A REMARKABLE SHOWING.

How much confidence may reasonably be taken in the remark made by a man of wide football experience after Saturday's game, "That is the best Harvard team I ever saw"? There is no denying the fact that the exhibition of all around football displayed by the University team against Carlisle was noticeably better with the exception of kicking and handing punts than that of any Harvard team as far back as the present board can recall. The most conspicuous element and the most gratifying was the ample evidence of strategic football brains and it was quite as much a triumph for the coaching staff as for the players themselves. Every pound of available strength was put into the line-up as it became useful with the result that at the end the attack was just as fierce and the defence as stubborn as at the kick-off.

One point should be taken into consideration in coming to any conclusion on the merits of the team as the result of the game. Carlisle was by no means up to the standard expected, judged by their last few games, and the line in particular showed weaknesses which were soon discovered. The one glaring weakness of the University team was its inability to keep within the rules in blocking and interfering. Penalties aggregating 120 yards were inflicted on Harvard for offences of various natures and one touchdown was undoubtedly lost through infringement of the rules.

The question is, can the team be kept at this level and in the same competitive frame of mind as on Saturday? Was that merely one of those inexplicable flashes of ability when men do better than they know, better even than those best informed are prepared to look for, or was it an indication of what to expect in the two remaining games?