UNIVERSITY ELEVEN HAS FACED STIFF OPPOSITION

It is after one of the stiffest early season schedules that a Crimson eleven has ever faced that the University team will meet Princeton today. Not since 1916 has a Harvard team tasted defeat until this year, never has an eleven come so near to downfall as the game band of substitutes who, with the final whistle only a few seconds away, tied the powerful Penn State invaders. But the advantages of the heavy early season work have been great. Against Coach Fisher's men have come some of the best teams of the East. The Crimson has seen thrown against it an excellent example of practically every type of offense and whatever the Tiger displays today, probably little will be unfamiliar to the University.

On September 6, when the season officially opened, eighty-two players reported at Soldiers Field. The squad came along rapidly and was in good condition when the curtain went up on the first game of the season, a double-header with Boston University and Middlebury College.

B. U. Defeated by 10-0 Score

The showing of the first team against the B. U. eleven was not, however, imposing, a 10-0 score being the margin of victory. Only twice in the contest did the Crimson display a really powerful attack, for the charge of the line was sluggish and considerably hindered the work of the backs. Defensively, however, the team proved alert and vigorous, the visitors being unable to gain a single first down. The feature of the game was a 77-yard run by Chapin from his 15-yard line.

Team B Makes Good Showing

In the second contest of the double-header Team B put up an impressive show, defeating the light Middlebury team 16-0, the consistent and fiery charge of the line comparing favorably with that of the first team in the opening contest.

A far sterner test was in wait for the Crimson the following week. The strong and speedy Holy Cross eleven came down from Worcester determined to break the University's no defeat record. True they were outweighed to a man, but what they lacked in weight, they made up in aggressiveness. Being forced back to their own seven-yard line and extended to the limit by their lighter opponents, the redjerseyed players barely nosed out a 3-0 victory when Buell sent the pigskin over the bars from the 37-yard line. By holing on their seven-yard line Coach Fisher's men proved that they were good defensively but the offense left much to be desired, for Worcester succeeded in carrying the ball 160 yards to the Crimson's 115 and gaining eight first downs to the University's two.

Drastic Reorganization Made

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Coach Fisher took drastic measures, and when the team lined up against Indiana the next Saturday five changes were visible in its makeup. Captain Kane and Tierney had gone to tackle, Bradford was at center, while in the backfield, Gehrke and Jenkins took the place of Chapin and Fitts. The result was a great improvement. In spite of a pouring rain, the heavy forwards were into everything, blocking punts and recovering many fumbles. The result was never in doubt. The Hoosier eleven was swept off its feet to the tune of 19-0, the invading punter was continually hurried and during the entire contest the Westerners made but four first downs.

Georgia Defeated by Narrow Margin

But the team was not yet out of the woods. On the next Saturday, for the second time in the 1921 season a field goal was the narrow margin of victory, when the Crimson barely outscored the Georgia University Team 10-7. This time it was Plaffman who, standing on the twenty-eight yard line, sent the ball over the bars from a difficult angle. The playing of the University was of the loosest and most ragged variety, five fumbles in all marring the game at crucial moments.

Filled with a new determination because of the close call with the Georgia invaders, the squad set strenuously to work to prepare for the Penn State game. And preparation was indeed in order, for Coach Bezdek's elevan came to the Stadium outweighing the Crimson seven pounds to the man and determined not to have their two year no defeat record broken. Coach Fisher could not muster his entire strength. Due to a veritable avalanohe of injuries in the week preceding the game, the Crimson entered the contest with but four out of eleven regulars. The game was one of the most thrilling ever staged in the Stadium. Driven back by the raging Nittany Lions, outweighed, outscored 21-14, with only seven minutes more to play, the Crimson substitutes uncovered that type of last minute, irresistible attack for which Harvard teams are famous. With darkness settling on the field, a pass from Buell to Churchill netted a tieing score which snatched the University from the very brink of defeat and robbed the Bezdek machine of what three minutes earlier appeared a sure victory.

After this magnificent fight, a feeling of over-confidence, which was to prove fatal, spread over the Crimson camp. Last Saturday, Centre again invaded the Stadium and this time, under the brilliant leadership of "Bo" McMillan, carried home a 6-0 win. The University again sought to stage a last minute comeback but this time luck was against them, for although Churchill succeeded in reaching the four-yard line in a forward pass, he was called back because of a penalty.

It is filled with a burning determination to atone for this defeat that the University faces Princeton today.