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10
Tech’s Famous Football Coach Fails to Select a Single Yellow Jacket tor His Team
HEISMAN’S ALL-SOUTHERN ELEVEN
Player Position VCeight College
MorganCenter2l4 . .Vanderbilt
'Thigpenßight Guard . . . . 185 . Auburn
Barker Left Guard ... 191 ... M issitsippi
T. Brownßight Tackle . . 181 . . Vanderbilt
Meadows Left Tac Me 176.. A üburn
E. Brown . . .... Right Endl6o . . . V anderbilt
GillemLeft End 160. . .Sewanee
SikesQuarterback ..162 Vanderbilt
McWh orter .... Right Halfl74 .. . Georgia
HardageLeft Halfl6z . . Vanderbilt
ReulleFullbackl92 ... Miss A-M
By J. W. HEISMAN
THE Southern Intercollegiate Athletic :tss<»ciai.ion enibiaecs 1
the following members: Alabama, Auburn. Howard, Geor
gia. Mercer, Tech. Tulane, L. S. I’.. I'niversity Mississippi, i
Miss. A. &. M., Mississippi college. .Milsaps College, Trinity. Clem
son. Wofford. The(.'ia< lei, 1 niversity of Florida, Vanderbilt. Sewa
nee, Tennessee. College of Charleston. Texas A. M.. and three
colleges in Kentucky.
Excluding the Kentucky and
Texas colleges on the ground of
geographical remoteness my sec
lections will be confined to teams
representing the above colleges.
Center Again Goes
To Vanderbilt.
THE 'first-class centers of the year
have not been ns numerous as here
tofore, and T am goimr to seriously
consider but four of them. These tire
Adams, of Mississippi: Dutton, of L. S.
, U.; Loeb, of Tech, and Morgan, of
I Vanderbilt.
Adams and Dutton are much alike in
I size. general ability and style of play.
| They are excellent snappers, know the
| possibilities of their position, and are
' grand football players. Either of them
would prove entirely acceptable in the
I position on any team in the South
£ land. They are experienced linesmen,
land play with great vigor. Tt would be
f a hard task to decide which Is the bet
ler of the two.
| Loeb, of Tech, is all this- lacking one
I thing, and that is weight. At first
Ifthjought it would stem absurd to dis
|jcuss for this position a man who weighs
| but 155 pounds. Yet Loeb is possessed
t of such tremendous energy . such abso
f Jutely indomitably fighting spirit, and
'-such splendid vitality that he coin
i pels consideration: he overcomes a. lian
i dicap of from ten to twenty pounds in
van opponent by these factors with ease.
I Thus, while differing from the other
B/two in general style, he ranks on a pat
[ with them, and a selection from one of
£ the three would be just as difficult
| (arid just as easy) to make as one from
| the first two. I will say for Loeb that
when it comes to pure grit he merits
the highest possible ranking
Morgan Good
Heavy Man.
Morgan, of the Commodores, Is the
i man who helps me out of my difii
| cultiee, for he puts it a shade on the
pothers. This is in large part due to
jthe fact that he Is many pounds heav
ier than any of the other three, weigh
ting, as he does, about 220 pounds. A
‘good big man is surely better than a
good little man, and that’s all there Is
to it. If Morgan couldn’t do any of
the things that the other trio do, it
would be a different case. But you can
certainly find no fault with Morgan's
snapping, nor his charging and block
-1 ing, nor yet his tackling and generally
fine spirit in the game. And when you
add his high-grade experience to the
AitK of his other good pointe, there is
left'nothing to discuss. Morgan would,
1 thf'nk. make any team in the country
at center.
• • •
Guards a Puzzle
To Coach Heisman.
THE selection of the most suitable
pair of guards for our team Is a
I profound puzzle. Hardly a Southern
; team is without at least one man who
j-'Jtas some claim on this position.
