The Washington times., 1911-11-28
FOOTBALL BRAINS 4, \
RESERVE CHANCE.
Coaches Have Generally Fa lied to Avail Themselves of
Possibilities of Forward Pass-Brute Strength
Should Not Be Favored.
By CROSS BUCK.

This year. as in recent past ssa-
IONS, the end of the football season
finds q great majority cf the coaches
yelling at the tops of their voices for
changes in The rulcs. The 90 scores are
pointed to as evidence that the defense
must be weakened, and the possibilities
of attack strengthened by a rcmodeiing
OF the rule book The majority, OF them
ere screcching against the forward
pass. and making frantic protests
against the continuation OF this play.
There is unQuestionably q basis for
criticism Of tho rules inside the 1-yard
zone. The rule which forbids q for
ward pass going over the goal line, and
the 2o-yard rule eliminating the onside
kick. makes II possible. when q goal
is threatened, FOR the secondary de-
tense to safely come UP close tn the
line and render Intellectual the running
plays Ground the end or bucking plays
through the line. There may be som.
reason for this elimination of the for
ward pass. but certainly the killing of
the rule and the making available of
the forward pass over the goal line
would make II a decided unsafe propo-
sition for tile secondary defense to pay
SO much attention 10 the line play and
leave tire forward rass possibilities.
The forward pass has been very
much maligned play, and one Of the
reasons for this has been the failure OF
the coaches to avail themselves Of its
possibilities. As a matter of fact. the
average football coach, in drilling his
He finds beef and bulk great deal
easier TO obtain and develop than brains
and thinking power. The 26O-pounder
with not an overplus of football brains
is a much more available candidate
of thinking and physical alertness. With
bulk and brains presented for con-
sideration. bulk usually gets first
choice, consequently the play or plays
acting. speed, and accuracy, of which
the forward pass is perhaps the most
notable, are not looked upon with favor
by the coaches.
Half a Dozen Uses.
can recall half a dozen uses Of the
forward pass in big games where the
results Of that policy were markedly
decisive in the final score. In 1906
Dartmouth, with a much inferior team,
as the score of q to 8 showed. was,
nevertheless, able to score against Har-
ward by a forward pass from place.
ment formation to the tackle, the end
having stepped back Of the line. One
week later. on exactly the same play.
Yale scored the only touchdown made
in the game against Harvard. on ex-
actly the same play from the same for
nation. In 1908. II was a forward pass
to Fish which enabled Harvard 10 heat
Dartmouth In the last few minutes of
the game.
In Chicago, on Saturday except for
the forward pass and the variations and
deceptions which 1t allows, Chicago
would not have been enabled to win a
notable victory from Wisconsin. The
play which enabled Chicago to win ID
en- admirably deceptive one which ha.
been used in the East by Dartmouth
and Harvard, which worked exceedinGl,
well against Princeton, and which, OF
! the one occasion 1t was used by Har
ward against Yale on Saturday. did al
| that was expected of 1t. Two othc
variations from the same formatio:
| were devised by Coach Cavanaugh, .
| Dartmouth, for the Harvard game, bu
| the slippery condition Of the field ap
parently rendered it inadvisaple to tr.
them.
The chief trouble with the forwar'
lass in not in the play itself. but II
the failure Of coaches tc avail them
selves OF its possibilities. Harvard, Il
| it's game this year against Princeton
| could have made scores OF yards ha
| they used the forward pass from a kic!
| forma lion, since every time the kic
format ton was called for there was ne