Coaches' Corner ...

BOB BLACKMAN: "Anything can happen during the remainder of the season, but at the time this is being written it is remarkable how closely this season has paralleled last year's. Both our 1957 and 1958 teams had serious replacement problems at the start of practice in September, but both years players whom we did not rate high in natural ability came through to do a great job. Both teams looked only fair in winning their first two games and then suddenly seemed to find themselves and develop into a championship contender by exploding in the third game against a favored Brown team. The biggest similarity of all between this year's team and last year's is that the players seem to have an unusual amount of poise and confidence and a really tremendous team spirit, which more than any other single factor has carried them through in some of the tight games.

Whether we can come through in the later, crucial games will depend considerably on how fortunate we are in avoiding injuries to key players. Earlier this year we lost for the season such men as Bill Pettway, Bob Virostek, Duncan Lanum, Len DiSavino and Bob Marriott. We are so thin at most positions that we simply can't afford to lose others. When we substitute we usually put our entire second unit in at one time, which gives some people the impression that we have great depth. Actually, just the opposite is true. If we substituted a few men at a time, when our second men are definitely not as strong as our first men, we would seldom have our best team on the field as a unit. Even though we are weakened defensively when the second team goes in, we feel it is. better to rest our first team together so they can go back in as a unit. In our battle with Holy Cross, the second unit played in each quarter but it was for such a brief time that our first men still played more than 55 of the 60 minutes.

"The Ivy League is well enough balanced that any team in the league could rise to the occasion and beat any other team. It would be the greatest mistake in the world to look ahead to any one game, such as Princeton, because all our thoughts and: efforts must be concentrated on each week's opponent. If our team can be "up" for each game and if we can avoid injuries to key men, I think we stand a fair chance of giving everyone we play a real battle."

EARL HAMILTON: "This year's freshman football squad makes us very optimistic. We have a lot of work to do before they are ready to move up to varsity play, but progress is satisfactory. A really fine job is being done by Bill Graver, our new freshman line coach.

"Introducing the freshmen to our style of play and giving them as much game experience as possible continue to be prime objectives. Accordingly we substitute probably more than any other Ivy League team, doing this by units that play about seven minutes at a time. For example, we used forty men in the Brown game and 39 against Holy Cross. That Holy Cross loss was a heartbreaker. We got inside their ten-yard line twice in the last quarter but couldn't score.

"With a month of practice behind us, we have more freshmen sticking with the squad than in previous seasons. The Class of 1962 has fine college, class and team spirit, and is exceptionally conscientious and dependable. Looking ahead to the 1959 varsity, we'll have to come up with reserves and possibly starters at the ends, fullback, quarterback, halfbacks, and middle of the line, especially at center. The Harvard and Yale games will be our toughest and will give us a better line on the '62 players. But even this early, we feel that we have some men who are good varsity prospects and who will play a lot of football for the Big Green in the years ahead."