FProbably the best of the lot Is Thig- (
\pen, of Auburn. This chap is well |
I ’qualified in every respect to hold down
.• the job, and if Auburn were not so well I
'fortified with tackles I daresay we
'•would see him playing this position on
H the Orange and Blue lineup. Guards
‘ have little opportunity to show off or
pull brilliant stunts. Steadiness and
r.jgood, consistent, hard work are the
EjMagr that are needed tn a man if he is ’
» to pftjr the position to the satisfaction i
fc of his coaches. These qualities Thig-
Kpen possesses to an eminmt degree.
along with lots of weight, strength, e\
f perlence and knowledge of the insidi
fine points of the position Few. I
L tAiink. will be disposed to differ with
eL, his estimate of the man, or his right
s • 1 a position
| 'The man for the other flank of our
G~|Ar>ter is indeed a problem t’onslder
ng merely the men who have played
at'the guard position all season, I
M would have little trouble in selecting
■ Cassanova. of Mississippi A. and M.
K This big fellow also can claim every
LU natural qualification for such a ,>osl-
K tion, and he has put up a game all
KJaeason that mu.-, draw attention
'Two men who ar- right in a ciass
< 'iSKtiw.Vf
Bl "v ' t»<* Scbllletter, of ("i< ntson. The
of these is heady and a fit
th* latter has been playing a
Dates I eliminate on tin ground of
lightness and sonic lack of experience;
while the latter must be dropped on the
ground of lack of general speed and
he, 00. needs a little mote seasoning.
Both have put up a splendid game and
deserve special commendation.
But to be perfectly frank about it, I
do not consider iny of these three quite
ready for places on an all-Southein, and
my team would really be too far below
standard at that spot were we to use
one of these men this year.
Switches Tackle
To Guard.
The difficulty is rounded by selecting
one of the numerous exceptionally good
tackles and putting him In tire posi
tion. This may not seem quite fair to
strictly guard candidates, nor would I
do it in years when 1 considered the
regular guards of the year able to liotal
their own and maintain a standard of
play reasonably up to that of the rest
of our team.
It is particularly advisable that we
this year switch a tackle into the
guard's place, on account of the fact
that this all-S. I. A. A. represents, in
general, the best rounded-out eleven
players of the year, and to exclude any
one of at least three tackles that can be
named wouldn ot only work a great
hardship on that one man, but would
make our team look like a chain with
one weak link when we had plenty of
good, strong links lying around idle
that we could insert at the weak spot
with the greatest ease.
Now, I do not say that this substi
tution would be possible or advisable
at every’ or any old position. Thus it
would be a wild guess to say that a
good guard would make an equally good
fullback, or that a fine halfback would
do equally’ well at snapper. But guard
and tackle are ntlrely alike In their
j work, the only difference being that
■ tackle is a harder place to play suc
cessfully than guard, requires more ex
perience and agility and, generally
speaking, takes a better matt to play it.
But, this admitted, It follows clearly
that if a man can play tackle success
fully he can certainly play an entirely
satisfactory guard.
Barker at Left Guard.
For these reasons I have decided to
put Barker, of Mississippi, at left
guard. This man weighs 190 pounds,
has played exceptionally well at tackle
for three years, and is able to run 100
yards in 10 1-2 seconds. He Is one of
the fiercest tacklers to be found any
where, and backs up a line tn faultless
fashion. Now, how can such a player
be kept off my team merely because
there are two other men who play the
tackle position about as well as he
does? And when there is no satis
factory regular guard to nominate for
our second guard position?
And the reason I want the other two
men to whom I refer for regular tackles
on both offense and defense is that they
do their best work tn the line, while
Barker is a star of the first magnitude
when tt comes to backing up the line
in secondary’ defense. Playing the
. guard’s position on offense, he could
j be drawn back when it came to de
fense and play in that secondary de
| fensive line. He i.nd Reulle, of Mis
sissippi A. & M., would make the best
bsickers-up of any' men of the year.
Tnis would leave Morgan and Thigpen
to hold things steady in the middle of
the line, and would be a capital ar
rangement. I let it go at that.
• • •
' Tackles Also
Give Trouble.
