A DECISIVE DEFEAT.

The Harvard eleven lost the game to Yale on Saturday by a score of 28 to 0. The better team won, and the credit of a well-deserved victory belongs to Yale. Harvard was outclassed in every department of the game but one; and, although the team played with good spirit and did not give up until the end, it had met a superior opponent and at no time had a chance to win.

There was one great and all-important cause of Yale's victory--the tackles back formation. The tackles were drawn back and the entire back-field was arranged in tandem formation. It was then possible for this to strike any part of the line with great force and speed, and plain, straight defense could not stop it. A special defense might have done it, but Harvard did not have the right kind. An attempt was made to turn it aside by oblique tackling of the secondary defense, but this allowed the play to get through the line and made at least short gains inevitable. This Yale style of attack has been the basis of her offense throughout the season. The Harvard coaches knew it and gave the eleven some practice in stopping it in the games with the second team; but the correct defense could not be found. This was evident from the very start, when Yale began to gain slowly and steadily through the line. The excellence of this formation was, therefore, the principal cause of the defeat. There were also several less important causes: The Yale line was heavier, stronger and faster than Harvard's and this made it practically impossible for Harvard to gain on offensive play. Yale had remarkable team-work and there were always several men to help the runners and pull them along for a few extra yards, all of which was lacking in Harvard's offense. Yale also had a slight advantage of condition and profited greatly by Harvard's mistakes; but all these shortcomings, although they increased the score, were not the cause of Harvard's defeat.

A study of Harvard's play shows very little. Harvard did a little better than Yale in punting; her punts were longer, the ends got down well and tackled brilliantly, and an exchange of punts usually lost ground for Yale. There were many other departments of the game in which Harvard has done better, and it seemed at times that the team did not play as well as it did against Pennsylvania; but even had there been more quickness in the line, more accuracy in the tackling, less off-side play and less fumbling, the game would not have been won.

The best individual work of the day was done by Hallowell. Aside from his brilliant tackling after punts, his wonderful quickness in stopping Sharpe on trick plays, and his breaking of Yale's end interference, he showed a courage and spirit as acting captain after Daly's retirement that was admirable. Lawrence was the only man in the line who had any effectiveness against the tackesback formation, and is was he that put what strength there was in the right side of the line. Harvard's only ground gainer was Fincke. After taking Captain Daly's place toward the end of the game, he made several skillful dodging runs after receiving punts which were among the features of the game. In the secondary defense Kendall was valuable, but the other backs were unable to turn back the plays which broke through the tackles.

Yale showed individual work only occasionally. Fincke made a seventy yard run after recovering a fumbled punt, but even in this the reliable team play of the Yale eleven gave him the interference which made it possible. At another time Coy knocked down a pass from one Harvard player to another and ran forty yards for a touchdown, but he also received valuable aid from the rest of the team. No man on the Yale team played brilliantly, but every one took an equal share in every play and thus concentrated the full strength of the eleven.

At 2 o'clock Harvard entered the field, and a minute later Yale followed. Captain Daly won the loss and chose the north goal, with a light wind in Harvard's favor. Hale kicked off to Daly on Harvard's twenty yard line, Daly returned it by a punt to Sharpe in midfield, and on Sharpe's fumble Hallowell got the ball for Harvard. On the kick-off, however, Coy had been offside and Yale had to kick-off again. Sawin returned this kick-off to Sharpe at Yale's fifty yard line. After three short line gains Sharpe circled right end for twenty yards, taking the ball to Harvard's thirty yard line. Short line plunges by Bloomer, Stillman and Hale then carried the ball slowly to the two yard line. Then Bloomer and Hale attacked the Harvard line for consecutive gains, and finally Bloomer scored the touchdown from the one foot line. Hale kicked the goal.

Kendall kicked off to Fincke on Yale's twenty-five yard line, and Harvard held Yale on two downs. Hale punted to the middle of the field; Sawin and Ellis gained a first down, but then Sawin was forced to punt. Sharpe got the ball on Yale's five yard line, and with Hale and the tackles then started another series of short gains through the line. The ball was slowly carried to Harvard's thirty yard line, where Harvard got it for holding. On the next play Sawin punted to Sharpe on Yale's forty yard line. Sharpe fumbled, and Fincke picked up the ball and started down the field. He dodged several Harvard tacklers, made good use of Bloomer's interference, and crossed the line for a touchdown. Hale kicked the goal.

