Egg in Your Beer

When Army visited New Haven some ten days ago, it broke several things: 1, the Elis' six game winning streak; 2, fullback Steve Ackerman's collarbone, and 3, it would seem, much of Yale's October bred confidence.

The Yale fan, always prone to prejudice, noted the passing of these three with varying degrees of regret--the first was pleasant if non-essential, the second important if not indispensable, the third, at this particular point indispensable. And thus, with a nod and a shiver at this good Yale team and its huge line, it would appear that for the second successive season an underdog Crimson team will upset the Bulldogs.

This prediction, made with a certain uneasiness, stems from several considerations:

First the Crimson seemed on the very brink of its top performance against Brown. Against the Bruins the varsity played its best football of the season. Its offense was improved, and with Bill Meigs back in the lineup, the defense should pick up considerably. One suspects that this Saturday it will be on quarterback Bob Brink himself.

Meigs is a key man for the Crimson: after the varsity's victory over Princeton, Dan Coyle, the Nassan sports publicity man, turned to this reporter and said: "You ought to start pushing that Meigs for All-American--he's the best five man backfield we've had in years."

Meigs isn't the only one ready for this game.

Jordan has brought this team along slowly--too slowly, some have said. But early in the season it became obvious that he was shooting for the Big Three title, and his chances for it, seemingly nil in October, have grown to the stage where he is theoretically only five points away from it, according to the early bookie line.

If Jordan has stressed fundamentals instead of flash, then it is to his credit that against Brown the blocking and tackling on his team were sound, the penalties fewer and far between, and that finally the team is ready to vary its offense. The Dartmouth Monday morning quarterbacks to the contrary, the Crimson would be in neither such good physical nor comparable mental shape if it had played ahead of itself early in the season.

The line has played fine football all season. But the backfield, with as many as three sophomores on the field simultaneously at times, has finally displayed the coheslon necessary for both elementary and tricky single wing play. Tony Glanelly, the sophomore fullback, has looked better and better on defense. Two weeks ago, in the Princeton game, he reached the penultimate in Ivy League football--he gained both yards from the Princeton line and praise from Coach Charley Caldwell. Glanelly's replacement is an alert junior, Dick Ochmier. Ochmler weighs only 160 pounds, but his value and ability are measured more accurately off a Toledo scale.

Another factor, less apparent to the 39,000 fans, but painfully obvious to Coach Jordan Olivar, should be the scouting report of backfield coach Josh Williams. If there is any weakness in the Eli game, then Williams has found it. His first book, "Lefty James' Last Ride," was an eminent success--it is hoped that the Saturday edition, "The Olivar Report," will be equally easy reading.

Thus the Crimson enters the game much the same as it did against Cornell and Princeton in the fortunate position of being an underdog, yet being at least equal to the opposition.

Yale arrives here in a different manner. A heavy favorite sometime in September, thanks to a fine bunch of sophomores and five pounds of releases from its all-American publicity director, Charley Loftus, the realities of a nine-game season schedule and an early season start are beginning to show.

First of all, the Elis miss Ackerman. The least publicized of its sophomores, the fullback gave the Bulldogs something they lacked all last season--strength through the middle, strength which set up Dennis McGill's outside runs. With Ackerman out, the Yales may have to depend on Phil Mathias or the semi-injured Conrad Corelli.

Secondly, the Army and Princeton games have probably put many other Yale players over the peak, physically. The injury reports which have filed out of New Haven this past week, like the ones every other year for the past 32 years, are likely to be deceiving. But there's little doubt that the Yale team is somewhat worn down--after the Princeton game Captain Thorne Shugart and two other players spent the night in the Yale infirmary, resting from exhaustion.

The Yale News, overly optimistic three, four, and five weeks ago, has now taken on a somber tone. Noted its Sports Editor Monday morning: "Maybe--and this is how we would explain it--Army took too much out of us. One thing is sure--unless the Elis turn in a much better performance this week, Harvard is going to win its first undisputed Big Three title since 1941."

A winning team will probably need three, possibly four touchdowns this Saturday. Yale has a strong team and a five point advantage. But Harvard seems ready--it can either beat itself or the Elis, and on the basis of the Brown tune-up, the latter looks better