Development of Freshman Eleven

In spite of the coaches' vigorous efforts, the development of the Freshman eleven this year has been slow and unsatisfactory. Even at this time, with the game against Yale freshmen only four days off, the playing is such as is equalled if not surpassed by most school teams of average ability. The men show little fight, seem to have no idea of charging their opponents, and do not play together. Frequent fumbling, too and general carelessness, are so very predominant, that whatever good individual playing there may be, is rendered almost ineffective.

To develop a strong line has been the coaches foremost purpose, but the linemen, far from showing improvement, seem to have lost what little aggressiveness they formerly had, and now have a tendency to fall back rather than charge forward in the face of an opposing play.

The backs, however, have at times shown both speed and fight; but as the season advances, they show little development, and are still slow, and weak in interference.

The men may be criticized individually as follows:

Nichols, left halfback and captain, sets a good example to the team in the spirit of his playing, and on offense his work is often remarkably good. Although his tackling is hard and low, he fails to cover enough ground on the defense, and is too easily boxed by interference.

Sloano at centre plays with commendable spirit, but passes inaccurately to quarterback, and fails to get the jump on his man.

At left guard. Carrick is overconfident and lazy. Once thoroughly awakened, however, he plays with considerable fight, and charges more quickly and effectively than the rest of the linemen.

Right guard, which is the weakest position on the eleven, is now filled rather unsatisfactorily by Pell. He has little idea of charging and falls back under the impetus of an apportion play. He has apparently not profited by the great amount of coaching given him, and, though he is heavy, is unable to apply his weight to advantage.

For tackles, there are several heavy men, all of whom, however, lack aggressiveness. Paul plays with much determination, but is slow, and does not use his hands well. Carr has a tendency to play so high as to be easily thrown back. Gill also is slow.

Out of an unusually large number of candidates, the coaches have thus far failed to find two reliable ends. Blagden, who has been but recently played in the position, is inexperienced, and slow under punts. He plays with spirit, however, and should develop into a valuable man. Though faster in getting down the field, Wilder is ineffective in breaking up interference, and is easily put out of the play. Whitman, who is now disabled by injuries, is erratic and slow on the offensive.

Metcalf, quarterback, has shown ability in catching and running back punts, but on the offensive he passes poorly and lacks generalship in directing plays. As a drop kicker, he is uncertain, and does not get distance into his kicks.

Hodges' work at right halfback, though often fast and effective, is too uncertain to be satisfactory. Besides hitting the line too high, he is weak in interference and uncertain on the defense. His punting is excellent in practice, but falls off considerably in a line-up, so as to be at times noticeably weak.

At fullback, both Hogg and Guild have good weight, which might be made very effective, if they could be made to run lower. In interference, they are not aggressive enough, while their defensive work is weak.

The Yale freshman team is this year very strong, and although defeated by the Princeton freshmen by a score of 5 to 0, have proved themselves a fast, aggressive eleven. From only two of their games can a comparison with the Harvard Freshmen be made. Yale has tied Andover, 6-6, and once been defeated by the same team, 11-6; while in the game with the Harvard Freshmen, Andover won, 5-0. In comparing these games, it is noticeable that in the second half of the last Yale game, Andover was clearly outplayed, and proved unable to resist Yale's aggressive attack; While at no time was Harvard able even to threaten the Andover goal. Like the Harvard team, Yale was weak on the defense, and allowed long gains around her ends.