Tigers Forced to Rebuild Backfield; Boast Tight Defense, Veteran Line

A glance at Ivy League statistics is all one needs to see that his 1952 Crimson-Princeton football game will be played on terms a good deal more even than they have been in the last six years.

Since 1946, when Dick Harlow's team turned in a 13 to 12 upset, the Tigers have consistently crushed their Cantabrigian rivals. The emphasis has been on offense, with Princeton piling up 230 points against the Crimson in the five years between 1947-51. The lowest single core in this sequence has been 33 points.

But the emphasis has now shifted. The Tigers are pointing to their defensive platoon and are calling that the key to victory.

Crimson: Major Offensive Threat

For this year, tailback Dick Clasby and fullback John Culver have piled up enough yardage to make the Crimson a major offensive threat. The rushing, passing, total offense, and scoring columns of Ivy statistic books, recently so bare of Harvard names, now has more than its share of them.

Princeton's major offensive player--Dick Kazmaier--has been graduated. But the Crimson's Clasby has, in six games, nearly surpassed Kazamier's Ivy League record for rushing yardage, set last year. With three contents remaining, he is only 166 yards short of the 861-yard mark.

Clasby and Culver rank one-three in Ivy rushing, fourth and second in Ivy scoring. Both have averaged more than five yards per try. And Clasby, moreover, leads the League with a punting average of 38 yards.

The two squads have identical records: five wins and one defeat. In Ivy competition, the Tigers hold the advantage with a three-and-one record, while the Crimson has a one-and-one mark.

Princeton has scored victories over Columbia, Rutgers, Lafayette, Cornell, and Brown. Its only defeat was inflicted by Pennsylvania breaking a 24-game winning string. On the other hand, the Crimson has beaten Springfield, Washington University of St. Louis, Davidson, Colgate, and Dartmouth, while losing to Columbia.

Comparative scores, an invalid basis of judgment, give Princeton a decided edfe. While the Tigers topped Columbia by 14 to 0, the Crimson lost to the Lions, 16 to 7. But a more indirect line of reasoning should give the Crimson the advantage. Both Penn and Harvard defeated Dartmouth by seven points, and Penn downed Princeton, 13 to 7.

An early betting lien has the Tigers as 19-point favorites. The main reason for this is the solid Princeton defense. As a team, the Tigers are second defensively in the League, and the Crimson is fourth. The Tigers have yielded 219.2 yards per game and only 32 points in its six contests: the Crimson has given up 257.8 yards per game and 88 points in its six outings.

Six lettermen bolster the Tigers' defensive alignment, which has given up only 88 years per game on the ground. The pass defense, however, has been more porous. All-America Captain Frank McPhee has been going both ways at end this season, but he is primarily a defensive player. At the other end, junior Harvey Mathis, a letterman, has been in a starting role.

Big Sophomores

Two big sophomores, George Kovatch and Pete Milano have been in the tackle slots, while a couple of senior lettermen, Brad Glass and Marty Mayer, both of them wrestler, are at the guards. Glass won mention on several All-America squads for his defensive performance last season.

In the secondary, Jack Henn and Art Pitts are linebackers, Buzz Taylor and letterman Jack Newell at halfbacks, and another letterman, Ned Jannotta, is at safety. One of Coach Charley Caldwell's most difficult problems has been in finding a suitable replacement for Captain Dave Hickok, linebacker and defensive quarterback.

On the offensive platoon, Caldwell still has most of last year's big line, but he has had to rebuild the backfield completely. Along with Kazmaier, Dick Pivirotto, George Stevens, and Russ McNeil were lost at graduation.

Bob Unger and Bill Tryon have alternated at the tailback position, in Princeton's buck-lateral single wing attack. Although the left-handed Unger is used primarily for passing and the right-handed Tryon for running, they have both proved fairly adept in either department.

Linebacker Homer Smith, a junior, has been switched into fullback post. where he has been an outstanding performer. Smith is fourth in the Ivy League in rushing yardage. Two lettermen, Earl Byrne and Dick Yaffa, both juniors, have exhibited a great deal of speed at wingback. Yaffa, however, may see little action because of an injury.

Senior Bo Willis, at blocking back, rounds out a backfield which the Daily Princetonian calls "one of the fastest Caldwell has ever turned out."

On the line, Caldwell has seven seniors, all of them returning lettermen. McPhee and Len Lyons are at the ends, Bill Ellis and Cowles Herr at the tackles, Jim Otis and Ted Forsyth at the guards, and Red McClain at center.

Caldwell has a good, experienced line, a defensive platoon that has been rather stingy with yardage, and an entirely new backfield that has raised Princeton to the first place in Ivy offense, garnering 196 points