The national forum., 1910-09-24
FOOTBALL. needs
NO QUARTERBACK
Rule Changes Practically EIIml-
nate Once Important Place.
NEW FORMS OF ATTACK.
Coaches Will Get Squads Together
Early to Try Out Different Plays.
More End Running Likely--Radical
Changes In Defense.

More End Running Likely--Radieal
Changes In Defense.
The quarterback, hitherto the most
conspicuous and most important posi-.
tion on football team. is thing of
the past. The new rules have done
away with all those features of the
game which made such position nec-
essary. Since the inauguration of foot
ball spectators have been accustomed
to hear little man shout out his sig.
mails, crouch behind the center and
then put his football machine in mo-
ton as he received the ball from the
center and then passed IL to one or
another of his teammates as his signal
directed. He was the life, the vitality,
the brains of the team. On his head
work in selecting plays. on his ham
ding of the ball and ON his ability to
lnstil spirit and fight into his team
mates largely depended victory or de-
feat.
The practical reason why one man
has been played in the quarterback
position. in advance Of the other
backs. has been because originally the
man receiving the ball from the snap
back was not permitted under the
rules to run with II across the line of
scrimmage. Half dozen years ago
rule was passed permitting him to ad.
vance the ball, but with the restric.
tion that he must cross the line of
scrimmage at least Eve yards from the
point where the ball was put in play.
This necessitated the use of the quar-
terback for all line plunges.
Under the new rules the man re-
ceiving the ball on the snapback may
advance it at any point The necessity
for the quarterback is therefore gone.
The handling of the ball by an inter
mediate man necessarily takes time
and makes fumbling more likely. so
that now that the necessity for it has
been removed the quarterback position
will exist no more.
The rules require that the team hav-
ing the ball shall have at least seven
men on the line of scrimmage. This
leaves four men for the back field.
There will doubtless be much expert.
menting wieh these men before the
most effective method of lining them
up will be discovered.
The passing of the quarterback is
only one of many changes wrought In
football by the new rules. The style
of play will necessarily be greatly
changed In many respects. and all the
big colleges will start work triae
earlier than usual In order to try out
the possibilities of the new game and
instruct the candidates thoroughly
in 1t.
In past years when team has had
but yard or two to gain on the third
down 1t has hit the line knowing
that 1t would almost surely make
short advance there. Now. with the
mo pushing or pulling" clause in ef-
feet, this avenue of advance is closed.
This means that team In such po-
sition will kick. On the first and Sec
ond downs forward passing will prove
more popular than heretofore. for now
the pass can be made over any point
In the line. while the opposing team
can interfere with the man receiving
the pass only In bona 6de attempt to
catch the ball. Then. too, the fifteen
yard penalty for an incompleted pass
has been taken away. This means
that forward passing and kicking will
form the backbone of the offense, in
stead of the old style Of line plunging.
On the defense the changes In play
will be equally great. Under the rules
Of dozen years ago the coaches
sought men of gigantic frame and
weight for the line. They were told to
hold their position, no matter what
happened. IL they prevented advances
through or over themselves that was
all that was expected of them. Then
came the changes of 1905. permitting
the forward pass and the onside kick.
1t now became necessary to develop
guards and tackles who could get
down the field speedily and recover
the ball on the kicks as well as hold
their place as under the old rules. In
short. better men were needed.
Now the possibility Of attacking the
line successfully by any save trick
plays has been done away with. At
first glance 1t might be thought that
this would tighten the requirements Of
the linemen. but instead It has the op-
posite effect. The old style guard. who
fought to retain his position In the line
without thought Of activity In the open
field, would be useless today.
With the death Of the mass play end
running will be douby popular. and
linemen will be expected to leave their
positions to break these up. But at
the same time they must be heady
players. ever ready to size up the play
of their opponents. for IL lneman
can be drawn out to the end by fake
interference 1t would be an easy mat
ter to slip trick play through the
hole he has deserted for considerable
gain. The linemen will also be re-
quired TO get down the field under
kicks both to tackle and recover the
ball as never before. In short the big.
beefy lineman OF few years ago has
been supplanted by lighter, shiftier,
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