The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-11-07
new RULES TESTED
It Is Not Impossible to Gain Ground
Consistently Without Mass
Plays.
Kicking Game Has Not Been De-
veloped as Result of the
Changes.

dlcuonS made at tne peSlnlllnS u 'iio
season.
In the first place, the new rules
have not led to the development OF the
kicking game. Michigan and WlScon-
sin, two of the strongest teams, are
admittedly weak In the kicking De
partment Yost,. conceded by even MS
detractors to be one of the bralnlest
and most far-sghted of coaches, spent
little time in trying to perfect this de-
partment before the Minnesota game,
altho he has devoted more attention
to ii since Illinois and NORTHWESTERN
are only fairly we'll fixed for punters,
and minnesota has but one OF the
class, Harris, and this one was not de-
yeloped this year. EckerSall or chi
qago also was a good kicker before ne
left the high school. So 1t cannot be
said that the new rules have resulted
in the DEVELOPMENT of the kicking
game.
It is pointed out that twenty-one
field goals have been kicked this year
by or against the big teams In the
east and west. But five of these were
made by Dewitt of Princeton, who was
famous as a goal kicker last season,
and most of the others, if investga-
ton were made, would probably be
found to be the work OF men VINO
learned the art of drop-klck1ng before
this season. Coach Mccormack OF
Northwestern says that drop-klckers
are born, not made; that out OF
squad of forty or fifty men at a big
university it may be found impossible
to develop goal kicker, while hlgh
school boy, may acquire the knack
with almost no special training or
coaching.
Another thing which has been estab-
lished is that it is not impossible to
gain consistently against a strong team
Without using mass plays. WHINE
sofa made one advance OF htty-hVe
nllIta SrI1
of thirty-ive- and one of thirty-elght,
against Michigan. The gophers gained
in all 237f yards, quite enough to show
that good ground can be made with
seven men in the line. Two OF the
long advances mentioned were finally
stopped when Minnesota got we'll in
side the acknowledgement line, and was
at liberty to use mass plays. Michigan
made one advance of forty-five yards,
which was checked only by penalty,
and another of seventy-tive, which
ended on the score side of the goal
line. And this in the face of a strong
and desperate defense by both teams.
There are arguments on the sOther
side. Chicago has not made a score
by straight football in any of her three
big games. This, however, is due more
to an inherent lack of power in Chi
cago's attack than to the rules. More
over, Chicago was twice inside the
twenty five-yard line in the Wisconsin
gamesWhen she was forced to try drop
kicks. So it was not the Inability to
use mass plays that was responsible
= for the maroons' failure to make a
touchdown. Wisconsin advanced the
ball freely thru Chicago's line, and
scored one touchdown by straight foot
ball. Northwestern practically earned
one score against Chicagos good de-
Tense. carrying the ball some seventy
yards without a check, and losing the
touchdown only by a tumble at the
two-yard line.
These instances, it would seem, are
enough to prove that an attack strong
enough to pierce the modern defense
can be attained under the new rules.
2 Western rooters will have two OPP
portunities this season Of comparing
two strong football elevens with east
sern- +agSregatiOns, for the marOOnS
meet West Point on Nov. IA and the
purple squad plays the Carlisle In
;dians Thanksgiving Day. AS with all
games played against the soldiers, the
maroons will go east for this contest,
but the Indians will come here to
meet McCormack's eleven and Chi
cago fans will get a chance to see the
popular Carlisle men on the. grid
iron once more, ~
CoachStagg is preparing his men now
for the West Point game, for he well
knows that the cadets are not easy.
next Saturday. but Stage is putting all
his energy into developing an attack
that will break thru the defense OF
the soldier lads. The best maroons
will go into the Haskell game that
they may have the hardest kind OF
practice in this kind of work. Stage
figures that his men will have the
ball the greater part of the time and
in this way the midway warriors will
be given thoro opportunity to. show
o1 i,, @ffa H.
Madison this was the weakest part OIL
the maroon team.
In the West Pointers the maroons
Will find tough foe and at the same
time the game will give a line on the
comparative strength of the Chicago
aggregation with such fasteners al
Harvard and Yale of the first-class in
situations and Colgate. Tufts, Dickin
son and Vermont of the secondary
schools. Harvard met the soldiers
Oct. II and barely beat them 5 to 0
one touchdown being made and M
goal kicked. A week later Yale faced
the cadets and won II to 5, Captain
Farnsworth[ of. the soldiers bootins
the ball over the cross-bar from TIL
field. All It's other games West Poin
has won handily, except Colgate
which was a tie, 0 to 0.
West Point has many veterans il
It's lineup this season. and the ma
rooms will probably find they are III
against q sturdy foe. Riley, Grave
and Farnsworth played in 1901
Graves, Riley, + Doe, FarnsWorth
Racket and Torney were on the reg
ulari eleven last year, while Copp an
Thompson We're on the second team
Tarnsworth has played left end unit
this year but now he has develope
into a great plunging half back, an
Tourney is touted as one of the bes
flIll-backs in the east.
Walter Eckersall will find stron
rival in field goal kicking in Capital
Farnsworth, who has shown a pen
chant for place-kicking this season
When the cadets could not get the ba
over the goal line against Yale, h
70 booted ii over the cross-bar. Thu
if the soldiers hold as well as Wiscon
sin did on defensive work there
every probability that the Chieag
boys will not get away as luckily.
Il, Coach Mccormack Of Northwester
approves of the scheme for post
season game between Chicago an
Northwestern on Dec. to settle tn
supremacy of the elevens and tn
championship of Chicago. a4
81 am willing to play the game
says he, "and I believe the purp]
team can do as we'll again. Stag
scheduled his game against NORTH
western so early in the season that "
had hard work to get into conditio
torso important game. No amount (
persuasion could get him to- take
yvo Z, ~