Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-16
By E. R. Bushnell.


URING the last week foot ball prac-
tice at every big university, col
lege and preparatory school Of the
IL whole country got into full swing,
and for the next two weeks there
will be two practice sessions every day In
preparation for what promises to be the
most remarkable season in gridiron history.
All this extra work, of course. is required
because of the new foot ball rules and
eligibility regulations in force at the big
schools.
Cornell was the first member of the Big
Five" to begin work. and the Ithacans
went on the gridiron with the temperature
at go degrees. They were followed closely
by Harvard. Princeton, Yale and Pennsyl-
vania in the order named. The majority
of the smaller colleges had already been
at work some time. their faculties placing
no restrictions upon them.
Secret Practice.
What is to be one of the features Of the
year. and an unpleasant one at that. was
brought to light during the first few days
of Harvard's practice. This was the an
nouncement by Head Coach Reid that secret
practice would begin after the first few
days and continue for the rest of the sea-
son. with the exception Of very few days.
This was an unexpected move, and has dis
pleased the Harvard student body. But
Coach Reid declares 1t was necessary to
safeguard Harvard.> On account OF the
new rules every coach Is anxious to see
the new plays which are to be used by his
rivals, and the latter are just as Determined
to keep them concealed As Coach Reid
says he has been working long time on
plays which he thinks will put Harvard to
the front, and he does not propose to let
other universities send men to Soldiers
all 60 h
same sentiment exists at other universities
and on this account the students and gen
eral public will see very little Of their IA
vorite teams except in the games them
In connection with secret practice II may
be taken for granted that all the big
schools. especially those that play each
other viii have men on duty at all the
games Of their rivals on the watch for new
plays And for this very reason II Is likely
that the various coaches will keep their
pet plays under cover until the season OF
the big games arrives in November. II
they are used before that it will be only In
secret practice when no outsiders can profit
In view of the expressed determination to
hold secret practices the announcement OF
conference between Walter camp, the
secretary Of The rules committee and west
ern coaches, to be held In Chicago, Is some
what remarkable The expressed purpose
of this conference Is to secure an inter-
change of ideas and unanimous interpre-
tation of certain portions of the new CODE
But it may be taken for granted that no
coach Is going to give away any new plays
which he has evolved. AS a result the con-
ference can do nothing but interpret the
rules. 1t will have plenty to do In this
connection, for there are not a few points
which need calculation.
Kicking and Passing.
The first week of practice among the
members of the big Five gave the cue
In a general way as to the character Of the
game to be played this fall. It is to be
noted that with hardly an exception the
preliminary methods Of former years were
radically changed. For instance, the
coaches, almost without exception, aban-
doned the old stunts Of falling on the ball
and running down the field under kicks.
Instead, the thing that they emphasized
mostly was accurate handling and passing
of the ball. The introduction of the for
a great deal this fall. and in addition that
there will be many long passes.
The passing game means that every
player must know how to pass and catch
the ball accurately. Failure to do this
means that a team Will continually lose
possession of the ball. Furthermore the
team that can utilize the forward pass.
double. triple and long passes without
fumbling will be practically unbeatable
Against such team as this, mass forma-
tons and end runs will be of little Svail.
Still another feature Of the first week s
work has been the attention devoted every
where to the kicking game. DR.. Carl Will
liams, the University OF Pennsylvania
coach, contends that the majority of the
scores to be made this fall will be by means
of drop and place kicks. Other coaches
seem to think the same, and as a result
all the big teams are hard at work de-
veloping several good hckers. The adop-
ton Of the ten-yard rule is what will cause
most Of the kicking. AS soon as a team
gets within scoring distance OF an opponent 3
goal 1t will find it more practicable to try
field goal rather than to risk the loss
of the ball in an attempt to gain ten yards
in three downs. It is doubtful II the place
kick can be Of much use, for the reason
that SO little protection can be given to the
kicker. Under the present rules six men
are required to be on the line of scrinlmage
at all times. AS two men required to
execute the place kick this would leave
but three to guard the kicker. and would
result In great many kicks being blocked
Another form of the kicking game which
is sure to be used Is the quarterback kick
and the quick kick. Both OF these plays
are in the nature of tricks, but IL mastered
we'll are among the best ground gamers
a team can employ. The actual formations
to be used most still unknown, and
cannot be discussed until the big games are
played, for they will not be brought to
light in any of the minor contests
Loss Of Veteran Players.
1t is hard to compare the strength of the
teams OF the big Five" at this writing
other than to say that they are quite
evenly matched as regards the number of
veterans held over and lost from the 1905