I » FTER much careful observation,
‘ * thorough inquiry and thoughtful
consideration, I have come to the con
clusion that Tom Brown, of Vander
bilt: Meadows, of Auburn, and Barker,
of Mississippi, are the three best tac
kles of the year.
It is with much reluctance that I re
ject Dobbins, of Sewanee, and Shipp, of
Vanderbilt, both of whom have done
remarkably tine work for men in their
first year on a college team; and I suf
fer equal mental spasms in setting
aside laimb, of Auburn, and Kelley and
Hayley, of Tennessee. Lamb has not
1 been in the best of condition this year
and his game has, inconsequence, not
5 been quite as good straight through as
’ tt was lust season. The Tennessee tac.
k'es are about the best men of that
’ temn. They are hard workers, have the
» j necessary weight and are born fighters,
t 1 would give one of them a guard po
ITHE1 T HE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.SAITRDAY. No\ EMBER 30. 1912.
A BIT OF HEISMAN DEFENSE BY TECH
Jr &
// TLx V ■* v. WBIRferL.T-Y
V »H I -f
/ A 'WK \ ' z JhßHb -
\ .JF L—l %' v WhbIIIISIKIw/
.. 4 . ’ ■ W P
MM *•
)a l -
The Yellow Jackets' liifht for-
wards held so well that finally '' l ' s photograph was snapped
the Clemson attack was forced to . ' l,v a * !1 < expert at
practically hurdle over them. - .... . game.
sition did I not have Barker on my
hands; while at tackle they are shunt
ed off because of the fact that they
have not had the same experience as
the other men I have named, either I.
with or against high-grade teams. ,■
Tom Brown Great Player.
( am satisfied no one will argue witli :
me about Tom Brown’s fitness for a .
tackle’s commission, for lie has been [
one of the mainstays of the Vanderbilt j'
line for several years. There seems no ' ’
limit to his ambition to improve and !
to learn all the football there is to ' ■
know. His build for the position is '
Ideal, and he has a full and perfect |
working use of his hands —that faculty l
so rare among Southern linemen. Su- '
perb on making openings, he is an even ‘
better man when it comes to defensive |'
work, and we must look upon him as a .
well-nigh finished linesman.
Meadows, of Auburn. Is not quite as ,
heavy a man as 1 would like to have at !
tackle, and it might be beter were he
shifted to guard, leaving Barker to
come out to the tackle's place. Either i
of them is quite quick enough for the ,
place. Meadows’ forte is in accurate
diagnosing of the play, coupled with
simultaneous action on the Judgment.
He has a line knack of knifing through :
and nailing the runner in his tracks (
with a clean, low tackle. Altogether,
he appears to be the best lineman Au
burn has this season, and that Is say
ing much when we reflect what a high- ,
grade lot of forwards these are. Mead
ows will do evry well.
• * •
Sewanee and Vandy
(Jet the End Berths.
FOR the end positions there are quite
x a number of men who stand out
well above the average. These Include 1
Robinson, of Auburn; Conklin, of Geor
gia; Vandegraaf. of Alabama; Pounds,
of Florida; Gillem. of Sewanee, and E.
Brown, of Vanderbilt.
For defensive purposes I would not
ask a better man than Robinson. He
has weight and strength and is excep- ,
tionally clear-headed on sizing up a
pla.x. And he plants himself in such a
manner as to make It a mighty hard
thing to get him off ills feet. This
makes it possible for him to handle a I
heap of interference and still get the I
runner himself.
t'onklin. of Georgia, is much the same
style of player, though he comes in
faster to smash interference (probably
only a difference of detail in team sys
tem). Hut his judgment is almost
equallj infallible, and he is one of the
surest tacklers to be found anywhere.
