Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-31
Onside Kick
is Not Used
as in Old Days
Forward Pass Has Done Away with
the Necessity for This
Play.

clusion Of the onside kick in the average
teams repertory of plays to a favOring
Of the forward pass. There is no dis
putting the fact that the latter play Is
far more popular. The development of
the long leave may we'll be said TO have
been rapid, put the same does not hold
good for the onshde kick. When the big
gain that a successful boot will yield is
considered, the apparent reluctance of
coaches In general to employ this weapon
of attack is surprising at first thought.
However. there IL another side 10 the
story.
To employ the onside kick with any de-
gree of success, a team must be blessed
with an unusually accurate place booter.
A man who can drop the leather any
place within a ten-yard area will not do:
he must be able to punt a ball so that
it will land within reasonable distance
OF q certain point. H~apnazard kicking
will not do. II a coach finds himself
equipped with a toe artist of such abil-
ity. he very wisely starts to make the
onside kick a prominent feature of his
~offenss.
II, on the other hand. 10 skilled place
bOoter is obtainable. stress is laid on the
development of the forward pass. And In
nine cases out OF ten this latter plan OF
campaign has to be followed. 1t lie for
this reason ard no other that the onside
kick has fallen by the wRyside, so to
speak, while the other phase Of new
foot balI"-the forward pass-has pros
pered.
At the present time there are two
prominent elevens who work the onside
kick with any degree Of accuracy,
namely, Princeton and Fordham. More
over. when it is realized that ends. fast
and shifty on their feet and skilled hand
lers Of the ball, are absolute necessities
in working the play, its stunted growth
is all the more understandable.
1t certainly looks as though the Jungle
town coaches seized upon the onside kick
as their own Immediately after its being
made in part of the sport by the work of
the code revisioners during the winter OF
IoO5-os. During the autumn Of the lat
ter year considerable time was expended
on the development Of the play. With
a place bOoter like Eddie Harlan to
count on, the Princeton coaches believed
they could make a success of the play.
Favorable rogress was made during the
1905 season, while other coaches were
frantically ravinR about the inability OF
their charges 20 handle the forward pass.
II a " hAh an IA AAh sNeAt
however, that the Tigers efforts began
to yield results. The Carlisle Indian
game at the Polo grounds that season
showed what was TO be expected. The
Orange and Black backs would dash
across the field, and then Harlan would
stop suddenly and boot the leather dia-
gonally back across the gridiron. The
waiting Princeton ends woul scoop UP
the leather and rom away for big gains.
The few times that the play was used
were crowned with success, and gave the
sharps an inkling of was 10 be
expected later in the season.
And then came the Yale game, and again
Harlan demonstrated the effectiveness Of
the play. His quick kicks did a great deal
toward making possible McCormick's ter
rifle line breaking. With the graduation
of Harlan it was thought that Princeton
would give up the play. Who, after wit
Messing the Tigers early season orgies Of
1908 imagined that the Yale game would
a wonderful exhibition Of the onside
kick on the part Of the Nassau combina-
ton? But such was the case.
Time and again the first half Of that
game the Ellis defense floundered around
helplessly, while onslde kick after onside
kick shot over the center OF the line. yield
ing good gains. 1t was not until the Yale
coaches rushed out Pop Corey from the
side lines, with instructions to lay In close
to his line and catch the ball on the fly,
the play was broken up.
And from present signs down in the Jungle
1t looks as though the onside kick would
again be featured. Coach Mccormick is
drilling his most promising kick
ing halfbaoks In the art Of dropping the
ball exactly where they want It to land,
and results are beginning to show. Re
Gently against Virginia Polytechnic the
play was worked successfully on an aver
age OF once in every four attempts. This
is profitable il the ends can
fairly long drives.
Last year the Onside kick was q favOrite
play in the University Of Pennsylvania
Bill Hollenback. one OF the great
est place punters who ever wore cleRts.
IL no longer at QuRkertown. Consequently,
the play has apparently fallen into disuse.
II took a man OF Hollenback's kicking
ability to make It. go. Aleck Thayer is a
toe artist, however, and develop
ments along the line OF the onside kick
may be uncovered In Pennsylvania's later
games. Just now IL is the forward pass
that Is in the limelight on Franklin field.
When Swarthmore included O'Brlen In
its lineup the Garnet had one of the best
onside kick ground gamers known TO the
game. O'Brien remarkable drop kicking
ability had unconsciously schooled him for
the play. Swarthmore's style was different
from Princeton's diagonal kick of 1907, In
that the fullback and two halfbaoks ran
straight across the field. while Quarterback
dropped the ball alongside the flee
ing trio. The play was a success.
Fordham's success this autumn can be at
tributed in no small degrees to the onside
kick. One OF the Maroons' touchdowns
against Cornell was due to the play. In
McCaffery n Mccarthy Fordham has a
pair OF ends who can cover the quick
drives to perfection. Moreover, the Bronx
kickers are reliable. Several Of the smaller
college teams have developed the play TO
a high degrees. However, they are faw
and far between The ideal equipment, a
CLASSY bootcT. and just as capable ends.
is NOT generally found on the same squad.
The coach who has such material considers
himself a favored son Of fortune.
Tarkio Defeats william Jewem.
TARKIO, No. Oct. 0-(Speciai Tele-
gram.D-Wnliam Jewell was defeated here
today by Tarkio college, score IL 10 s. The
played a hard, fast game but were
Tarkio scored three times as a result OF
fast, hard foot ball William JEWELS score
the result Of a blocked onside kick.
This was William JEWELS first defeat OF