Norwich bulletin., 1912-10-29
CHANGES IN FOOTBALL
 WELL ADVISED.
Fewer Injuries and More Scoring m
 Present Day Game.

There are two noteworthy features 70 the intercollegiate football season to date. One is the almost total lack or injuries among the playes of college teams, and the other the absence of 0-to-0 games. These two things are re sponsible for the fact that the game Is so much more attractive than before because the public likes to see touch downs made and injuries reduced to minimum. There have. of course, been number of ScoreleSS games, but they were due rather to fumblinS and un- developed team work than inability to make touchdowns under the new rules. That particular amendment to the football code by which four downs are allowed to make 10 yards has been the salvation of the present game. The extra down gave just that additional factor to the strength of the offensive team which was needed to permit to 1 hold on to the ball a reasonable length of time. It has given quaterbacks more latitude in the selection of plays and while there has been much line plunging it has not been the sort of mass playing that brought down so much severe criticism upon the game a few years ago. The rule forbidding the man carrying the ball to recelVs the assistance of any of his team mates has prevented a return to the evil which existed when it was per .. missible to carry and push along the man with the ball.
 The games played so far this season have shown that the new football when properly supervised can be played without serious results. So far not one of the big colleges has suf- fered anything more than the tempo 1ocy of Y,1o oh ir1i1I Of course, there have been few in juries among the players on school teams, but caused in nose cases by games in which the two teams were very unevenly matched. Under such circumstances injuries are inevitable.
 No better proof of the safety of the game when supervised as it should be can be furnished than by the history of the football games between the vari- ous members of the Big Five. Not since football was first introduced as an Intercollegiate sport tnearly 40 years ago, has there been a single fatal in- jury to a representative of Harvard, Yale, Pennsylvania, Princeton or Cor nell. There have, of course5 been some serious injuries, as there must be in a sport so strenuous as football, but when these institutions insist that all of their players shall pass satisfactory physical examination before they are allowed to take part, the possibility of fatal injury is almost entirely elim- mated and the likelihood of injuries of any sort are greatly reduced.
 Both the Harvard and Yale teams struck their proper gait in their games ten daysfago Prior to then there was much concern both at Cambridge and i New Haven over the failure of the | two teams to make better use of the material at hand. When Harvard failed to score more than a single touchdown against Maine and was lucky to escape a tie score there was some fear that the Crimson material had been overrated. There was even more cause for worriment at New Ha- ven because Yale was scored on in the | first game of the season and was able | to make only a single down against Holy Cross in the second game of the
 schedule. But in the second ~ame for Harvard, and the third game for
 Yale. conditions improved ntarly 10c
 per cent In two periods Harvard sue ceede in scoring 19 points against
 Holy Cross. "a team which the Yale
 veterans had been able to defeat
 the Saturday preceding by only one
 touchdown. What pleased the Har-
 yard sympathizers so much was the
 fact that their regulars had scored 1s points in two periods against the sever
 points for the Yale regulars in ar
 entire game against common op- ponent.