Kick-Off

Even the professional pessimists admitted that the college football worm had turned. Enough name players were either out or coming out of service to make a big difference. A stepped-up Navy R.O.T.C. program (having taken the place of YEN12) was another talent source. And now that teen-age draft requirements, had been eased (see EDUCATION), even the fuzzy-cheeked freshmen who carried last year's load looked bigger & better.

With a new rule permitting forward passes from anywhere behind the scrimmage line (instead of five yards back), coaches were more offense-minded than ever. A handful of holdouts, like Cornell and Penn State, scurried to the yardage-producing T formation. Oregon, Vanderbilt, Princeton and Baylor decided to rejoin the pigskin parade after sitting out a season or two. Intent on missing none of the fun, the public had already made most of the big games near-sellouts.

Haves & Have-Nots. The most optimistic of coaches was George Hunger of Pennsylvania, lone Ivy Leaguer rash enough to schedule both Army and Navy. He had a letterman line anchored on 250-lb. Tackle George Savitsky and a G.I. backfield starring ex-Air Corpsman Bob Evans, ex-Sergeant Don Schneider and ex-Army Fullback Farquahr Jones. Of Army and Navy, Coach Munger boasted: "We'll beat one of them. Wanna bet?"

At the opposite pole was Notre Dame, whose loud moans indicated that Irish luck had run thin. The year's top job-switchers, Coaches Ed McKeever (Notre Dame to Cornell) and Carl Snavely (Cornell to North Carolina) also sang a sad song--"Not this year"--but both managed to squeeze through their openers.

The plum of reclaimed servicemen was probably cotton-topped Stan Kozlowski, a seemingly sure All-America. Kozlowski reported to Holy Cross, cockily asked for and got No. 77, Red Grange's old number.

Back from the wars to help Ohio State defend its Big Ten title came Paul Sar-ringhaus, the 200-lb. passing and plunging ace of '42. With All-America Guard Bill Hackett recovered from a summer auto accident, Ohio State was the Big Ten team to beat.

In the South, Alabama's blond thread-needle passer, 180-lb. Harry Gilmer, star of last year's Sugar Bowl game, put 'Bama on a pre-season par with powerhoused Georgia Tech and Duke--which last week flattened South Carolina, 60-to-0.

Other stars and prospects:

P: Before 90,000 wide-eyed Los Angeles fans, the two big shots of the West Coast squared off last week. Southern California, near prewar potency and boasting at least one All-America candidate in End Jim Callanan, beat U.C.L.A. 13-10-6.

P: With both Fullback Vic Kulbitski and Coach Bernie Bierman back from Marine duty, Minnesota was in bloom again. A 34-to-0 romp over Missouri, with Kul-bitski running wild and scoring three touchdowns, hinted that the Big Ten race might be decided when Minnesota met Ohio State.

P: Ex-Marine Howard ("Red") Maley helped get Southern Methodist's oldtime aerial circus going again with a 51-0 whitewashing of outclassed Backland A.A.F. The other favorite in the Southwest, Texas, had a threatening mixture of big & little stars -- 137-lb. Breakaway-Back Byron Gil-lory and mountainous Tackles (combined weight 525 Ibs.) Harland Wetz and Jim Plyler.

The Big Two. Above all there were West Point and Annapolis. They had already been elected to settle the national championship in Philadelphia, Dec. 1. This psychological burden (it staggered Navy last year) might be something of a handicap, but it seemed unlikely to be a decisive one.

Chronic moaner Earl ("Red") Blaik, Army's coach, moaned: "We're woefully short on backfield material"--which was one way of saying that his line was tremendous. And it was true that he had only a dozen backs. But that might suffice, since two of the twelve, Felix ("Doc") Blanchard and Glenn Davis, form football's deadliest one-two punch of the century.

Navy's problem was a real oversupply of star backs. To solve it, Coach Oscar Hagberg switched Captain Dick Duden, a blocking-back bruiser, to end. Even when a scrimmage injury put Halfback George Walmsley out for the season, Coach Hagberg still wondered how his new T could best use his three remaining backfields.

Navy's probable starting foursome: Bob ("Chunky") Hoernschemeyer, premier passer from Indiana; Bob Kelly, Notre Dame's big gun last year; burly Bob Jenkins, who beat Army two years ago; Clyde ("Smackover") Scott, veteran one-man Navy task force (and intercollegiate hurdling champ). Tony Minisi, ex-Penn star, would be lucky to make the third team.

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