Omaha daily bee., 1911-12-17
RULES NEED SOME CHANGES
Such Seems to Be the Opinion of the
Eastern Experts.
THEY, HOWEVER, DO NOT AGREE
Forward, Pass Seems Now 70 he the
Only Play which Promises .
Ten-YRrd Gain for the
AURreasors.


NEW YORK, Dec. 16.--There seems to
oe dehnite feeling in the eastern foot
Dali world that the rules need a through
OFe'hauhhg and revision before the com
ing Oh hhother season. The foot ball
solohs agree that changes are necessary.
out each one Of them has his own pet
pan Tor the hetterment Of the game and
II Is rarely that any two of them agree.
Ihere are certain generalities, however.
IN which they concur Plays occurred
ouTlhg the season just past which were
not specifically covered by the code.
Other happenings brought to light the
fact that certain obsolete rules had never
been stricken from the book. These are
minor matters which, can easily be
adjusted
The main subject of contention lies I'm
the fact that the defense under the pre-
sent system seems out of proportion 70
tne offense. Princeton generally con-
sioered the champions Of the gridiron
world made one first down by rushing
against Harvard and none against Yale.
harvard made six first downs against
frlnceton and five against the Blues.
hale made five first downs against Har-
Varu and four against the Tigers. That
Is 10 say that the three biggest eleyens
Vi past years made a total of twenty
O"e ilrst Gowns by rushing in three games
OF dual average of seven to a game
an individual average of three and one
"aii Ilrst downs apiece. Some persons
call attention to the fact that a few years
ago gain OF ten yards through the line
py piunging back on single play was
no uncommon thing. This is true, but at
tnat time there was no rule against as
sistlns the runner and man was pushed
or hauied along for yards after he was
tackled "e was
The only play which now seems 70
promise ten-yard gain is the forward
pass ana against a team Of eouaI
strehgth this Is rarely effective. Coaches
nave taught their teams to block II. ana
''iis ls made easier by the restrictions
uhoer which a legal pass must be made
iincetoh did not attempt this plav I'm
eItner OF Its big games. Harvard tried
u nine times at Nassau for a total NJ
t"enty-seven yards. The Blue tried ;r
twice against Princeton and four times
asalnst Harvard without a yard of gain
ne crimson was therefore. the only
eleFen 10 gain ground In these games nv,
means OF the play and it gained an aver
age OF slightly over four wards ner -.
Inc Brown team developed the foru,o.1
pass TO about it's highest point Of affio,N
ency' and yet they could do bu, utt,,
win II against the stronger teams Rrov,,,
Oeat yale last year by using the foru,o.,1
pass but this year the play was broio,,
W three-fourths OF the time by Yale and
hi@iVaru' Brown defeated PennsvIvsnia
eieVen this season by forward passes b,t
tnat was the last game in which the
play worked. e" Tue
EVEN the drop or place Kick ts nsoio..
as scoring asset unless a tear, 80. 20,
within striking distance of an or,,o,,.t.,t g.
goal, and this seems only 10 IN. ,,,saIS,s
tue present rules by recovering a
I"'eu pail Strangely enough, the new
sa'o appears TO have developed no kick
u tne caiiber Of .o'Dea, Butter
worth or a Brooke.
The question that the rules committee
VIII nave to decide is how TO more
nearly equalize the defense and offense
some men are in favor of allowing a
team four downs instead of three some
peieve all restrictions should be removed
from the forward pas, some favor firm
period OF play, some think the distance
to be gained should be reduced TO seven
yards, some wish It put back to five and
some advocate allowing the side in poses
sion of the ball TO assist the runner
These latter suggestions would mean Of
course, practically returning TO the old
game. One argument used against this
plan is that while two college PLAYERS
were killed this year, four were killed in
1910 and ten in 1909.