Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-15

at this essential phase of gridiror
to be so termed. Ask the coaches
beaten by the Wolverines last ye
touchdowns were made on stra'
called them "freakish." One wa
ward pass. Nothing very "freal
mental. Yet the hand of Yost ma
i've that Yale's great defense wou
Why wonder, then. that Yost Is
pleased with the new rules? If he could
develop such tricks out of last years
semi-restricted code, what will he do
play? Indeed, 1t appears that the pres
ent code was made to order for Mich
igan.
QUARTERBACK NO MORE
That the quarterback will be elimin-
ated this autumn is the general opin-
lon. Yost began to do away with his
field general last fall. Early in the
season the Michigan fuliback was
coached to take a direct pass from the
center and skirt the ends. This play
was used effectively throughout the
season. Yost subordinated the quarter
back a year ago.
They call him the hurry up man.
Another point for 1910 football at Ann
Arbor Yost has always craved for
speed in his elevens. He was never
satisfied. He always insisted the speed
lever should move up another notch.
Will not speed be the biggest asset on
the gridiron this fall? The passing of
beef and strength will handicap every
eleven in the country but Yost's. With
the adoption of new football in 1906 he
foresaw its possibilities and prepared
to meet its development. Yost insisted
on speed, and opened up Michigan's
game.
In 1907 Michigan uncovered a surpris-
ing trick play against Pennsylvania.
But the rules still permitted a big team
to run wild. OF course the Quakers
won. after the game Mike Murphy
said:
"They tried to beat us playing bas-
ketball, but we played football"
Pennsylvania great team of 1908
beat Michigan by developments of that
play. Yost's material that year was
positively sad, but Pennsylvania's
cation. What Yost's ideas did to Penn
sylvania last year is an oft-repeated
tale.
with the help of rules exactly suited
to Yost's game, what will Michigan do
this year?
FOUR IN THE BACKFIELD
And then, where will the lost quar-
terback be played?
There is not a football coach who Is
not giving this question deep thought
One of the many clauses that the rules
committee saw fit to insert in the 1910
code is responsible for this new coach
ing worry This clause says that the
man receiving the ball from the center
may, advance forward. Naturally the
checker board gridiron has passed.
There is no need for it. The quarter
back does not have to run five yards
on either side of the center before
crossing the line of scrimmage.
Certainly this does away with the
quarterback. He would be hindrance.
Last year he was the most important
man on the field. He opened the lever
of the football machine and directed
It forward OF course a man will have
to call signals, but there the quarter
back function ends. The quarterback
that the game has known since its in
ception in this country is no more.
A place has to be found for him be-
hind the line. Incidentally there will
be four big, fast men behind the line
this autumn, instead Of three, and a
little quarterback, as has been the
case. How will these four men be
played? VIII they be lined across the
field or stand in a tandem on the line?
The question is hard one.
A rule provides that a man to make
a forward pass or onside kick must
stand five yards behind the line. The
forward pass and onside kick promise
to attain high development this year.
These plays will be used very fire.
uuently This means that man will
have to be kept on that five-yard mark
This may be the berth for the despised
~ az Qfa coaches will
play probably one or two men five
Yards behind the line. The amputa-
tion of the quarterback means saving
in speed that might counterbalance the
added distance the men would have to
take behind the line. At present it's all
a gamble. The coaches will not know
how to play their hands until the
middle OF October.
The idea of playing one or two backs
five yards or more behind the line
with the others near 1t is not a new
one. Pennsylvania used such an attack
in the Cornell game last year He was
also needed in the fullback's position
for runs off tackle and around the
ends. So they taught the players special
formations for that game. The four
backs were abreast. They could end
run, forward-pass or kick This year
it will be the same; but the new clause
will let the formation hit the line, too
Section 4, rule 20, of the football code
reads:
"A player of the side which put the
ball in play being offside is put
onside when a legally Kicked ball
touches the ground in the field of
play twenty yards in advance of the
spot where the ball was put in play.
No player of either side may further
kick or kick at such a ball while on the
ground or bounding"
Section of this same rule says.
"A kick other than kickoff, kick
out or free kick must be made from