Injury to Mercein Makes Crimson Shaky Favorite Over Yale Eleven

You may not believe it, but Harvard's football team is a one-point favorite over Yale in the early betting odds.

Dartmouth wouldn't believe it. The Indians lost to Yale, 24-14, the week after they beat Harvard, 48-0. Lehigh, which lost to Yale, 54-0, early in the season, probably wouldn't believe it either.

This was the Yale team, packed with 18 lettermen and a bunch of good sophomores, that was supposed to be the leading contender for the Ivy championship. Harvard's inexperienced line was going to weigh the Crimson down.

As it turned out, Yale has had a good season. The Elis came into the Princeton game with a 6-0-1 record, marred only by a tie with Columbia. A powerful line, in front of an excellent backfield, had made the Elis the tenth team in the country in total offense, the sixth in rushing.

But the Elis came out of the Princeton game with a 35-14 defeat, and they came out of it with Chuck Mercein injured and possibly out of the Harvard game. Mercein, the fullback who was sixth in the country in rushing, injured a thigh and spent two nights in the Yale infirmary.

An injury to Mercein would also stamp out Yale's kicking game. The big full-back has booted five field goals this year and has scored 58 points in all.

And Mercein may not be the Elis' only casualty: the top two right guards, Greg Weiss and Ralph Vandersloot, have bad leg injuries.

Meanwhile, tackle John Hoffman has returned to the Crimson starting lineup, along with halfback Dave Poe. It's on this basis that Harvard is the early favorite.