Harrison smiled feebly at the sarcasm of this last suggestion. There was about as much chance of getting a big lead on Trowbridge as that Mac would make half a dozen goals from the field or that Bumpus would find big Hubbard an easy victim; while it was quite within the range of probability that Pete would injure his knee again and deprive the team of its only good punter, or that some accident would befall Eaton or Hardie or some other strong player whose place no one could fill. Subconsciously he shared the view prevalent in school that Trowbridge was likely to win, though he did not admit the possibility even to himself. He had never wholly approved the system of open defence which Yards had adopted from the Harvard theorists. To one used to a solid line of bodies before the ball it seemed a reckless scheme to pull the centre out of his place and put him behind the line, thus leaving open, in the wall of defence, an avenue wide enough for a cart. He could see that this method of resistance strengthened the wings, through which the longest gains are made, and rendered it possible to keep two backs in reserve for on-side kicks and forward passes; but would not this open highway through centre furnish an easy route for heavy plunges? Yards maintained that if Ford and the guards would but watch the play carefully, the gains through centre could be made unprofitably small; yet Harrison’s doubts, though unuttered, were none the less real. [Illustration: REGULAR TROWBRIDGE DEFENCE—CLOSED] Roger Hardie’s heart was beating quick with eagerness to get into the play, when Talbot opened the game by sending the ball spinning down to the lower corner of the field. Cowles took it on the bounce, and had worked it back fifteen yards before he ran into Eaton’s arms. Through the centre highway Ricker pushed for five yards before Ford and Talbot reached him and brought him down. Another assault at the same place gave a first down. The open defence was showing its weak side. Then they sought a hole outside Bumpus, but Bumpus got free and threw the runner into Talbot’s hands. Another dash at centre yielded two yards, and with five to gain Cowles punted. Mac took the ball safely on his thirty-yard line, and sent Horr twice against the Trowbridge right flank behind Eaton and Hardie, each time gaining five yards; and Bradford once just inside Harrison, who, tugging with Tracy and supported by Talbot behind, dragged the runner eight yards before the Trowbridge men pulled him down. A tandem through right guard yielded a first down. After that an end run was blocked with the loss of a yard through the quickness of the Trowbridge tackle, and Mac decided to kick.