MIDDLEBURY IS OUT TO TROUNCE CRIMSON

The annual football game with Middlebury, which three or four years ago was thought of merely as a practice game, has become one of the most important of the early season-contests, as witnessed by the fact that Coach Fisher will this afternoon start the strongest combination of Crimson players available.

Today's game will be an excellent one by which to judge the relative merits of the 1923 and 1924 teams. When the rival teams line up at 3 o'clock, the Middlebury eleven will contain no less than nine men who took part in the 6-6 tie last October, two of whom will be playing in the Stadium for the third season.

Lindner and Chase Will Play

On the other hand Greenough and Cheek are the only Crimson men on the first lineup who have ever opposed the Vermonters before. Two changes in the lineup that Coach Fisher had announced earlier in the day were made after yesterday's signal drill. These were Lindner, the lanky 190-pound tackle, for Nash, who is still too stiff to play, and Chase in place of Dean at end. It is this same group of forwards that held the scrubs for downs on seven occasions in one of the midweek scrimmages.

The weight averages of the two lines, which show Harvard to have an advantage of one pound per man, do not tell the whole tale. On paper the central portion of the Middlebury line shows a distinct weakness. The Crimson center and guards outweigh their opponents nine pounds a man. To counteract this advantage, Potter, McLaughlin, Brosowsky, Ehlert, Rigelman, and Mullen all faced Harvard last year.

Middlebury Backs Outweighed

When the weights of the backfields are compared, the contrast is even greater. The Harvard backs average 182 pounds, whereas the Middlebury carriers average 170 pounds. Their relative abilities, however, cannot be judged purely from these facts. Captain Klevenow, Papke, and Hollquist all established a dangerous reputation in their 1923 Stadium performance. The fourth member of the Vermont quartet, Lobo, was out of most of last year's games on account of an early season injury. Critics acclaim him a brilliant ballcarrier and expect him to give trouble to the Harvard forwards.

Pake and Klevenow Are Back

The Papke-Klevenow combination was the one that accounted for the two placement kicks that tied the game in the fourth period last fall. Since the new rules have come into effect, however, the placement kick threat is no longer so great. If the Harvard line plays as it has this week, the Middlebury offense should prove ineffective.

Little fault was found last Saturday with the way Cheek, Miller, Gebrke, and Zarakov performed. With an improved line in front of them their speed and weight should bring greater reward to day. Miller in particular has displayed brilliancy in the scrimmages this week. His two 18-yard gains on Wednesday featured that day's work. Cheek's running and defensive ability is admitted, and the fact that he is starting today, indicates that Coach Fisher is satisfied with his development along the signal calling line