Davidson Eleven Lacks Depth, Has Fast Back

Some local pessimists are pointing to Davidson's Wildcats and saying, Watch out. The Southern eleven's shortage in the games-won column and its pitiful lack of depth are sloughed over. The pessimists claim there is hope for an upset.

This hope springs from two shadowy sources. First, they point to the possibility of a Crimson letdown after the Dartmouth game, combined with a complacent attitude provoked by the Wildcats' one-and-four record.

The second source of hope is a dubious one, at best; comparative scores. If one relies on such an infirm basis, he will discover that while Harvard rates only a tie with Notre Dame, Davidson comes out on top of the Irish by a 26-point margin.

Davidson has a new coach, 14 lettermen, and four men named Davis--two on the starting offensive squad and one on the first-string defense.

Coach Bill Dole, who took over late in March this year, inherited a great problem: there were almost no reserves in the line and in some backfield positions. The team still lacks any sort of depth.

But he also inherited a pretty solid backfield, consisting of two seniors and a couple of strong sophomore prospects--and the sophomores have been sparking the Wildcat offense this season.

Senior Jack Ruth at quarterback is probably the key man in Davidson's tricky offense. Last season, he handled the entire burden of directing the T-formation-Notre Dame box offense, missing only one contest because of an injured ankle. But the Wildcats do not have a capable second-string quarterback.

As a passer, Ruth completed 50 out of 122 tries in 1951, for 616 yards and three tallies. But on the ground, he is something less than a menace. In 46 attempts, he netted minus 99 yards, for an average of minus 2.1 yards per try.

But so far this season Davidson has not used primarily a passing attack. Only 40 aerials have been attempted in the Wildcats' five contests, and that number is often equalled on a single afternoon in the sometimes wide-open Southern offensive game.

Davidson could, of course, spring an intense aerial attack, but the spark for the offense has been furnished by the two sophomore backs--left halfback Jimmy Thacker and fullback Leroy Fargason.

Even before the season began, Davidson was labelling Thacker as its "outstanding candidate for All-Southern and All-American honors."

In nine games as a freshman last year, Thacker was far ahead of the rest of his teammates in rushing yardage, with 437 yards for 80 tries. His average--5.5 yards per try--was highest on the team. It is significant that the 5 ft., 8 in., 160-pound halfback was able to do this with a squad whose overall record was one win and eight losses.

Fargason, the 5 ft., 10 in., 174-pound fullback, was listed as a third string reserve at the season's start. As a freshman, he saw only limited action, carrying the ball nine time for a net of 41 yards and a 4.7 average. But now, he is one of the central operators in Davidson's modified version of the buck-lateral series.

Senior Roy White, who rounds out the backfield at right half, seems to be an example of undeveloped potentiality. He has shown bursts of speed, and adeptness as a blocking back. In 1951, he carried 61 times for a net of 205 yards, of 3.3 per try. Davidson sports officials claim he would be aided tremendously by a stronger line.

Perhaps the biggest problem facing Dole when he took the head coaching position was the lack of experienced ends. Only one veteran--Dick Kelley, who was the second man in the pass-receiving category--returned this season. Dole has been to convert a tackle, Gene Pierce, to right end.

The big man at tackle this year was supposed to have been 245-pound Harry Petersen, but the knee injury which kept him out of last year has been bothering him. Two fairly experienced men, senior Bob Tucker and junior Ben Craig, have been operating at the tackle positions.

Dick Davis and Gene Davis, a couple of sophomores, both 5 ft., 7 in., 175-pounds, dominate the guard slots. At center, Captain Arnold Whisnant, who was injured last week, will be replaced by senior Dick Perkins.

The Wildcats boast an adept punter in freshman Bobby Renn, who, in last Saturday's game, averaged 44 yards on seven kicks, one of them a 78-yard quick-kick.

The Davidson starting eleven includes eight lettermen. Six men are seniors, four sophomores, and one a junior. The backfield has a great deal of speed plus a passing potential. But so far, the Wildcats have not been able to capitalize on their shifty T-box-single wing offense. And, comparative scores notwithstanding, there is little reason to believe they will make it pay off today.