WILL NOT BE BEATEN BADLY
One could say with safety that Dartmouth will never be beaten very badly this fall, and if the fans would but be satisfied with this prediction, everything would be more on the lines of common sense, rather than wild-eyed nonsense.
With junior Whit Miller at left end, Larry Dilkes at tackle, Highmark or one of the other candidates at left guard, Bobby Gibson at center, Gus Zitrides at right guard, Feeley or one of his teammates at right tackle, Wakelin or Parks at right end, Courter at quarterback, Captain Bob MacLeod (than whom there is no better back in the country), Bill Hutchinson or one of his competitors at left halfbacks, and old warhorse Colby Howe at fullback, no team is going to kick the Big Green around too freely at any time. It is a good teama hard-working, hard-hitting, dangerous, well-trained, smartly coached team; but this is a far different thing than predicting a clean sweep for Dartmouth, or so I feel rather strongly.
This idea is not new with me. For centuries sports followers have been chiming, "You never can tell in sports," until this saying has become so threadbare that one hates to mention it. Still in all, it is sound thought.
The games that will give the answer start with the Princeton encounter to be played October 8, soon after this issue appears. The Tigers ended last season strong, and this third-game battle may make or break the 1938 Indians.
One item that should be considered is this: Brown knows it is better than last year. How much better they don't know. However, they finished the season with a win over Columbia and a narrow 7-0 defeat from Holy Cross, and naturally they have basis for new hope.
Harvard must be considered in a new light this fall. For several years they have not had a climax runner to be feared. Torby Mac Donald as a sophomore last year was green and over-anxious at times. This campaign he will be poised and to be feared. Our own Hutchinson showed in the Harvard encounter of '37 how much damage a fast man may do when exceptionally "hot," and the Crimson has the chance of turning the tables this time against the Indians.
Yale, with the best freshman eleven since the war stepping up to the varsity, is to be rated highly as usual. Even if prospects looked blacker than your white kitten who has just crawled out of the coal bin, Dartmouth has not reached the stage of underrating any Eli team. Cornell will be terrific! Three years ago a wonderful group of sophomores appeared in Ithaca and now they are preparing for their senior-year campaign. With linemen galore and glorious, with sophomore backs above the speed and agility of last year's ball carriers, the Big Red seems to have everything. This club might be the one team that could steamroll over Dartmouth if, by chance, the men of Coach Snavely happened to be clicking as a unit on the afternoon the Green faces Cornell.
Stanford is slated to win the Pacific coast conference this fall. Watching the Columbia-Stanford game last fall in New York our eyes almost popped out of our head at the size of the Western Indian gridsters. That the Lions held this band of giants to a tie was completely out of the realm of our understanding, except perhaps that Stanford was underestimating the grit and doggedness of Lou Little's men—a mental condition that will never exist against Dartmouth in Stanford's own back yard, Palo Alto.
So you see the discussion of the Dartmouth season to follow is not all whipped cream and jello. Just jello, in that several items are on the shaky side.
If this leaves an atmosphere of pessimism, we will change tactics the rest of the way around the track and show that Dartmouth will have the ability to give one and all a ball game, win, lose or draw.
I personally have the greatest respect for Dartmouth's leader this season, Captain Robert F. MacLeod. Mac is the type of athlete I wish every last one of the Indians could be. Not only in football, but in every sport on the calendar. He trains to perfection. He wins with a smile, and goes down to defeat in the good old fashioned way of giving the game all it's worth until the final moment of the contest. He has never felt that he couldn't be a better gridster or basketball player with each day of practice and when, this fall, he blossoms as a forward passer, you can see for yourself that this ambition to strengthen strong points and eliminate weaknesses has had its effect on Mac. He truly loves the sports he competes in. He does, with the rest, enjoy whatever fame he receives; but unlike many, he would be fully as happy in a backyard scrimmage that offered plenty of tussle and the opportunity to, hit hard and be hit hard in return.
Dartmouth can never go very far off the football path with a leader of MacLeod's type!
