavy advan- tage over the West in Inter.sectlonal games. One solitary victory, that of Ohio State over Columbia, was ;iil that the West had to offtr against Navy's tiiiiinph over Mar- viuette, Syi-.-icuse's victory over In- diaiui. the defeat of Notre Dame by ilio Army, Clik-agd's lng".oilr>u.s up- .sf't by Penn and the Michigan Ag- gie.s tli istiieincnt by I'enn Slate. The Kast siill hohls a five to tlii-ce advantage over tho West in the year's intor.sp:tioiial argument.s but the returns of the Dartmouth-Chi- cago, Notre Danic-ronn State anil EASTERN FOOTBALL The east was In pretty much of a <Iemoralized condition by five o'clock last Saturday. IJttween Pennsylvania's migluy .rasli before Illinois, tho brutal swampiiig of tho •Xavy by .Michigan .iiia tlie highly touted West Point eloven's huniill- • ition in the Vaio liowl it was a riotous afternoon wiiirh but grew more surprising as tlu> hours lengthened and other linal s. ores liec.une cold facts. Going further afiel.l Notre Dame's 13-0 defeat of Cleoigia Toch was a t.omlishcll from the .south while tho .MiiHie.scta-Wisconsin no decision 12-12 tie was an unoxpoctod out- como from tho west. H.arv.ird s low score triumph over \\ illiam and .Mary aii<l the ability of Hiown to make Dartmouth l.>e satijicil with two tou'hdowns also rate a hearing when tliu outstanding events of the day aro cmsidcMoil. The last Saturday of October to game time uttered: "If ^^•ill|^lIt1 doesn't show up. Harvard .vhould beat .Mary." The Nt'W Englanders have lu-en unimpressive so far this sea.son other ih.m in tlio Miliilcluiry game where they topp;Ml Ynles score over till' Maine eleven. Holy Ci-oss M-.a>lo iisolf accounti4)le for the initial ^.alcastio result the Crimson had to face and Dartmouth emi)liasii;ed it as much as it could within 60 mlimtos of i>lay. On the other hand Harvard has shown ocea.slonnl flashes of power and if tlu-ro is any latent str<'ni;th within tho Cambri.lge s<iua.l it will surely come out against Princeton and Yule. A summing uji of gc;-.- eral information silhouettes the fact tiiat one of tho principal ail- ments with Harvard, if not the paramount cause, i.s lack of a iiuar- terl>ack who can both extract and liamos.si the power .T,t his comrrand so that it will got .somowhere. Per- marking the turn of the footl«ll the Notre D.ime-Carncgle games ' ^''''''"'" '"^'^ t''** stretch as well i i"dicals edited by stuJonts >f thi are yet to be ho.ard from. jsignllios the approaching struggle university are already questioiiiiig gave their interference on he can bo stopped. It h.as been aone, .so it's not impossible. The »niy explanation ia the combi- nation of weak interference and the Knowledge the mid-west teams have sained In defining Zuppke's method or paving the way for his star. The Illinois eleven leader splendid Saturday. The game Itself was a romp for tne westerners. Without detracting "om Illinois' playing. It must be aaid that Penn afppeared to be over- rootballed. The absence of Sierackl, Who eventually got Into tho game, and Kreua made no difference. It |» beyond physical endurance for a iJ^5LJo^ake^oiL the schedule that jenn assumed and^remn'ln at top torm for such consecutively hard Kames. That was a foregone con- clusion before the season opened. And that Illinois hit Pennsylvania "'h^n the former was having what ^"1 probably prove the greatest fenso In the Interim. Di-itton klolced and after one futile alltmi)t to gain around an Illinois end, Ponn booted l)ack a ball already overweighted nlth mud. With the ball on its own 45-yard line Illinois lined ui\ shified and (Jra/ige started off right tackle. Crossing the scrimmage line tho great red lioad abrupty cut to the left, sidestepped. and swayed through I'onn's secondary defense— and was gone, a matter of 55 yards and six i>oint3. a-'oHowing this Penn elertod to kickoff and foolishly lifted the ball directly Into Grange's hands. Harold, If memory serves, started up the middle of the flold. Ten yards after that the fireworks started with Grange changing di- rection in all directions, almost completely stopping to Immediately dart out on the wings of a new spurt until ho had swayed and threaded his way through the en- tire Penn team. He was taking those long effortless strides towards the last chalk mark with two com- panions as bodyguards, each on a flank and about five yards behind, when Into "the din and glare" came galloping a Penn stalwart who was figuratively flying. Both of the Illi- nois men trailing their captain could have taken out this lone pur- suer by turning towards him but either he was too fa.