Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-22
forward PASS TO
Be FULLY DEVELOPED
PennsyIvania's Coaches Make
Good Use Of It in the
First Scrimmage.

PHILADELPHIA, September 22.-In
their first scrimmage of the season Tues
day afternoon Pennsylvania foot ball
coaches indicated plainly their belief that
the way to success this fall Is through
the development Of the forward pass OF
the first thirteen plays ordered eight were
forward passes, the remaining FIVE being
either end runs or straight line plunges.
The fact that the first seven of these for
ward passes were unsuccessful was in
terestfng, but not necessarily any de-
traction from the value Of this play.
Coach Smith and his assistants have
come to the conclusion, apparently, that
the forward pass has never been fully
developed, and that it possesses many
possibilities not hitherto realized. They
are on the right track by starting their
experiments thus early. There is little
to aid them in the past history of this
play, and anything nevN must be evolved
by patient trial.
If the experience of the Pennsylvania
team is a fair criterion, then there Is not
ing the men not to render assistance to
their teammates in advancing the ball.
Although the coaches occasionally warned
the men to avoid this sort of aid, the
never known what it was to tug and pull
the runner along. 1t was feared that the
penalties for violation of this rule would
be unusually severe for time.
1t Is apparent that much use will be
made of the quick opening play and
plunge through the line Five or six
years ago this was one Of the best and
most effective trick plays available. In
two successive years Yale used it to de-
feat Princeton. At the proper moment
posing line. and through this opening a
halfback was shot as though from q
gun. Once Capt. Chadwick of the Yale
team ran more than half the length of
the field against Princeton for touch
down.
| In the Pennsylvania-Harva game of
1905 the Red and Blue really turned the
tide with a 5O-yard run on a similar
play. by Greene. Since the introduction
of the forward pass the play has not
been used much, but it is a most eff
fective one, and, since the runner is al
lowed to take the ball through the line
at any point on the direct pass. will
surely be called upon repeatedly this
| tall.
Ignorance of the Rules.
Judging from the nature of the ques-
tons asked by some of the officials who
attended the conference in New York be-
tween the representatives of the rules
committee and officials, there is still a
vast amount of ignorance abroad, not
only as to what the rules mean, but what
| they actually are. There is some excuse
for not being able to get an intelligent
| Interpretation of some of the rules, for
in spite of the pruning they received
| they still contain many antiquities. But
there is no justification for the ignorance
| of elementary rules, as was shown by
some OF the interrogators. The remedy
for this Is a simple reading of the rules.
Yet there are many players who
frankly admit that they have never
read the foot ball rules through. A
few days ago a famous quarterback
who was a member of a big eastern
team less than six years ago, in con-
versation with the writer. displayed
unusual ignorance Of the 1910 code by
insisting that the new rules prevented
any member of the defensive side from
even SO much as intercepting forward
pass. His idea was that when the for
ward pass is attempted the defensive
players had to stand by and wait until
the man eligible to take the pass had
either caught it or fumbled it. OF
course. the rules provide nothing OF
the kind. They have merely made II
impossible for a defending player to
butt" the man trying to recover the
forward pass. And yet the man who
expressed this erroneous belief is a
candidate for the officials job.
/ The remedy for such conditions lies
in the study Of the rules. No man
ought to be seriously regarded as a
candidate for the team unless he has
thoroughly mastered the rules. Coaches
ought to establish classes for instruc-
| ton in them. Then there would b,
! better foot ball and less work for thu
ALREADY OverwOrked officials.