Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-17

y
rule also which gives the ball to the often
sive side when pass is muffed 10y
player on the offensive who attempts to
receive ii, even though 1t be recovered by
man on the defensive. will also be con-
ducive toward the same eTd. because
with less risk OF losing possession of the
ball the coaches will not hesitate to order
that open plays be made in positions
where heretofore only the most con-
servative ones have been tried.
Forward Pass Is Safer Play.
There Is no doubt that with a little
time and study a coach can figure out
numberless combinations from certain
formations, any OF which are more than
likely to keep a defensive eleven be-
wildered. OF course. coaches could have
done the same thing last year or the
year before, but under the ruling of those
years it was not policy to depend too
much on play in which chance was in
large measure the governing factor,
and they consequently. instead of trying
to devise ways of turning out foot ball
team to win games by the open, SenSa-
tional kind of play. held to the more
conservative methods employed under
the old game. Such conditions do not
exist this season. though, and team
will not be taking such big chance of
losing the ball or of losing ground when
open trick of some kind. And for
these reasons it may not be an uncom-
mon thing TO see men strung out from
one side of the field to the other in the
games this fall and have uncovered men
receive forward passes that Will result
in touchdowns. Such play Is one OF
the most sensational that can be pro-
duced on the gridiron. and more of them
would be welcome by the spectators.
The conditions this year will be much
60. 7 al ~ "a
which every year meet some of the big
ger schools in what are generally termed
practice games for the stronger of the
two. That one of these weaker teams
will be able to take greater chances OF
losing the ball now Is certafn-something
which they did not dare do under any Cir
cumstances under the old regime. About
all that could be done In previous years
by weak team when 1t went up against
one of the big elevens was to take two
piunges into the line. kill as much time
as possible and then punt. Sometimes
the coaches warned them never to take
but one down and then kick. for fear
that the ball might be fumbied-
There is no doubt that this will In
measure be changed. as now when a
tumble occurs after a forward pass the
ball still remains in possession of the
offensive side-that is. provided the Of
fensive player is the first to touch IT,
And neither does the offensive team lose
loss under the old conditions ran AMY
where from five to fifteen yards and this.
subtracted from the distance the ball
travelled when the team punted. made a
considerable difference from what would
have been the case had the team punted
before the pass was attempted.
Will Be Line Plunging.
OF course it is not to be expected that
the open style Of play will prevail over
everything else and be the only thing
attempted because it is doubtful II Ii
alone would succeed in gaining any
ground at all, as the defense could play
so openly that il would be almost i'm
possible to get man uncovered to re-
ceiye the pass. And then, while the
forward pass is a much safer play than
formerly the element of chance has not
been totally abolished. and when there
are but two or three yards TO make the
teams will be taught to depend on the
safest of plays-the plunge INTO the line.
Under the present style OF defense when
the ma jority of the teams have. a sood
plunging back is reasonably sure OF max
ing two or three yards, and TINS Is tue
play that will be brought out under the
mentioned conditions. OF course, with
two or three yards TO go on the second
down it would not be poor policy TO try
end runs or open play. but whenever
there is a short distance TO be covered
on the third down there is no other play
to try except the one which IS the must
dependable to gain the distance
That the open style of play is not
enough to guarantee the success o,
team has been clearly shown. as has
also been shown team cannot ns
winning eleven now with only roper
toire of line plunses in its attack IL
j., only bv iudiciousiy combining the two
that a coach can hope TO turn out
winning team.
The I.ehich team of last season was
second TO none in the variety of its open
work. but il was not successful eleven.
although it lad on it some OF the pest
material in the middle states Against
it's old rival. Lafayette. It faiied 10 make
any headway at all. for the simple reason
that with the knowledge that 1t was not
able to hit the line effectively the eastern
aggregation was able to play such an
omen defense against II that II was pfac-
tically impossible for any man TO get
through uncovered to receive the pass
The same was true when Lehigh came to
GEORGETOWN. 1t had great variety or
open plays but the Georgetown detense
was played so open that day that prac-
tically every pass tried by Lehigh was
broken up.
Just the opposite was true In the case OF
Yale. One of the greatest players VINO
ever graced a gridiron had charge OF, the
Dark Blue. but because he held almost
solely to the Old system ne iiidae a "s
NAL failure of coaching. Yale, perhaps
made the poorest showing during the nrSt
half Of last season that it has In many
years, and the reason could he attributed
to nothing other than that It's style Oh
play was too old AS soon as different
methods were pursued the eleven came
out Of its slump and turned what haa uli
fair to be a disastrous season into iair
" successful one.
Good Combination Dangerous.
That a good combination OF the open
and the close style OF play is extremely
dangerous to the defensive team Is Ger
tain. In fact, it is only by a combination
of the two that the strongest offense can
be obtained In the Georgetown-Lenhsn
game last Thanksgiving day. mad not
Georgetown been playing such an open de-
fense II would have lost the contest. and
il Is safe to say that it would not have
beer had the Blue and Gray coach known
tha, I.ehieh was also good line-plunging
team besides the varied open formations
which it had.
THAT nlay such as Lehigh was an ex-
moment Of is dangerous at all times.
though not consistent, was shown in the
Georgetown-Lehig game. when one or
the Iehigh ends got clear of the George
town defense, and had the pass to him
heen perfect q touchdown would have
resulted and Lehigh would have won. as
Georgetown only took the contest by a
three-point margin.
When it is known that a team. even
though II has the best line of forward