Then, too, we could name Howe as another ambitious youngster, who has in three years worked his way up from the junior varsity ranks with diligent work and long hours of self-perfection. Dilkes, Feeley, Gibson, Mudge, Zitrides, Highmark, Young, Courter, Miller, Parks, Weaver, Nopper, etc. down through the squad list represent in our minds the best manhood in Dartmouth. And if red-bloodedness still counts for something, the 1938 squad has what it takes to be a football team.
From the confusion of names and the ability of each gridster, slowly but surely there dawns on Memorial field with each practice session enlightenment. Competition being what it is for positions and places on the squad, the really capable players are rising to the top as regularly as cream rises to the top of the milk bottle. The men who are now looking good in the tough scrimmages and routine drills on tackling and blocking are the men who can be counted upon later on. In the end, the list of these men is not long nor impressive as far as "depth" of material goes; but there's no point in fooling myself or the public, it is the small group of standouts that really matters in actual combat.
Coach Blaik in his pre-season statement on attack says: "Our attack will remain basically the same as last year. However, several innovations taken from football dating back to 1915 should add an interesting touch to the Dartmouth eleven."
To say more would be to say too much. It is no camp secret, though, to add that the Big Green is working a great deal on its passing attack. With MacLeod, Hutchinson, Cottone, Jim Bauman, Mike Gross and Bob Krieger forming the passing brigade, it looks very much as if something fruitful will come from the hours spent in the air.
Dartmouth's passing attack has been better than most people realize in the last two years, and only statistics on ground gained with emphasis on the number of passes completed at crucial points in contests would prove this statement. However, passing has never been placed above a good sound ground game and probably never will be. This fall with the opposition rated as highly as it is in general, the Big Green may be forced to call on a passing game more often than has been the case of yesteryears. If so, I think the Indians will be ready.
As far as the ground game is concerned, the major difficulty as we view the situation is the uncovering of blocking capable of getting MacLeod, Hutchinson and Howe into the open field. It has already been apparent in practice scrimmages that Dartmouth will miss Gates and Fred Hollingworth, for these two men were blockers of the first order in the 1937 backfield. By midseason, Courter and Hutchinson may develop along blocking lines. Coach Blaik and staff are certainly spending their efforts along this line every day the squad gathers for drill. At times the outlook is encouraging. At other times discouraging. For blocking is no child's game, and the average spectator is more apt to be impatient than the coaching staff.
As for physical condition the usual standard of excellence will prevail again this fall. The entire squad reported back in such topnotch shape that it was apparent to the naked eye. Thanks to the policy that has been in vogue in Hanover football circles for the last five seasons, training rules are kept to the minute and Rollie Bevan recently made the comment to me that no squad has accepted the letter of the training rules with more cheerfulness than the 1938 squad, which is a noteworthy bit of praise from Bevan, who sets his standards very high.
For your information and for something in print by which you can follow the personnel promotions, demotions and general condition of lineups, we hereby list the lineups, as given to us by Coach Blaik on September 15.
First team: Miller, le; Dilkes, It; Young, lg; Gibson, c; Zitrides, rg; Feeley, rt; Wakelin, re; Courter, No. 2; MacLeod, No. 1; Hutchinson, No. 4; and Howe, No. 3.
Second team: Weaver, le; Armanini, It; Highmark, lg; Mudge, c; Lempke, rg; Winship, rt; Nissen, re; Nopper, No. 2; Hayden, No. 1; Cottone, No. 4; and Orr, No. 3.
Third team: Larigan, le; May, Hatch, It; Klein, lg; Phelan, c: Ingersoll, rg; Guenther, rt; Kelley, re; Norton. No. 2; Bowe, White, No. 1; Gross, Bauman, Krieger, No. 4; and Hall, No. 3.
Fourth team (skeleton): le, Holden; It, Coulson; lg, Neudorf; rt, Jackson; re, Sommers.
Dostal, Parks (letterman), Dacey and McCoun were not listed on any eleven for the time being. Dostal was second right tackle in 1937. Parks substituted for Merrill Davis at right end a year ago. Dacey was regular right guard 011 the 1941 freshman eleven. McCoun was junior varsity No. 2 back last fall.
At the rate the men are rising and falling on their scrimmage showings, all this may be changed by press time. We merely list the teams to show' how interesting practice can be if the fortunes of the individuals are followed along with the team's progress.