Pounds, of Florida, is as shifty, nifty
and altogether brilliant a player for
his inches and ounces as could be
found. On no two downs does he play
his position the same, but uses his
judgment as to just where and how to
play each attack by itself. He is ex
ceedingly clever in handling forward
passes, and he can spill more ends go
ing down field under punts than any
other man I have seen this season. He
is too light for consideration in the
present connection, but deserves, none
the less, a world of praise,
Gillem, of Sewanee, is one of our
best players. He has the necessary
weight, speed and experience. He lias
tin- footballer's fighting instinct. He is
a splendid forward passer, and one of
tin- must brilliant punters in Dixie. He
lias a fine rangy build and is able to
haul down op,totients’ forward passe-
HEISMAN'S 1911 TEAM
Player Position College
MorganCenterVanderbilt
Peacockßight Guard Georgia
Metzger Left Guard Vanderbilt
Lambßight Tackle Auburn
Freeland Left Tackle Vanderbilt
Walton Right End Mississippi
Goree .... Left End . . . Tech
Hardage Rnjht Half Vanderbilt
McWhorterLeft Half Georgia
Davis Fullback Auburn
Morrison Quarterback Vanderbilt
in quantities. There can be little doubt
of Gillein's right to a place. On de
fense I would play him at side-back.
“Nuck” Brown, of Vanderbilt, has
been toiling away now for several years
at that end position, and has always
put out a jam-up good game. Last
year he was almost ripe enough, and
this year he is so beyond all doubt.
Brown is not a big man. yet he is big
enough, and he is as tough as wire
nails. He can smash any old kind of
interference, can get down field like an
aeroplane, and then tackle for keeps.
He handles with accuracy and dispatch
all kinds of forward passes, and he is
almost immune to injuries. Then, too,
Brown has been playing with a high
grade team against other classy teams
for years now, and he knows the game
as few Southern players ever get to do.
There are few surer men for places on
our team than Brown.
* ♦ *
Quarterback Job
Is a Conundrum.
J N attempting the solution of the
quarterback problem, a difficulty of
an entirely different nature from that
of picking out star players confronts
us. 1 refer to the different systems of
play and the different ways that teams
use their quarters nowadays. Formerly
the question of how the quarter handled
his ball from snapper to runner entered
very largely hi the determination of his
fitness tor premier honors. But more
and move each year we sei teams dis
pensing with the intermediate handling
of the ball by the quarter, and on some
teams- Tech and Auburn, for instance
—the quarterback scarcely eyer relays
the snap.
On such teams there Is little or no
real distinction between the quarter
and the fullback, or any other of the
backs. To be sure, they have to Be
called something in the official lineup,
and so the coach of such a team picks
out some one man and calls him the
quarterback; sometimes, perhaps, be
cause he is the man who gives the
signals, or because he plays rear guard
or * he defense, or because another back
does most of the line bucking (for
which reason the other man is deifomi
nuted fullback), which necessarily
leaves the title of quarter for the first
man.
If I wanted more mete bucking
- trengtii In tiie backlit id, together with
heavy interfering, I would probably
choose Major, of Auburn, for my quar
ter. . If I wanted a man who could run
the ends, punt the ball and return punts.
I would not overlook McDonald, of
Tech. If I wanted a skillful handler of
the ball from snapper to runner, and
one who was a good field general, no
doubt 1 would choose Fletcher, of Mis
sissippi, or Cameron, of Tennessee. And
so it goes.
I'hen there is Tolley, of Sewanee, who
certainly handles the center's snaps
nicely, and who runs himself with the
ball in good form and with fine drive.
Still he is not a very fast man, else
Loeb, of Tech, would never have run
him down and caught him from behind.
Neither is he a sure man on catching
punts, notwithstanding he caught them
all In the Tech game: in other games
he missed a number of them. But Tol
ley makes a very satisfactory quarter
back and one who stands out from the
general field on his season’s work. I
find it hard to turn him down—very
' hard.
Curlin Best Drop Kicker.
Vanderbilt's quarters are all pretty
’ fair men, but none of them seem to
have given entire satisfaction to their
' coaches. Curlin is the best drop kick
er of the year among the quarterbacks,
although he seems to be somewhat be
hind his last real 's form.
