Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1906-09-26
NEW FOOT BALL
GAME...HOW IT'S
GOING TO WORK
INJURIES LIKELY TO OCCUR IN
DASH FOR BALL.
Forward Pass Provides Sensational
Runs-Rush Line Separation is
Best For Spectators.

Never before in the history of foot
ball as played in the colleges of the
United States has there been such in
tereSt in the opening of thes eason.
This has been created by the legis-
lation during the summer months of
the rules committee, in efforts to elm
mate from the game features that
last season were denounced ms object
ionable. Not since the game was
ruled by II committee have such radi-
cal changes in the rules been made.
The additions and limitations in the
system of play under the new rules
certainly will make the game different
from last year at least in the opening
games, but whether it will remain so
during the entire season is a question
that authorities do not agree upon.
None of the new ideas of the commit
tee have at yet been put into practical
use and their adaptibility to the game
is yet to be settled, The one thing
certain is that the game will be star
ted under the new rules and the sea-
son s work alone will determine if the
committee acted wisely and bettered
college football or whether the game
Of last year, so satisfactory to many,
was the best.
The important changes that will
make the game different from the
spectators view point are many, but
the ones that can be seen most easily
from the side line are these:
Requiring the gain Of ten yards in
stead Of five in three downs.
On-side kick, which gives the kick
ing side the right to secure the ball
after it has touched the ground and
the fact that the rush lines are divided
by the length Of the ball.
There are many other minor changes
among which are:
The shortening of the game from
two 35-minute halves to 30 minutes.
Keeping the five center men on the
line Of scrimmage all the time unless
one goes back to kick.
The practical stopping stopping of
hurdling.
The addition of an extra umpire on
the field Of play.
Prevention of tackling below the
knees and the allowance of but three
calls for time in each half.
The Forward Pass Idea.
The working out of the forward pass
is certain to be the most interesting
to the spectators, as the rule commit
tee is Of the opinion that it is to be
the means Of opening up the game
and making long and sensational runs
certain in every game. Long runs are
what the crowd like and have seldom
seen in the past. The forward pass
rule makes it allowable to pass the
ball forward as short or long as wish
ed once in each down. The idea was
to get some Of the scientific passing
into football that has made the Eng
llsh game so spectacular and basket
ball so attractive.
The working out of the forward
pass idea will prove attractive to the
crowd, but its success is doubted by
many of the coaches and players. Yet
in the idea can be involved all kinds
of tricks and it is the successful pull
ling off of he unexpected that wakes
up a football crowd when the ther-
mometer is close to the freezing
point.
The on-sde kick rule is one that
promises to make the game far more
interesting to the spectators-and an
event to be dreaded by the players
in the back field. In the past the lin
ing up for a punt which came often
in a game was attempted bymuch in
terest as to the result in getting the
kick away safely, there being danger
OF an opening
Of an opposing froward getting
through the line and blocking it.
Then there was the pretty sight of
seeing the leather sail high into the
air and far down into the opponent 5
territory, while the kicking side did
all possible to follow its flight while
the efforts were blocked as well as
possible by the opponents.
To Get Kick Away Fast.
Last year as a rule punting was
from special formation, and the
crowd had ample opportunity to get
ready for the event. This year it
will be different, as wise coaches see
the advantage of getting the kick
off before the opponents have decided
what the play is to be. This is for
the reason that in the past the oppos-
ing side was prohibited from touch
ing the ball or interfering with the
cathcher until it had touched the
latter. The rule holds good this sea-
son in the case of punt executed
as they have been in the past. but