Chadwick caught Kendall's kick-off on the thirty-five yard line, and two line plunges carried the ball to the middle of the field, where Harvard got it on downs. Sawin and Ellis made seven yards on five plunges, and then Sawin punted to Yale's twenty yard-line. After a five yard gain by Hale and a seven yard end run by Chadwick, Hallowell stopped Sharpe for a loss of five yards and Hale had to punt. Burnett was then substituted for Lee. Sawin punted at once to Yale's twenty yard line, and after several short plunges by Bloomer and Stillman time was called with the ball one Yale's thirty-three yard line.--Score: Yale, 12; Harvard, 0.

Burnett kicked off in touch, and Yale got a free kick from the twenty five yard line. Daly ran twelve yards on this and was downed on Yale's fifty yard line. Ellis and Sawin made two short gains and Harvard was given five yards for interference with the centre. Yale held and Sawin kicked a drop kick to Yale's ten yard line. Hale gained seven yards through the centre, and then punted to Harvard's twenty-five yard line. Here Kendall fumbled and Yale got the ball. Roberts then went in at Barnard's place. Bloomer and Stillman gained eightyards on four downs, and then Chadwick circled left end for seventeen yards and a touchdown. On the punt-our Yale lost the chance to kick goal.

Captain Daly and Campbell then left the game and Fincke and Bowditch took their places. Sharpe caught Burnett's kick-off on the twenty-five yard line and on the next down Bloomer made five yards. Stillman was substituted for Ellis. Hale punted to the middle of the field, and as Harvard failed to gain, Sawin returned the punt to Yale's thirtyyard line Graydon then replaced Eaton. Stillman of Yale plunged through the line for eight yards, but a moment later Harvard got the ball on a fumble. A double pass play was then tried, but Coy broke through, got the ball and with a clear field run forty yards for a touchdown. Hale kicked the goal.

Gierasch then took Sawin's place Sharpe caught Burnett's next kick off on the twenty-yard line and run fifteen yards. Yale could not gain and Hale punted to Fincke, who ran ten yards to the middle of the field. Gierasch made a three-yard end run, and then Stillman punted to Yale's forty-yardline. Bloomer and Hale made three yards, and Hale punted to Harvard's thirty-yard line, Stillman fumbled the ball, but Fincke recovered it. An exchange of punts and a twenty-yard run by Fincke gave Harvard the ball on her thirty-five yard line. Here Harvard tried the double pass the Bloomer got the ball for Yale. Yale could not gain, and Sharpe tried a drop-kick goal from the forty-yard line. He missed it by about ten feet. Stillman on a free punt sent the ball to the centre of the field. Then a large series of line plunges by Bloomer, Stillman and Hale took the ball gradually to the fifteen-yard line and Sharpe dropped back to the twenty-five yard line for a field goal. It was the fourth down, but as nobody noticed it the play went on. Sharpe's kick struck one of the uprights and bounded through for a goal. This was the last scoring of the game, making the result 28 to 0. Clark and Ristine then replaced Bowditch and Hallowell. Burnett's kick-off went in touch and Yale again punted from her twenty-five yard line. Fincke of Harvard ran fifteen yards, but Yale got the ball for holding. Yale could not gain and Sharpe punted to Fincke, who ran five yards. Stillman returned the punt to the centre of the field. Holt then took Olcott's place. Sharpe punted to Fincke, who ran twenty-five yards, by skillful dodging. Gierasch and Graydon made eight yards through the line, and then on the last play of the day Fincke of Harvard ran ten yards on a double pass. When time was called the ball was in Harvard's possession in the center of the field.

The line-up was as follows:

Harvard.  Yale.Hallowell, Ristine, r.e.  l.e., Gould.J. Lawrence, r.t.  l.t., Bloomer.Barnard, Roberts, r.g.  l.g., Brown.Sargent, c.  c.,Olcott, Holt.Lee, Burnett, l.g.  r.g., Sheldon.Eaton, Graydon, l.t.  r.t., Stillman.Campbell, Bowditch, Clarke, l.e.  r.e., Coy.Daly, R. Fincke, q.b.  q.b., W. Fincke.Kendall, Devens, r.h.h.  l.h.b., Sharpe.Ellis, Stillman, f.b.  f.b., Hale