Football Scrapbook for 1929

Now that the 1929 football season has ended, and already this crisp, cold December weather is presaging hockey and winter sports, it would be well in retrospect to look back over the season just ended, with its games stretching from Cambridge to Philadelphia, and pause a minute over the burning embers of what was the 1929 games.

It occurred to this writer that Alumni would probably like to have some sort of a scrapbook at the end of each season, and that perhaps the clippings that they were saving of the Harvard or Navy games were suddenly mislaid, to turn up later as coverings for the pantry shelves or wrappings for the summer clothes. Well, in any case, here is the summary of the past season.*

I am taking the liberty of quoting my own article from the Daily Dartmouth for December 2, 1929.

(From the Daily Dartmouth)

Dartmouth, despite the fact that she lost two games, should be rated well up in college football this year, due to the fact that the whole season was a series of upsets in the East, and not a single major college team came through undefeated.

As expected, the Green came through the first four "pre-season" games with flying colors, although Allegheny gave more than the customary opposition. After Dartmouth had polished off Columbia 26-0 in New York before a goodly crowd of alumni, those writers who are so quick at picking teams for championships in advance got busy. They predicted, as they have done for several years, that Dartmouth again was a "potential champion." Just why the idea persists in metropolitan minds that Dartmouth is always due for an undefeated season is hard to understand, but that is what occurs every year. The result was that the Green lost their first major game to Harvard. Harvard, let it be said, is once more a football giant. After years of waiting, Horween has finally given the Crimson a football machine. Even though they lost to Yale, which spoiled their undefeated record, the 14-6 defeat they plastered on the Green was well earned.

The real hosannas should be sung for the Yale game. The 65,000 rooters who jammed the historic Bowl on that murky day saw an infuriated Dartmouth team rise up for the first time in history and beat Yale. They not only beat Yale, but rubbed it in in the last period by scoring an entirely superflous but decisive touchdown when Marsters came into his full share of glory by running through the entire Blue team.

Brown, although a hectic opponent, was not too dangerous, and the Brunonian touchdowns came after Dartmouth had gone into a satisfied relapse after having put the game on ice. There was power in the Dartmouth running attack, and again Marsters, aided by Wolff, Clark and McCall, showed that danger loomed for Cornell, the next opponent.

The Cornell game was the apex of the season for the Green ran rough shod over the gallant Ithacans, the final score being 26 to 0, with a grave suspicion asserting itself that Jackson Cannell deliberately curbed the attack in order to give the Navy scouts in the stands a little cause for optimism.

Dartmouth, unfortunately, could not keep up their pace of the preceding games, and the result that a rather listless affair was fought out with the Navy at Philadelphia, the service men winning, 13-0. Dartmouth played as though they were very tired, and the Navy was quick to capitalize on this attitude. Dartmouth was out-passed, and only now and then did a backfield man break through the Navy line for appreciable gains.

Let alumni note the date of this article; let them not be too believing.

Are you interested in the coming football season? Does the thought of clear, crisp afternoons in the late fall with the spectacle of a big game cheer you? The sports editor of THE MAGAZINE presents this "Football Scrapbook for 1929" not as a prophecy but rather for your entertainment. At the close of the football season all communications may be addressed direct to him!