DAN i3WORSKY BRUCE HILKENE HOWARD YERGES JACK WEISEN URGER LEN FORD HANK FONDE r .ddlL UA- irrigtrt tX(* ) VOL. LVII, No. 17 I ANN ARBOR, MICH., SATURDAY, OCT. 12, 1946 PRICE FIVE CENTS GENE DERRICOTTE DOM TOMASI Gloomy Skies Worry Army Grid Mentor Blaik Fears Wet Turf May Hamper Cadets By JACK MARTIN Coach Earl "Red" Blaik cast a wor- ried eye at the gray sky and said, "I don't like it." The coach of one of modern foot- ball's greatest power-houses had just sent his Army Kaydets through! their final drills on the wet turf of Michi- gan Stadium yesterday in prepara- tion for this afternoon's epic strug- gle with Michigan's Wolverines. The West Point warriors rolled into Ann Arbor at noon yesterday, and Coach Blaik whisked them to the sta- dium for a work-out immediately after lunch. A cool drizzle greeted the undefeated juggernaut that has plowed through 21 consecutive foes and is now after a 22nd scalp. It was a damp welcome, and Mr. Blaik wasn't pleased.4 Wet Weather Will Hurt Army "Wet weather will mean trouble," he predicted. "A slippery field will hurt Army a great deal more than it will Michigan. The Wolverines have specialized in power plays all year, the kind that are best suited for a rainy day." The mention of power naturally brought to mind the name of "Doc" Blanchard. The Cadet coach dis- pelled any lingering doubts that the plunging All-American might not be quite ready for today's clash. "Blan- chard is in good shape, and is ready to go," he pronounced. As for the other half of the touch- down-twosome, Glenn Davis, Coach Blaik again looked at the sky and re- turned to the weather. "That's an- other reason why we're not too happy about this rain. Davis would natur- ally be slowed down by a wet field." Loses McWilliams Veering away from the subject of today's game, the conversation came around to one Shorty McWilliams, the half-back who slipped mysteri- ously away from West Point several weeks ago. The fact that the present Mississippi State star may be rele- gated to a third string slot against Michigan State today elicited no.re- sponse from the Army mentor. But he had plenty to say about the McWilliams transfer in general. "I think that what happened to Shorty McWilliams is a disgrace to American football," he declared. "There's en- tirely too much importance being put on the individual college football player today." Michigan Set for Cadets' Invasion. West Pointers Have Blanchard, Davis, But Wolverine Reserves Appear Better By CLARK BAKER The Army's in town but don't reach for your flintlocks; it's a peace- ful invasion ... that is, until this afternoon. Thirty-eight strong the mighty Cadets from West Point whose amazing victory has stretched to 21 in a row over the past three years will clash with Michigan's ever hopeful gridders at 2 p.m. today in Michigan Stadium before a sell-out throng of 85,939 fans. Cloudy and continued cold,'' is the weatherman's good word for game time after yesterday's rain scare by Jupe Pluvious had threatened to dampen more than just a few thousand spirtis at the game. But rain or shine Ann Arbor is prepared to handle another gala crowd of pleasure. seekers, football fans, enthusiastic alumnae, and hawking venders. The eyes of the nation will focus on Michigan's bid to dethrone the Kaydets, seeking their third straight national championship. *Last year the two squads tangled in Yankee Stadium, New York City, with the Cadets emerging triumphant, 28-7. But Army was forced to the limit by Fritz Cris- ler's freshman-studded outfit. This fall the story may be different. Coach Earl Blaik still has his incomparable backfield duo of Glenn Davis and Felix "Doc" Blanchard together with such performers as quarter- back Arnold Tucker, ends Hank Foldberq and George Poole and guard Art Gerometta, all of whom played big roles in the Wolverine setback last year. But gone from the Kaydet line are their pair of giant tackles from 1945, All-American DeWitt Coulter and Al Nemetz, guard Johnny Green, another All-American, and a number of capable reserves. Blaik is not happy over these losses which have left Army with one line and a big ques- tion mark in reserve material. On the other hand the Michigan team has been greatly bolstered since last year by the return of an army of service veterans. These men, along with the returning 15 who battled Army in 1945, give the Wolverines a squad which is well-balanced and. deep in experienced reserves. On paper it looks close but football is unpredictable as Maize and Blue fans well know after watching the Iowa game a week ago. Blanchard who has not played since the Army opener three weeks ago against Villanova will be ready to go again. Together with his running mate, Davis, he will probably be the focal point of interest for both the 86,000-odd fans and the Michigan eleven. It's hard to forget a couple of 68- yard runs they pulled off a year ago to help trip the Wolverines. PETE ELLIOTT, 3 Blanchard busted through the GLEN DAVIS and DOC BLANCHARD-Army's "Mr. Outside" and "Mr. Inside" who have run unmercifully through and around their rivals' forward walls for the past twenty-one games, will find the going con- siderably tougher when they face a determined Wolverine aggregation today. "M' Press Box Is Sold Out Too Probable Starting Lineups ELMER MADAR The eyes of the sports world will be on the Michigan-Army game to- day and half of the sports world almost will see it from the Michigan Stadium press box. Broadcasting the play - by - play description over three major radio networks will be Red Barber and Jimmy Dolan (CBS), Bill Stern (NBC), and Harry Wismer (ABC). Then there'll be newsreel photo- graphers representing Paramount, Universal, Pathe and Movietone. Newspapermen, naturally, will oc- cupy most of the press box seats. All the New York City dailies will have their representatives here plus most of the chief sports writers of the East and Middle West. And there'll be scouts aplenty here, too. All in all, athletic publicity direc- tor Les Etter estimates that some 300 persons will witness the nation's top game of the week from the press box here today. Yes, the SRO sign is ganging out in the Michigan Stad- ium press box, too. ARMY Poole Bryant Gerometta Enos Steffy Biles Foldberg Tucker Davis Fuson Blanchard Pos. LE LT LG C RG RT RE MICH. Ford Derleth Tomasi J.T. White or Callahan Sickels Carpenter Renner Maize and Blue forward wall and thundered over the Michigan secon- dary which had been cut down by beautiful blocking to break the Wol- verines' hearts. Later Davis added his bit by dashing around the Maize and Blue right end and outrunning what was left of the Michigan de- fense for another scoring play. Be- tween them the Army's "Gold Dust Twins" rolled up over 300 yards on the ground aaginst the 1945 Wolver- ines. But even last year there was ano- ther man in the Kaydet backfield, signal-caller Tucker. The invaluable Tucker was a mere plebe when he took over the duties last year from the 1944 quarterbacks, Tom Lom- bardo and Doug Kenna. Not until Blanchard went out with injuries this year did the world fully appre- ciate Tucker. Yet, even last year Tucker's flaw- less ball-handling and clever faking helped mould the smoothly-operat- ing backfield unit which has become almost legendary. Tucker is the man See FOOTBALL Page 2 BOB CALLAHAN QB Yerges or Weise LH Chappuis or Dericotte RH P. White FB Weisen- burger .. . ........ . ........ .. >::::;: