Lafayette at Princeton

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  New-York tribune, New York [N.Y.], October 25, 1909, page 1

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  WHY TIGERS LOST LINE LACKS POLISH. Lafayette Game Points out Defects at Princeton. urday, for 1t clouds the issue somewhat. Princeton hardly deserved to win, perhaps, but Lafayette certainly did not. and this is something hard TO bring home to those who did not see the game. 1t was a ren;arkable play that beat the Tigers, and had 1t stopped at saving the visiting team from defeat by preventing a field goal the true merits of the contestants would have been represented better by the score. Princeton had one main fault with numerous contributory defects to cause it. Inability TO carry the ball forward consistently was the fault, Of course. and the point now is to determine the minor defects that assembled. resulted in this weakness. The backs were not to blame. Playing hard football. and good football, and using plays chosen with a lot of good Judgment by Bergin, they still failed sew eral times to punch out the necessary dis lance, and this was, as a rule, because they went into a spot that should have presented an opening but did not because the forwards had not done their part The backs have been criticised for not picking their openings properly, for going into spot already filed up. This is I’M fair, because the system of attack at Princeton this year requires the men to line up on the offence very near the line This makes picking of holes on line plunges impossible Against a light OPP posing line, and using sheer weight to get the ground, this is all very well. but IT was playing into the hands of the Lafaycite defence on Saturday, and 1t will be playing into the hands Of Yale and Dart mouth later if the policy is adhered to. The Lafayette line was good on Saturday for one thing, excellent, in fact Its mem bers were not to be pushed aside easily, and Norris and McCaa, two splendid men on the secondary line Of defence, always had time to diagnose the attack and rein force the threatened spot. This does not mean bad work by the Princeton line, of necessity, for the fact that the man carry ing the ball was coming so soon, and with out a chance to pick a better opening, made it a matter of imperative necessity that an attempt be made to open the way Tor him at the exact spot indicated by the signal. There was the rub. II was in evitable that rhe opposing forwards should determine almost at once the spot in dan ger, and that the shift of defensive | strength to that spot should be quickly made. Hart went into the line time and again, forced upright when he should have been boring in, and trying to climb over and around a mass of men in spot that should have afforded him some opportunity ( to get through. When the line gave him any sort OF a chance to get started Hart | was tower Of strength. and should make a splendid plunging back. It is hard to estimate how much effect the placing of the backs has on the work Of the line. but it ought to be worth the | trouble for the Princeton coaches to change their system in practice for a day or two nd fpb ha Thu line haa pth faults, such as lack of coordination, slow | starting and high charging to overcome, | but coaching ought to eliminate these defects. week OF Bill Edwards would dc the men world OF good. There has been much difficulty in pick ! ing ends for the Tigers this year. The work of Balm on Saturday, therefore. | must have pleased the coaches. He is | fast, heady and exceedingly alert He was | star in covering punts taking care of | his side OF the field admirably. On the | offence he got rid of the opposing end in mastery fashion. opening the way for | most of Reads long swings around his | end in the first half, with the interference | free to eliminate Lafayette’s rush line | half He was not tested much on the de- | fence, but did all that was required of | him. | Quarterback is another position that has | worried the triumvirate. Bergin played a | brilliant game on Saturday. He ran the team fast, selected plays well and proved | himself a capable field general. His exc cution Of the forward pass was erratic, but good at times. His running back of punts was excellent. He had a clean start a good many times, because McCaa out kicked his ends rather too often but he got away on several occasions with the opposing tacklers flying at him from all directions, making one of his most brill liant runs after snatching a ball that had hit the ground before he reached IT, His work was particularly good in view of the deadly tackling of the Lafayette PLAYERS that being one of the best features of the game of the Easton team. The Princeton backs and ends showed Improvement in this respect also. Read is no experiment and neither in a way, IS Dawson. Both played a lot OF good football. Sparks was brilliant at times, but was almost useless on end plays because of his tendency to run across the field looking for an opening ia cut in He showed a lot of strength in going through the line, however. The defensive strength of the Princeton team was not tried out by any means La fayette made its distance only once, but did lot Of kicking the first and second downs. Such attempts as the visitors made TO advance the ball on straight football were pretty generally smashed by the Princeton defence, the line being better then than on the offence. Lafayette hay- ing such a splendid punter as McCaa, used good judgment in playing a kicking game but Bergtn’s good work nullified this ad- vantage on most occasions. It is probable however, that test against a team much stronger extensively than Lafayette would have found just as sturdy an opposition Cunningham played strong game when he replaced Mathews late in the second half He went through the line on tackle plays IN fine fashion, and some thought he should have been employed sooner It is still on the cards that he may play an end position. WEIGH was not up to the stand ard at all, and is by no means as good a man as Balm. although he has had more experience Generally speaking. Princeton has the material for a team rather above the aver age. but there is a tremendous amount OF polishing work for the coaches to do There is no reason why they should not turn out good team, however and one well worthy to uphold Princeton football traditions. FARM FOR CONSERVATIVES.

