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Show 1 Bible"Likes "Pass Attack" For Texans By DANA X. BIBLE Head Coach, I'nlvcrsity of Trxaa AUSTIN, Nov. 11 Arkansas has the ball on its 10-yard line late In the game, with the score favoring the Razorbacks, - 7-3. t : The University of Texas defense is set for the punt whichit believes J Quarterback JJwight Sloan U jure to call. Sloan drops back In long punt formation, and what does he do? If you know Southwest conference confer-ence football and particularly the Arkansas Razor-backs, Razor-backs, the answer I Bible Is easy. Sloan passes, of course, to one of his towering ends, for a gain that moves his team out of danger. This is the type of daredevil foot-tall foot-tall spectators see week after week In the southwest. Unorthodox? Certainly. Unsound? Wait a minute. When Sloan called that pass he knew the Longhorns weren't going to intercept it This cool, steady young man, superb passer that he is, was running no more risk of giving the ball to Texas than he would of having a punt blocked and possibly recovered for the Longhorns' winning touchdown. He knew where he was throwing the ball. About the worst misfortune mis-fortune he risked was loss of a down. Passers like Sloan and his teammate. team-mate. Jack Robbins, like Billy Patterson Pat-terson of Baylor. Davey O'Brien of Texas Christian, Ken Mills of Texas A. and M , and Ernie Lain of Rice carry on the southwest's aerial tradition. tra-dition. They took up this year where T. C. U.'s incomparable Sammy Sam-my Baugh left off. Sound Strategy When you have a passer who rarely ever costs you more than a down, and quite often connects for gains that eat up yardage in huge chunks, it certainly is sound strategy strat-egy to take advantage of his talent Forward passing yearly is becoming be-coming more popular in football, and the southwest has headed the parade. Virtually every team in the country coun-try now employs the pass as an Integral part of its offense, not merely as a threat. In the southwest some teams build their entire defense around the forward pass. In defeating Texas, 21-10, Arkansas threw 36 passes snd completed 18, with only two intercepted and both those deep In Longhorn territory. Approximately Approxi-mately every other play was a pass. Through a three-game stretch the Baylor Bears passed for six consecutive con-secutive touchdowns. Why is the psss so popular in the southwest? First, we have the passers. Boys throw a lot in this section. Footballs in the fall and winter. Baseballs in the spring and summer. The weather is conducive to outdoor sports the year 'round. Players come to college with the throwing habit It is a tradition. Weather Assists In the north, east, midwest and Pacific northwest, a coach wouldn't dare build his attack around passing. pass-ing. His team would be almost sure to Strike a number of cold, rain, icy. and snowy days when passes would be well-nigh useless. |