Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-09-17
This Seasons Football
May Revive Old Plays

his type OF game that produced such
tacklers as Holly and Lea OF Prince
ton, Rogers and Chamberlain OF Yale,
Lee and swain of Harvard. and
"Blondy' Wallace Of Outland OF Penn
sylVania.
In word. the game OF the early
nineties was distinctly one Of proyid-
ing interference ahead OF the run
ner as against the latterday policy
OF sending his support on with him
and lifting him from behind. The full
fruition OF the guards-back and the
ackles-b back followed In the natural
order of things, but these maneuVcrs
never provided as much real football
In the best sense OF the term.
In 1891 the Yale eleven had carried
tackle and end running to a high state
of perfection, and II was In this year
that the coaches also got lot out OF
running ine-men from their positions.
Line-men also figured I'm the inter-
ference. which. while loosely knit, was
well-timed
But in 1898 the Tiger eleven. that
boosted OF such names az Ballet.
Holly and Lea, Trenchard and Brown.
ward, Morse, and Blake. evolved as
a sequence OF the old Yale turtle
back" a mass on tackle that put
nearly every man ahead OF the run
ner, and the object OF which was to
keep the forwards OF the opposing
team on their feet and sweep them
down the field without letting then
drop under the mass. This formation
after the ball was snapped--was as
foreign 10 the mass play OF recent
years as could well be--and with the
exception of little moro precsution.
II IL difficult TO see why in It's ele-
NJ ents II is not as valuable now as II
ever was.
The game ~ the 1898 team was a
cn1pnAfA mi ~ axxftft ms
on tackle. straight--almost individual
line breaking. and an open style of
play that took some account Of long
passes, one Of these passes In the
Yale-Princton game--this was long
before the era of the forward pass,
too-netted 40 yards. The Tigers. in
word, while realizing the value OF
the mass and of the sudden dash
OF a forward from his position in the
line, nevertheless had a series of open
plays designed Ia change the entire
character OF the game had they been
called upon. Some of these plays were
not shown in that game, because, as
Il turned out, II was not necessary
20 uncover them, but II is conceiv-
able, with this In mind, that this
Princeton team OF 1893 might have
been taught 10 play under the rules of
1910 without abandoning the funda-
mental principles of their game.
MASS AND VELOCITY.
In 1896 the Princeton machine had
been perfected along the lines laid
down in 1898, but this team, too,
need not have been utterly dependent
upon the p0shing and pulling OF the
runner after he had struck the line.
The timing OF the interference that
preceded MIN was, after all. the pri- |
mary and important consideration.
IN the meantime Yale. finding that |
-. - A.
were not destined to endure, made |
progress along the same line, and |
Harvard in tho last analysis came TO |
count the cost of the venture into the |
realm of momentum plays. The system |
Df play evolved for the Crimson eleven |
" '9S was probahaly as fine as any |
hing ever seen on the gridirOn.
An analysis of the games OF this
period would repay many of the
coaches who are prone 20 grumble
lbout the new rules-would repay |
hem in the matter Of "A system OF
straight football" so-called After
hat they must rely upon their own in
'ention, There were faults I'm the
yame In these halcyon days. but the
yame generally never saw n higher
tate OF development. considering tho
restrictions imposed at that time. We
nave much to learn Of practical foot
'all from that period. and yet quite
little 10 forget
Aside from the matter OF injuries,
here were serious flaws I'm the tenn
rer Of the PLAYERS and the undergrad
tate bodies--haws that have been
argely eradicated flaws that the coll
egian has outgrown,
No. there has been worse football
han was played in the early nine
ies-before and after. Let MS hope
hat the new rules will allow us TO
% back TO the really good things OF
hat good time-will let us revive
he free, swinging play. while we
urv the ill-feelinE and gladiatorial
endency Of that period.