«:t or they didn't think quick enough as whoever his number w.is overtook and prevented. Grange from accomplishing the feat for which he has become famous, running back a klckofC for a touch- down. This 60-yard run apparently be- wildered Penn (it dumbfounded the home cheering section) and from the l.'5-yard mark Grange began to divide the responsibility among his backs until Britton crashed over from the one-yard line for the sec- ond touchdown of the first quarter. Beyond putting his team in a scoring position Grange's other con- tribution here was a startling jaunt .iround right end for 10 yards. That Triple Pa«a The fourth touchdown, which c.amo In the third period, was the most spectnrular of Its kind seen on an eastel* field In years. The only happening comparable to it Is the 45-yard run of Don Lourie of Princeton against Yale on the last play of the first half of that game In '20. Stanley Keck dropped back to try a place ki^k and Lourie, Instead of holding the ball on the ground, stood up and ran for a touchdown. In this Instance it was Illinois' ball on I'enn's 30-yard line, fourth down and two to go when Britton dropped back to appar- ently try for a field goal from a dimcult angle to the left of the goal posts. It Is not recalled whether Grange %vas In position to hold the ball or not, he may have boon. The ball went directly to Britton, shoul- der high, who lined a .short pa.ss to a brother back on the line of scrim- mage who took It and started around right end, but when about to be tackled the latter put two hands on the ball nnd tossed It underhandi-d high In the .air and laterally Into the .arms of Grange who In turn ran up his right sideline for a touchdown without anyone putting a hand on him. A darinac^piefie of strategy, a Zuppke Bob Zuppke, tlie lliini coach, has achieved much success in pulling the unexpo'led. When "Doo' Wil- liams was making history with his wonder team at Minnesota this same Zuppke c^tne along with a mediocre aggregation and knocked the best laid plans of Baston et al. into a cocked hat. Zuppke had been kicked all around the confer- ence by teams thwi Minnesota had crushed easily previous to the Illi- nois victory over the Gophers. Bart Macomber, a Camp all-American half back, captained the lUinl that year, Later, when Chick Harley was running them dizzy at Ohio State, Zuppke came up for air .with another so-called weak team. Ohio had swept all before it previous to (Continued on Page 12) the footlmll policy and another yi ar >f double defeat will. In all liUoll- liood, m.ark tho hours of rishor as head coach at C'aiiil)rid;;o. Princeton's "Fight" Prini'oton is reported to have botwoen tlie Big Throe for suproni- acy. Harvanl and Princeton were allotted the opening spot In this triangle of contests and are again i due to moot, this year in the back yard of the Tiger. Granted thati neither of these schools has a team ! '"oked good In Its tie game with which stands among the eastern! 'he Navy while the showing against leaders it is nevertholess true that | ^'"I.'Tate was also described as en- there still remains enough tradition ''"•^''''^Bing In lieu of the fact that surrounding this same Big Tliroei the little upstate seat of learning to mako any of these exclusive' was a "hot" band of moleskin war- .games of paramount Interest along! r'ors defending Its gridiron h(mor. the eastern coast line. It is this M least the Tiger la known to have tradition and the "class" surrotmd-, another "fighting" team and with ing the respective Yale, Harvard i two backfiolds. one as good, as the and Princeton annuals that has i other, to divide responsibility it ia brought on the rumbling undertone I enough to mako the Prlncetonlans of an eastern conference to be ^ the logical victors this Saturday, formed among the "out jiders." \ In Slagle, Princeton has a back who Big Threes Special Attention | is coming along fast and may def- Thcre are few games during the | Inltely "arrive" In either of the two (Copyright. 1925, by Variety, Inc.) PROBABLE FOOTBALL WINNERS AND PROPER ODDS SATURDAY (NOV. 7) By SID SnVERMAN GAME WINNER Princeton-Harvard Princeton Cornell-Dartmouth Dartmouth Penn State-Notre Danta Notre Dame PittabMrgh-W. A J. Pittsburgh 00D8 6/4 10/7 10/9 .season to which the dallies a.ssign | games he has yet to play this fall. ^ . ,. , *^'o '"<^'»- J^ut each of the Big 1.Next year, and he has another, the second quarter ana at the end Three clashes draw that number, I should see him blossom Into a fuU of a repeated long march. Following | the blocked kick and a safety, which gave Illinois the ball on its own 30 yard line, the westerners put on an offensive which carried them to Penn's one yard line where the Red .and Blue made a supreme effort and took the ball on downs. Rogers im- mediately kicked to his 36 yard line where tho westerners again took up the advance with Grange, Green and Britton alternating until the ball was only 15 yards away from its destina- tion. It was here that Grange went tearing around left end, straight- armed two men, came to a complete stop to let a Penn man dive across In front of him and then went on to register his second touchdown. Grange utterly Ignored every punt but one during the afternoon a sys- tem which