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  The Washington herald, District of Columbia, October 24, 1909, page 1

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  PRINCETON TIGERS BEATEN Lafayette Team Scores in Last Min ute of Play. CunninEhnm’S Drop Kick Blocked by Irmschler, Who Runs Ninety Yards for Touchdown. Princeton. y J. Oct “a sensational eo-yard run by Frank IruSchler IN the last minute OF play won a spectacular contest for Lafayette from Princeton today. 10 O. The Tigers were on their opponents 13-yard line, and with too little time left to try 10 make a touchdown. Cum ningham dropped back for an attempt at a field goal. The pass vas high. and before tthe half back. who had won two games this season by his reliable kick Ing. could get the ball away, Irmschler came in. blocked the kick and. picking Up the pigskn, kept ahead OF the pursuing Princetonians until the goal line was crossed. Previous TO this Lafayette had not once been nearer 20 the Tigers goal line than the S5-yard line. and had made only one first down, the first play OF the game. Seven times Princeton was held for downs when a score seemed probable. and four OF these was when they had the ball within the 2o-yard line 1t was Princetons old fault OF playing their opponents off their feet until within striking distance Of the goal. and then the attack weakened, and to-day L proved fatal.

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  The Cairo bulletin, Illinois, October 24, 1909, page 1

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  FAST FOOTBALL WAS “ON TAP” SEVERAL TIGHT SCORES MADE YESTERDAY-MA TEAMS PLAY EVEN BALL. PRINCETON is DEFEATED In Speedy Game With Lafayette Two Games Won at the Last Mnutt--Michigan 6, Marquette 5. Madison, Wis, Oct. 23,-Five thousand people on Randall Field this afternoon braved freezing weather and saw Wisconsin defeat Indiana, 6 to Wisconsin’s touchdown was made in the first half wnen Culver inter cepted forward pass and ran IS yards for touchdown, Moll kicking the goal. Indiana scored in the latter part of the second half, at time when In diana had narrowly escaped being scored ON for the second time. Culyer mad broken through for so yard run and Indiana desperately had held on her seven yard line An exchange OF punts, tumble and an intercepted forward pass gave the ball to indiana in the centerheld Cunningham, Gill, Padderk and Wright sprung several of Coach Sheldon’s plays, carrying the ball to the twenty yard line, where Wisconsin held The ball was passed back to Gill on the 30 yard line and he drop kicked a goal from the field. To her ability to execute the for ward pass for short gains Wisconsin owed her best gains.

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  Los Angeles herald, California, October 24, 1909, page 29

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  SURPRISE FOR PRINCETON PRINCETON, N. j., Oct. 2S.-On one of those sudden plays characterizing new football Frank Irmschler, a sec ond substitute right halfback on the Lafayette college team, caught the ball on bound in the last minute of play after Cunningham’s try for drop kick had been blocked and ran 80 yards for a touchdown, making possible La fayette victory over Princeton by the score of 6 to 0. Just as Captain McCaa kicked the goal time was called.

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The text is the machine reading of the page, mistakes and all.

Princeton leads 39–⁠3–⁠3 in 45 meetings, counting the 25 since this game.