Rapid Varsity Improvement Predicted by Coach Harlow After Narrow Princeton Win

"We should be a much better football team in two weeks."

The speaker was Dick Harlow, and the place was the Harvard locker room, immediately after the Crimson Varsity had eked out a thrilling 13 to 12 victory over a game Princeton eleven at Palmer Stadium on Saturday.

Harlow's statement that the team will start to improve rapidly after its narrow escape against the Tigers is not hard to understand. His Varsity squad has now passed its strongest early season test, and should profit considerably by its mistakes against the Orange and Black.

Things at Palmer Stadium turned out pretty much the way people close to both squads had speculated. By land, Harvard was king, grinding out 260 yards rushing to a meagre 31 for the Nassau eleven. But in the air, sparked by a deadly accurate forward passer in Carl Leibert, and two rangy, glue-fingered ends in Tom Finical and Bill Gallagher, the Tigers were always dangerous.

Gannon Sprints to Score

Whether the Varsity operated from the "L" or the "T", the Crimson was able to find numerous holes, especially at end and tackle, in the Princeton defense. Tom Gannon whose 66-yard dash for the second Harvard touchdown was a dazzling sprint on a reverse from the T, enjoyed an especially good day, gaining 128 yards in 13 carries. Another Gannon effort, a nine-yard off-tackle slant in the fourth period, wound up in the Tiger end zone, but was called back by the officials, who claimed the Varsity had a back illegally in motion. Movies this week should support or quash that decision.

As for the Crimson's pass defense, it was neither superlative nor hopeless. Harlow declared after the game that he thought Paul Governali's work with the Varsity in last week's practice session had been of considerable benefit. On several of the successful Tiger aerials, the Nassau receivers were covered, but managed to outwrestle their Crimson defenders and grab the ball.

Rodis, Drvaric Praised

Harvard policy on passes in the flat, such as that thrown to Ernie Ransome for the first Nassau touchdown, is to allow the catch to be made, and then have the covering end hit the receiver. But Ransome cluded Wally Flynn at the line of scrimmage, and then hipped his way past at least four other Harvard tacklers on his 52-yard journey.

Harlow praised the work of guards Nick Rodis and Emil Drvaric, and especially the defensive efforts of center Jack Fisher, who intercepted one pass, backed up the Varsity line in rugged fashion, and was named by the Varsity as the man who blocked the first Princeton extra-point attempt. Press box denizens gave credit to Rodis, Drvaric and Chet Pierce, either separately or en masse, in their Sunday morning dissertations, but the opinion of the Harvard locker room was that Fisher was the man of the hour.

Another Cheery note was the relative lack of injuries. There were a few bumps, but none of the Varsity players who saw action on Saturday is expected to miss the Coast Guard contest.

Ironically, it was Bucky Harrison, whose right too was infallible in seven efforts last Saturday, who missed the important conversion attempt against the Tigers on Saturday. Drvaric's place-kick after the first score was a model shot, and his kickoffs left little to be desired in length and height.

With a rugged, big league victory under its belt, the Harlow eleven should make rapid gains in cohesion and finesse hereafter. For Crimson followers, the football market is moving up