Show New Rule Rute Changes AI FRANK K BAKER Two rule changes suggested themselves more ar ar- ar than ever before in m the Utah-Aggie Utah gridiron battie battie battie bat bat- tie Thursday i in the I opinion of Coach Ott Oct Romney who watched the colorful conflict from his neutral sea seat of being a common commo riv rival l of both teams on the field 0 Writing his critical versions of the game for The Telegram Tele Tele- gram giam Ott voi voiced ed eda a an opinion which h I have suggested in this department on on previous oc occasions namely the lithe necessity for measuring probably with a surveying instrument the location of the yard sticks at the beginning of a series 01 of downs clowns I am glad to note th that t experiments are arc already being made with j a type of surveying Instrument in other parts of the country that ma may solve this problem Efforts are under Vla way to develop an Instrument through which the head bead linesman can sight from the sidelines and accurately accurately ac ac- ac and quickly line up the S yard e sticks sUcks S There is nothing In tn the rules to require the head linesman t tactually to actually measure the starting point of the yard ten-yard chain He Is dele dele- a rated though with the task uk of ot spotting the stakes and especially on those occasions when ho he has carried the chain onto the field for a onto the tho chain until until un un- un measurement I see lee no reason why ho he cant can't hang hanc til hes he's b back baek ck on the sidelines s so accurate te adjustments can be made S S S t The head linesman has to return to the sidelines anyway and superVise supervise super super- vise the actual setting of the stakes It would not delay the game one I iota lota to have him hold the mark on the chain instead of throwing it loose BO so hell he'll have to do some tall guessing as so soon n as he reaches the side of the field I am told that O O. D. D Ballard took such precautions in a high school I game lame recently at Price and that it did not slow up the game a bit Most certainly it was consistent with the policy of allowing or disallowing a first down by inches Both teams knew that the starting point of their yard assignments was accurate Cougar Coach Believes Rule On Running Into the Kicker licker Js Is Mistake Romney believes too that the game gave cave force to the argument for abolition of the penalty for simply running into the kicker It is humanly Impossible he writes on many occasions to make an honest sporting legitimate try to block a kick and to avoid bumping the kicker Ward of the He refers to such Incidents as the time Captain upset Larson after a Ute kick which penalized five yards andave and gave jave ave Utah a first down dom A man cannot usually stop in time to avoid bumping into the kicker when he lie has the momentum that Ward had when he crashed through in his effort elfort to spoil Larsons Larson's kick S S S Much can be said for both sides of oC this question It is therefore a healthful condition that such incidents bring the question before the attention attention attention at at- of or the rule makers Officialdom has partially recognized the inability of f a man to avoid 11 k r some gome personal contact if hes he's under way at the moment the kick is made the has touched theban the Referees usually excuse a mild violation if it charger ball ban with his finger tips t the kicker which There 1 ere Is a penalty penally of 15 yards for means malicious ma contact with the punter It has bas to be a A. flagrant rant bit of though to bo be called Th That t no doubt explains why the rule makers have devised the themore themore more moderate penalty of running into the kicker In the Interests of safety precautions must be taken to see that the punter Is protected protected protected pro pro- because ule hes he's In a position with one foot in the air and half C off balance to be Injured easily If struck by a enemy Most sectors rigidly enforce the rule on running rUt into into the kicker Utah suffered two costly penalties at Des Moines this his year w when cn pl playing ying Drake The Utes all but blocked two Drake punts and barely brushed the kicker They didn't even upset him yet they were penalized a First First Down Is Js What Hurts I IFor For It Gives Team a Clean Slate For one on-c I believe th the protection should be mair maintained but I 1 beI be- be 1 I lieve the th penalty might be softened a little for merely merel running into the to the penalty lessened for roughing the punter I would not want see kicker If anything make it more severe Its It's the automatic first down that makes the penalty of ot running into the kicker so severe Instead of abolishing the rule altogether I think It might be feasible to eliminate the first down provision Let the down I I remain the same unless the yard five yard penalty is enough to provide a first down As the rule stands now its enforcement sometimes is is equivalent of loss of ot ball A team can an be pushed back to fourth down with as much muchas as 23 yards to go as Colorado were by Utah get a a. first down and five yards because its kicker r was bumped and start start- all aU over again with witha a clean slate 4 S S S SA A few added observations on the Thanksgiving day game came by the Cougar Cougar- coach arc are most interesting He had this to say Instead of putting Utah in the hole bole after a beautiful return of the opening kickoff the proceeded to get in dilli difficulties s themselves by way of two very weak punts punts punts-a a re real ll factor in the outcome I The two smartest plays of the day as I evaluate them were in order ot of the their r importance the importance the onside kickoff b by the in the wanIng wan wan- lag Ing moments when the they were desperately in need of possession of the J ball and Larsons Larson's splendid quick kick from the one wing back formation at exactly the moment when had allowed himself to come up too closely toward closely toward the scrimmage ge line The Tim slippery ball bait made passing not only difficult but also a terrific gamble ramble and I believe the Anies passed too frequently as the intercepting would Indicate On one occasion slon the Aggie A Ic g-Ic receiver was wu In the clear oy over r the goal goat line but the passers passer's attempt to reach him resulted in a wobbly night flight not even in the tho general di dl netlon A beautifully b executed play was Rinaldi's feint from a spinner to Th the tail-back tail and his dash off the short side within within- inches of or the unsuspecting unsuspecting peCtin end The great versatility of th the Aggie offensive and the superb defensive e especially of the secondary which held the powerful Utes to to fewer fewer one one than hundred yards' yards net gain deserve commendation |