OUR FOOT BALL OUTLOOK. STATE opens the year with a supply of foot hall material that has not been surpassed for several years. Heavy line men of good activity and speedy backs, some of them experi enced players; are at her disposal. Captain Murray, with Ran dolph, Scholl and Ruble, make a tried and seasoned centre and left side of the line that, in point of actual ability, it would be possible to better at but few colleges in the country. On the right side of the line the Miller brothers have served an appentice ship of a year on the scrub, and in the game against Gettysburg fully demonstrated their ability in breaking through, in “hole making,” and in running with the ball. At right end, Curtin and Farr are both hard tacklers and plucky runners and either should take care of that position very creditably. Behind the line, the prospects are just as bright. Heckel, at quarter, passes the ball and tackles well; Cure, at full-back, is invaluable in the interference, a good punter and one of the hardest men on the field to bring to the ground; while Shoffstall, Hewitt, Platt and D. Miller all have in them the making of first-class half-backs with plenty of speed and pluck. In addition to these men, there are on the scrub a number of men who are ’varsity material, and would seem to make it impossible for any position to become weak. Up to this point, this forecast has been decidedly optimistic, pos sibly absurdly so. The writer does not shut his eyes to the fact that there are many glaring defects in the team. It is true that some of the line men fail to play low enough, that some of the big men tackle too high, that the eleven does not get into every play as a team, that the backs do not always shut quickly enough and do not follow their interferences, when there is any, that in the Gettysburg game there was a great deal of unnecessary fumbling and wretched goal kicking, and too much talking when a play miscarried. No attempt is made to lay these things at the door of individual players, first because this is not the place to do so* and secondly because, for the present at least, the fault is not theirs, and still less is it the fault of Captain Murray, who is doing his very best for the team..
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