Cameron, of Tennessee, and McDon
ald, of Tech, are brilliant for flrst-year
men. Cameron has had but one drop
’ ped punt the entire season. He is a
cool and self-confident player, handles
the ball in jam-up style, and runs like
’ an antelope. He is only nineteen, ami
is sure to make his mark. Next year
• he will bear watching for all-Southern
honors.
‘ McDonald, of Tech, is one of the sur
' prises of the year. Along with Major.
. Reulle and Gillem, he helps to compose
1 the South's best quartet of punters; in
' my opinion, he is quite as good here as
any of the others. He weighs but 150.
> and how he can make the ground he
I does around the end and through the
: line when that line is the least bit
' broken up is and has been one of the
mysteries of the season. He cun cutch
almost anything ever let out of the
' cage In the shape of a forward pass,
and his blocking; is par excellence. His
; tackling is not so clean, confident and
i aggressive <ia it will »«• a year from
now. Also* he has some tendency to
drop the ball, which lo- will doubtless
overcome.
Coming back to those first mentioned:
Fletche ■ is beyond all cavil the very
best quarterback ot the year. His play
deserves half a column. But rigitt at
the tail end of the season Fletcher was
disqualified; so what’s the use in say
ing a word about it? If he is ineligi
ble to play on his own varsity team,
he is equally ineligible for my all-S. I
A. A.
Os the remainder who have figured in
the various coaches' line-ups as quar
terbacks the next best man is probably
Majors, of Auburn, and he is a tip-top
player. But is he really any more of a
quarterback in his team’s system of
play than any other man in the back
field? He is not called upon to relay
the snap and he does not play rear
guard in i eceiving opponents' punts.
In only one usual respect is he a quar
! terback for his team, and that is in
calling the signals. But I can not give
Majors much when it comes to his sig
naling ability, and so I can hot select
him for an all-Southern quarter on the
strength of this point.
Sikes Is Heisman’s Quarter.
Rut after eliminating Fletcher and
Majors there are no quarters left that
I consider quite worthy to uphold the
, standard of the rest of the team, so
what are we to do? It happens that
there is playing this year one man of
superlative backfield excellence who
, would make an ideal quarterback—one
, almost as good as Ray Morrison. That
, man is Sikes, of Vanderbilt. He has
been playing fullback and halfback all
, season, and he plays one of these as
, well as the other. It is idle to say he
could not play as good a quarter as
, Majors, for, as I have pointed out. Ma-
Jjors, in fact, plays no more quarter
, back under Auburn’s system of play
than does Sikes in Vande: hilt’s system.
What can Sikes do? He is one of
, the very fastest runners of the year.
, He is the best blocker I have ever seen
in the South. His tackling Is the
I fiercest, keenest and surest of any man
South this season. Next to Reulle and
along with Ressijac, he is the best
bucker down here. He can run the ends
• almost as well as Hardage, and eer«
tainly quite as well as any other man
of the year His weight of 162 pounds
. would be Just the thing for a quarter-
• back, while his spirit would keep any
team in the world going at top speed
al! the time. His general plav reminds
• me more of Morrison’s than any man I
■ have seen this year, and he Is , .. >
i the best rounded football player that
has shown this campaign.
And that’s why I put Sikes at qua'-
i terback. And if he couldn’t call signals
- sati-factorily (though I believe he
i could), I have no doubt that Hardage
could, so what’s the difference?
Fullback Goes
! To Miss. A. & M.
QI’TSIDE of Auburn no college tn the
South seems to have the luck or
the ability, whichever it takes, to turn
True Vanderbilt p u t out
in Maui. , the very best the South has
developed, but he and Edgerton let the
’ < ominodoies out.
Auburn has recorded the names of
i Penton Stol Reddln <- t "'-‘
nt. n.. stokes, str.dt and Davis. And
‘ n, ‘' v ,h "' ' "<’»« with still another
‘ "ho is worth, to ming!.. his bone. wKh
Honorably
Mentioned
By Heisman
On account of lack of space, Mr.
