FOOTBALL PENALTIES.

In each of the six football games played this fall the University team has been penalized more than its opponents. In all Harvard has lost 270 yards, while the opposing teams together have lost only 81 yards. These figures are of especial importance because the University team is contrasted, not with one or two opponents that might be exceptional, but with teams conceded to be generally representative.

Holding was the cause for more than 60 per cent of the penalties inflicted, while the remaining 40 per cent was due to offside plays and other miscellaneous offences. It is true that most of the disregard for the rules can be attributed to the extreme eagerness of the players, but this explanation in no way belittles the fact that the team is not playing strictly according to the rules. The technique of the game seems to be well mastered, but the ability to adhere to the rules appears to be missing.

So far the penalties have proved decidedly unprofitable. Time and energy spent in rushing the ball fifteen yards can hardly be deemed worth while, if the advantage gained is neutralized by one act. In the big games to come a continued lack of ability to abide by the rules is likely to be still less profitable, for the officials will surely demand more strict obedience as the importance of the outcomes becomes greater.

A team able to win from Yale this year must be one trained in all the fine points of the game of football. The ability to play within the rules is far from the least important of these. It should be the aim of the players and coaches in their work of final preparation to profit by the experience of the past so that in the final games the unnecessary loss of ground by reason of penalties may be avoided.