Zuppke is said to follow, no matter whether the field is wet or dry, in fear of Grange being hurt by charging ends. Other than his run- ning game. Grange displayed his adeptnoss at both throwing and re- ceiving passes and played a splendid defensive game. It was noticeable that when not carrying the ball Grange never got into the interfer- ence and that every time he w.aa downed at least three of his team- mates would help him back on his feet. Illinois Band In addition to Grange and a foot- ball team that played an excellent game, Illinois brought along its 150 piece band, which Is the biggest and best student musical combination the east has seen. Both its playing and the maneuvers it went through were inspiring. At one point during the game the band played Its team PROBABLE WESTERN WINNERS By HARRY MacNAMARA GAME Chlcago-llllnoia Michigan- Northwestern Indiana-Ohio Wisconsin- Iowa Butler-Minnesota WINNER Illinois Michigan Ohio Iowa Minnesota I'redlctlona based on fair weather. ODDS Even 3/1 8'5 4/3 Even one writing a runntng account of the game and the other dwelling upon the "colorful crowd" for a fledged easrern luminary. Notre Dame's respective triumph* over Minnesota and Georgia Tech descriptive sonata. In addition to | will give Uockne's exponents an this the New York papers carry a I f>dge over Penn State which lost syndicated play-by-play account of to Tech and succumbed to Syracuse. these battles, thereby actu.ally m.ak Ing three distinct stories appear- ing in a single paper on the one game. Not that this prf)ve8 any- thing, other than that It burns the other institutions up, for they can't get It. The only other known oc- Into action, toning down while sig-'p-is'fn 'or which special writers nals wore being given and blaring and the remainder of the press re- great scoring play perfectly exe- cuted and a miraculous achievement with a slippery balL It not only paralyzed the Penn team but also everybody in the stands. Illinois' third touchdown came In forth as soon as the play started. A throwback to the bagpipes play- ing the Scots into action. When all is said and done, how- ever. It was Grange'* day. It marked his debut In the east with a terrific reputation to substanti- ate, and he made good thrice over. Those who didn't see him will, per- haps, remain skeptical that he Is superior to anyone who has ever put a cleat on a gridiron and the old timers will undoubtedly barken back to tho '90s and the adjacent years for their parallels. But to those who h.ivo seen him there can be no doubt —ho Is the greatest football player of all time, a rhapsody In moleskins, a gridiron genius, a credit to the game and the university which he represents, S fit tdol^ ^for~ young America—and for those reasons it's a sh.ime that, of ncce.isity, he must professionalize the ability which tinue are employed Is the Army- •N'avy classic, especl.ally when it is hold at the Polo Grounds. Taking the approaching Harvard- Princeton "grudge" meeting, for It has been that for years, it looks as though Princeton .should finish sec- ond best on paper and at this writ- ing. By that is meant the dope points to a Princeton victory over the Crimson and a defeat at New Haven a week later. But that's simply thn dope. A year ago Prince- ton went inio the stadium at Cam- bridge on the nhort end of tho bet- ting and emerged with a 33-0 tri- umph. This year the prol./gue sit- uation of the game is reversed, and history has a habit of doubling on its tracks. Harvard's Situation T o date H nr v.T r d -haft—bowed be- fore Holy Cross and Dartmouth .and just about sldostoppofl VVilli/ini .and .Mary to the tune of 14 to 7 kuit stamps him as the outstanding flg- week. Tho latter rt-sult would so.em | there Is always Oberlander to be ure of Americas' amateur sports. to boar out the wag who, prvvious considered Tho reading mattt^r supplied on Tech's erforts against the Catholca doesn't I iliculnrly enhance the v.alue of tho Notre Dame 1.^-0 achievement In that Wyeoff fallnd to get In for the southerners and It was stated Tech's second team played most of the contest. The reason for such procedure Is a mys- t>ry In these parts. But Kockne has apparently brought his green yeomen along to the point where State will be unable to cope with tho offensive that the South Bend boys will stage. Pitt Over W. A J. Pittsburgh Is favored .Tbove W. A J. because the co.il town aggrega- tion have a sut)ply of power which must break loo.se .sooner or later. W. A J. boat Lafiyette, after the latt.r had trimmed Pitt, but W. ft J. ilid It with four of 'afayette'* varsity men out of the game.. Despite CornoH's apparently Im- pressive showing against Colur'ilil.i, D.'irtmouth must be tho elioice. Colutnbi.i was not bollovod to be as strong as touted, it seldom has been, and for that reason It niipears that Cornrll will find It.^elf too weighty and .ilow to cope with the versatile Hanovop oulflt. Besides which