Heisman was unable to discuss a num
ber of players. Following are those
that he also wishes to boost for their
good playing:
Player . College
CENTER
Stoney Sewanee
GUARDS
Hicks Alabama
Black ... Tulane
Lucas Georgia
Means 1 eck
TACKLES
Woodward . . . . ■. Tulane
Myers Mississippi
Lamb Auburn
Kelley .... , . Tennessee
ENDS
Bowden Georgia
Long Alabama
QUARTERS
Marks Tulane
Robins V anderbiit
Martin Citadel
Paddock Georgia
HALFBACKS
Newell Auburn
Arnold Auburn
Haxton Mississippi
Evans Tulane
Folger Citadel
his illustrious predecessors. Ressiju
is a very tine plunger, indeed. He gets
started quickly and with great snap;
’he plunges in as though sure the op
posing line is nothing but a featherbed,
land he keeps on ramming till something
i gives .-very time. Ressijac’s defense i
also excellent. Really, though, heougb.
to weigh a little more for an all-South
ern fullback.
Webb, of Clemson, is a splendid ful
back. He weighs only 165, but is ta
and rangy, and slashes in with grea
, abandon. He is undoubtedly one of thu
best players Clemson has ever devel
oped. As yet I would not say that he
had had sufficient experience to be put
on the all-S. I. A. A.
Probably tiie best man for the place
is Reulle. of Mississippi A. & M. This
man weighs 192 and is very fast, in
deed. for his weight. He has the ideal
, build for a fullback. In addition to
these natural advantages, he is a tip
-1 top forward passer, and as good a kick
er as either Gillem, Majors or McDon
ald. And if it’s bucking you demand of
a fullback, why, here’s the man can
give it to you. There is little doubt
that with his weight and speed com
i bined he gets up more momentum than
. any other man playing the game down
. here this fall.
So I give the place to Reulle, with a
. regret that I haven’t another one for
Ressijac as well.
Norman, of Mercer, deserves a very
honorable mention.
» * • .
Halfbacks a
Hard Job.
[ HAVE reserved my hardest task for
the last, and I know this chapter
of my mirthless monogram is going to
trace even more wrinkles in my brow
than any of the others.
Os superior halfbacks this year there
is no end. Let’s see: Hardage, Sikes
and Collins, of Vanderbilt; Sheldon, of
Sewanee; Fonde. of Tennessee; Wil
liams, of Mississippi A. & M.; Vande
graaf, of Alabama; Evans, of L. S. U.;
Haxton, of Mississippi; Newell, of Au
burn; Cook, of Tech; Taylor, of Flor
, Ida; McWhorter, of Georgia, and Fol
ger, of Citadel. That’s a baker’s dozen
or more right there, and lots of folks
1 are going to be mad that I do not
mention still others.
1 Now, the only way I see to approach
1 this task is not to stop to put down
every last little thing that every one of
1 these men does well—no matter how
■ much I should like to do this. ,J’h<
i point is that 1 have to select two men,
! on each of whom, after selection, I
tnay be able to spare ten words. But
the rest I must eliminate quickly.
V. ell, Sheldon is in his first year in
the s. I. A. A. That’s no crime; but
I it? a. vital weakness when wc remem
ber so many of the other good ones
that have been serving two or three or
lour years. Some don’t think much of
Sheldon, anyway; but 1 differ from
. them radically. Sheldon Is a born foot
baller, and a sure comer for All-South
ern honors. Put a pin in this.
I’onde is a fine-spirited player. He
has had his chances spoiled by injuries.
W illiams is great with the ball, but
too weak on defense.
Vandegraaf Finished Player.
' andegraaf is a very finished football
Player and has the heart of a lion. He
is too new as yet to the position, hav
mg played end nearly all of his career.
Hats off to this fellow, boys!
i Evans is a fairly satisfactory half
t back, but he has too many moments of
5 let-up tn his play. He deserves, how
, ever, more words of praise than I have
room for.
i aver T graceful and finished
halfback. No on.' can excel him in
■' o' >' t,,r °ugh a slightly scattered
1 laid He has the football fighting spir
it and is an excellent general. Behind
1 Continued O n Next Sport Page.