OCR Text |
Show II CORNELL COACH I MJWML fiiciin Warner Suggests I Some Changes. 1 Tells How the Great College Game May Be Improved 1 by Changes. VfA Would Increase the Distance to Bo m Gained to Ten Yards and Open. M the Attack, if The features of the game which are fill' generally considered objectionable, and j which have called forth periodical pro- jjfl testa from the public, can be classed iff under two heads. First, the -Increasing Kt tendency toward mass plays, depending re more for their success upon brute fflj strength and weight than upon strategy U and skill: second, unnecessary rough- IIH fjl The development and more general (I Hj uSe of mass plays have not "been m brought about by any changes In the fll W rules, but by a natural development of Ul ne a game caused by the steady and sclen-N sclen-N ill tlflc Improvements In the defensive tacit tac-it U tics, especially the defense against end III 01 " runs. Coaches have gradually come to III if ! reanzo lnn 3 etter to rely upon I Df Bliort, steady but consistent gains which 1H Hr Avul B reas.na.bly sure oC gaining flvo Ua.Fj! yards In three trials without much b li r, 1 chance of losing ground on any play, It ft than to try for long gains on end runs II! Vk nnd trick plays where the liability to T ft , lose ground or fumble Is much greater. HI Mr End runs were much more In evidence I I Ml ten or twelve years ago, not because Ml rfi the rules permitted or encouraged them III ft any more than now, but because1 the HI Mi backs of those days were chosen al-I al-I I II Jnost solely for speed, their dodging and l i their individual brilliancy in carrying fill in , the ball without much regard for their HI f defensive playing, whereas nowadaj's HI w the backs are chosen as much (If not J I J! more) for their defenslvo ability as for M vt their ability to advance the ball. This, HI m together with the modern method of Hr yfe end defense, and the more general use Hi re of heavy ends, has made the defense ill n so much stronger that the Individual HI Ml stars, who electrified the crowds years U b ago by their long dodging end runs, 111 1 1 would probably be powerless If playing against the best teams of the last few K ; years, whereas the crushing, powerful, Ifl 1 concentrated off enso of our modern Hi f' teams would no doubt push tho beat 1 1 teams of ten or more years ago all over ml I the field. -811 '! Somo Good Reasons. I pi It is evident that increasing the dla-; dla-; y tance to be. gained In three trials to ten ; H yards Instead of five without any other : change in the rules would further help f ji the defense nnd render consistent gains II , impossible. It would be even harder to H gain on end runs and trick playa than i at present, because the team on tho dell de-ll fenslvc, realizing that thoso plays wero ?!, the only ones likely to gain the rent re-nt quired distance, would so place their men as to better defend against them J and thus forco a line attack when tho f J chance of gaining the necessary ten j. yards would bo small. Weak teams j would havo no chanbo to retain the ball J 1 and secure a first down nnd with evenly , matched teams the game would be little jjl el3e than a punting and catching con-I con-I ! J test between one or two men on each h Bide, leaving tho rest of the players f , with little elHe to do but chaso up and I iHl down the field. f , , . After having studied the question 1 ijj carefully, I am of the opinion that the H j only way of solving tho problem of pro-1 pro-1 duclng a more open and spectacular t I style of play, together with a proper l ration of punting and ruahlng tactics t Is by Increasing the dislanco to be gained In three trials to ten yards, and at the same time increasing the effectiveness effect-iveness of the attack, either by removing remov-ing Borne of the restrictions placed upon the Bide having the ball or by placing some restriction upon the positions to be assumed by the players on the defense, de-fense, to such an extent that the chance of gaining ten yards will be nearly as great as they are now of gaining five yards. This can be accomplished in several ways. First By compelling the defensive backs to remain at least five or perhaps ten yards back of the line of scrimmage until the ball is put in play. Second By allowing forward passes. Third By permitting' off-side rlay after the ball Is put In play. No restrictions have ever been placed upon tho positions assumed by the ployers on the defensive, and with only live yards to gain In three trials, there, of course, should bo none; but by Increasing In-creasing this distance to ton yards and placing the defensive backs nve or more yards away from tho scrimmage line, a much more open and interesting game would result. End runs would be attempted oftener and with greater puccoss, and shooting backs through quick openings In tho line would probably prob-ably be resorted to In preference to tho slower pushing plays. There would also al-so bo a tendency to oacrlnc-i weight of speed, especially In the back field, because be-cause speed would be essential there in getting quickly to tho point of attack. at-tack. Some Objections. One objection which might be raised to placing the defensive backs farther oway from the line would be tho greater great-er liability to Injuries, since there would be more open field tackling and sharp collisions between players mc;t-Inr mc;t-Inr each other with groat momentum, tut this would bo more than offset by tho fact that tins more open playing would give, the players less opportunity to use unfair and unnecessarily rough tactics, and the officials would be better able t. detect any Infractions of the rules twin under the present style of play. The greatest oblectlon to this change, however, and one which probably prob-ably makes It less practicable than the other two proposed changes which I have mentioned, is thu fact that the loam having tho ball would have to wait until the defending side assumed their proper positions before getting off their plays, and this would make fast, Biiappy playing impossible, as It Js reasonable to assume that the weaker weak-er side, when on the defence, would delay de-lay the game as much as possible by taking their time in getting Into position. posi-tion. Forward Passes. Allowing forward passing would bo an effective way of opening up the game and making It spectacular, and the variety of new plays and strategic methods of advancing the ball which it would permit and encourage, would certainly increase the attacking power of teams and render It advisable to uso more active and speedy backs. There would also be more opportunity for Ingenuity In-genuity on the part of playerB and' coaches, as well as .morq individual brilliancy, alertness and cool-headed-ness among the players, It Is also probable prob-able that some of tho plays which would be developed would cause the defensive -backs to assume different positions po-sitions than they do now, thuH rendering render-ing It posslblo to gain more easily on regular end runs, and by bucking the line. For Instance, the quarter or one eldo of the other backs might toss the ball over the line and to the side with the Intention of having the end on that aide chargo forward and secure the ball, which could easily be done If the defensive halfbacks played close to the lino as they do now. The result would bo that the defenslvo halfbacks would probably find It advisable to play back flvo or more yards and farthor out, and thus the same result would bo accomplished accom-plished aa by making a rule compelling the defending backs to play a certain distance back of the line. The football rules committee has been experimenting for several years. With various rules to Improve the gamo, without accomplishing any very great results in the way of producing a more open game, and the problem has been a hard one to Bolve, but when its members mem-bers meet this coming spring they will be better prepared to solve the problem than over before. They will have the-'benefit the-'benefit of tho success or failure of their experiments In the past; they know better what the peoplo and players want and demand, and they will have a greater wealth of suggestions, Ideas and information to work upon than ever before, and no doubt they will evolve a sot of rules for next season which will prove a long Btep toward the goal of the ideal game of football. Glenn Warner. Cornell's Famous Coach, in tho Illustrated Sporting Now |