New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-24
ON THE GRIDIRON.
THE THEORY ON WHICH YALE BUILT
HER TEAM
THE HUMAN HAMMER THAT PROVED so
CCEsSFUL-OBJECTIONs TO THIS
STYLE OF PLAY.

partment Of football one. Herman out
punted both Bowman and Vanderpoel. In
every other way Harvard vastly inferior
not only to Yale, but to Princeton. Indeed.
had Princeton played Harvard on Saturday
there can be no doubt that the New-Jersey col
legians would have won by fair margin
Yale's claim to the championship of 1902 is now
thoroughly established. West Point played her
to a standstill to be sure. but Yale was not
keyed up anywhere near to her form at that
time. that even had she been beaten it
would scarcely have detracted from the i'm
pressiveness OF her showing on Saturday
1t may as well be said at once that Yale has
never sent a better team into the field than the
one that gave Harvard such a drubbing day
before yesterday 1t may be that the Gordon
Brown team was good, but it may well be re-
garded doubtful. Briefly, the results of Sat
urday were achieved by a rushline that was ire
mendously heavy and yet phenomenally agile
and active for it's weight, coupled with fast.
perfectly organized and indestructible backheld.
But 1t the rush line that won the game OF
course an mpregnable defence is the first aim
of every football coach, and TO this end a strong
and powerful lot of forwards are Indispensable.
Next comes the problem of adding speed and
accuracy to the forwards in order that they
may be made useful in offensive play. This
problem is usually most difficult of solution, but
--NAN
solved it before. Every man in the Uneven
Holt-was exceedingly useful in advancing the
ball and every man excepting Rafferty, and Holt
carried the leather at some time or other Both
the tackles. Kinney and Hogan, took the pig
skin forward many yards in the variable tan
dem, while both Glass and GOss also advanced
it personally, in addition to displaying remark
able strength and speed in dragging runner
forward after he had been nailed by Harvard
tacklers.
But when all is said and done. Yale won by
persstently hurting at the weakest side of the
opposing rushline the crushing force of human
battering ram that was superior in strength and
weight to the opposition it had to meet. one
cannot exclude the element of skill from the
result for the battering ram devised with
cleverness, moulded with craft and loosed into
action with speed and accuracy. But the very
success of the theory upon which Yale's game
was based and executed viii go far to confirm
and to establish the worst faults of the game
It is now played Inspired by Yales success, IT
may be expected that coaches all over the Coun-
try Will seek next season to get as heavy men
for their rushlines consistent with fair amount
of speed. The strongest and heaviest teams
will win. II they are not too heavy 10 handle
their weight. This is an aggravation OF the
mass play evil to which the critics OF the game
rightly object There can be no advantage
OF real sport IN hurting two human masses at
each other repeatedly. that the stronger and
heavier may slowly crush the other into sub
lection. Yet TO this end Yale has been guided
all this season. 1t was the one and only theory
upon which her coaches worked, as indeed was
their right To persuade ones self that this is
true. one has only to consider the fact that Yale
made certainly not more than two or three at
tempts all the game 10 circle Harvards ends
had g,,-la &C. fa-
oped that her runners were thrown on each &C
cason for loss She did try a few times her
false Interference trick play. and once It worked
so we'll that Metcalf got through, as Chadwick
did at Princeton. and scored touchdown from
a long run But with these exceptions It was
a case Of bang! bang! bang! all the game long
Yale had apparently neglected somewhat even
TO train up first class punter. Bowman made
fairly good showing In the Princeton game
but on Saturday his punting was iamentably
weak. Vanderpoel doing much better after sue
ceeding Bowman in the second half 1t is plain
therefore, that Yales coaches We're men of one
idea. namely. the manufacture OF an inpregna-
BILE wall and an Irresistible hammer They sue
ceeded better than they could have hoped But
that does not prevent the judicous from regret
ting that the development Of the game has taken
this direction IT would without doubt be a
good thing for the future Of the game II the
ing that no player shall leave his place in the
line until the ball has been snapped back This
would minimize the weight which could be put
into the tandem or the tackles back formation
and would place premium on speed instead of
on weight.
One feature Of Yale's play which was neces-
sarily open was exceptionally we'll done This
was her defence of whatever back caught Ker-
mans punts. When Herman fell back both
Shevlin and Rafferty, fell back twenty yards or
so. watched for the punt's direction and lost no
time in getting IN front OF the back who caught
IT. Thus they formed an interference which
was already we'll under way before Harvard's
ends got down the field. and by means Of which
Metcalf ran punts back many yards 1t is a
splendid style. and they will all surely come
TO It.
Glass played, despite the fntimations OF pro-
fessionalism. it is to be inferred that his ac-
cusers failed to make good their charges to the
satisfaction OF the Yale authorities. Even should
it turn out. after all, that he should not have
been played, Harvard would have small cause
for complaint, for she played Cults last fall
only to learn, after the game was history that
the big tackle not really eligible. Still.
Cults did not win the game for Harvard in 1901
Harvard would have in any event Nor did
Glass win the game for Yale this year. Yale
would have without him
While several of Yale's players showed that
they entitled to the highest rank among
the wearers of the canvas. Rockwell made the
deepest impression of all. 1t is plain that this
young man OF the auburn locks is the best quar-
terback in several years, with the possible ex-
ception Of Charles Daily, formerly of Harvard
and now Of West Point and if DAILY excels him
at all, IL is only because he is a remarkable
punter Certainly field generalship could
excel that OF Rockwell. His handling of the
ball was absolutely hawless, his passing was