WEAK BRUIN TEAM TO OPPOSE REBUILT CRIMSON ELEVEN

A brand new, completely rebuilt team will meet an admittedly weak and underfavored opponent this afternoon when Dick Harlow sends his Varsity into the Stadium at 2 o'clock to face the Bruins from Providence.

Betting odds have been running 5-2 in favor of the Crimson despite the drastic changes Harlow has made since the defeat by Dartmouth. These changes mean that Harvard is fielding a team in which nearly 50 per cent of the players will be serving as first string regulars for the first time.

The brown eleven that they will play today has had a terrible record, having won none of its games. Among, the colleges that have beaten the Bruins is Springfield, which Harvard defeated 20-0 in its opening encounter of the season.

THE BIG QUESTION

Against Syracuse a week ago Brown seemed to be definitely improved and may very well prove a far more dangerous opponent than its past record would indicate.

The big "if" of the afternoon will be not Brown but Harvard. There will be five more or less new men in the lineup today and it is any one's guess how such a drastically altered unit will function against a major opponent.

The Harvard backfield will contain two men who have not, previous to this week, ever appeared as candidates for starting honors. These two are Arthur Oakes and Leo Ecker. Both have done a fine job in scrimmages but both will be working under the handicap of slight Varsity experience.

Similarly the line will contain Bob Downes, who has had a meteoric rise to a starting place at tackle, and Bob Watson, the other tackle, who has been on the sidelines for several weeks as the result of injuries.

A New Unit

Neither man could be classed as a veteran, though Watson, prior to his injury, was rated very high in the tackle squad and played in the early games. Downes will be playing in his first Varsity competition.

Bence the team Harlow will put on the field today will be largely experimental. The Dartmouth game revealed the need for changes and Harlow has had the courage to meet the need.

He broke up a team which had proved that it would probably never be beaten badly, but would never win a major game. On this new combination he is gambling.

If it turns out to be a brilliant, scoring combine, Harlow will be widely praised for his intelligence in taking a stop which is revolutionary to say the least. If, on the other hand, this hastily assembled eleven falls apart under pressure, he will be equally widely blamed for destroying a "safe" outfit.

Hence Harlow as well as the team is risking something today. Harvard spectators are rather noted for their quickness in criticizing coaches, and should things go wrong against the Bruins, few will recognize the fact that he has chosen the only course which can possibly lead to triumph against the out coming Tigers and Elis seen to be met