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Show I SPOR T LIGHT Army-Irish Tilt Would Be Grim Bv GRANTLAND RICE : T SAW Notre Dame beat Navy, 40 to 0, and I saw Army beat Fordham, 35 to 0. Fordham was unquestionably as good a team as Navy was, probably better defensively. de-fensively. In looking at the two leading teams, only a week apart, it would be tougher than merely difficult to rank them. Both are blessed with fast, hard-striking backs who can pass, run and block. Both have Among the unbeaten teams left we have Notre- Dame, Army, Oklahoma, California, Boston TJ., Virginia and Cornell. Cor-nell. None of these meet. Every team in the Big Ten, the Southwestern, South-western, and the Southern conferences con-ferences has been beaten, most of them several times. Fordham Ford-ham Is among those beaten only once and it should be stated here that Ed Danowski's Rams put up as gallant a fight against superior numbers, competitive experience, and all- i two b r 1 1 1 1 a n 1 quarterbacks in Arnold Galif f a and Bob Williams. Wil-liams. They are just about on a par. Williams has a slight edge in offensive worth, Galiffa in around class as anyone would care to see. Outside of some three or four teams, Fordham is a match for anyone today. Army's Schedule "Those who are criticizing ' Army's schedule overlook one fact," Red Blaik said before the Fordham game. "These boys are up at 5:30 a.m., well before daylight. day-light. They face 16 hours of hard physical and mental work. It would be cruel to ask them to play a schedule of nine major games. Each year I see the Army team fading out, but its last two games, or losing its earlier edge. "This year we had Perm State, rated before as one of the stronger strong-er teams in the East. We had Michigan at Michigan. We had Harvard they almost beat us last year and looked to be a much improved team this fall, until the trip to Stanford practically wrecked the Crimson. We had an up and coming Fordham , team. We had or still have Pennsylvania and Navy, two old traditional rivals who always give us a bat- Grantland Rice d, e ' e" " strength when needed. In the matter of backfield strength Notre Dame has the call with more good backs Williams, i Sitko, Zalejski, Coutre, Swisto-1 Swisto-1 wicz, etc., vs. Stephenson, Galiffa, Cain and Martin, also Bob Blaik. The top Army four can match the top Notre Dame four, but Notre Dame can reach in the fat for more runners. There isn't much difference in the play of the two lines. The main difference is that Army uses two sets of lines, Notre Dame only one. I doubt that Army has a group to match 260-pound Hart, 245-pound Tonneff and 235-pound Martin all can handle the better part of 60 I minutes whenever needed. Both teams are brilliantly coached. Both have the ability to strike with such speed and devastation they can wreck good tearns in less than 10 min-nutes. min-nutes. Army's defensive line is about as strong as Notre Dame's. I'm not sure her offensive of-fensive play is quite as good, although it is deeper. Notre Dame proved against Michigan State that Frank Leahy needs his first team strength against strong opposition. Michigan State grabbed 14 points before Leahy could blink twice, as he rushed his first team back into action after a 34 to 7 lead. Army vs. Notre Dame ' would be a terrific game. Those who have seen Oklahoma in action tell me that Bud Wilkenson's outfit is . an even match for either with just as much power and just as much all-around speed. The three don't happen to meet. tie to the finish. I claim tnai schedule is all Army can handle. In 1950 we have Michigan again. We meet a powerful Stanford team at Stanford. We have Harvard Har-vard and Pennsylvania who mus1 be better than they were this fall. We have Pennsylvania anc Navy. All told we have at leasl seven major games." Captain Tom Hamilton, whil head of Navy athletics, had this belief"We'd rather be beaten bj class than run over mediocrity Our system is to meet the best." Navy was not equipped at tha-time tha-time or now to have any chanc in its schedule. It had the sort o schedule Army should and couk have played. Hamilton would plaj anybody as long as they wen good. So will Navy's present lead ers. Navy has certainly earne more public acclaim from thii plan than Army has sniping to many second or third graders. |