Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-25
MUST STUDY GAME.
Many Changes in Foot Ball
Rules This Year.
WILL AID BIG ELEVENS
Alterations Calculated to Give
Larger Schools More Advantage
Than Previously.
BY EDWARD r. BUSHNELL.

spring. saw Mt 10 make so many RADICAL
changes in the rules, every college which
expects to make creditable showing
on the gridiron this fall will get in as
much preliminary training as the time
and its faculty will permit. Last year
there was very little OF what might
be called preliminary foot ball training.
but this year nearly every college will
be forced TO begin work early. Indeed
calls have already been issued at a
number of universities for the candi-
dates to be ready to work by the middle
Of September. In a few instances the
players have been working during the
summer, though. Of course. no college
has conducted organized practice.
1t need not be supposed that pre-
liminary practice indicates a/return IL
the unhealthy foot ball situation so
much criticised few years ago. No
college, under ordinary circumstances
sees any necessity for extended pre-
liminary work. But this year the rules
committee forced upon the college world
a number of radical changes which it
will take the college world considerable
time to assimilate. Any institution
which waits until the last week in Sep
TENDER to unravel the mysteries of the
game is bound to suffer early season
reverses.
In order that the followers of foot
ball may realize the changes which will
be seen in the new game. the most i'm
portant features are summarized here
with:
1. The offensive team is given four
trials TO make 10 yards, instead of three
as heretofore.
| 2. The value of the touchdown is in
creased from five to six points
3. The playing field is reduced in
length from 10 yards to 100 yards.
| 4. The onside kick is abolished.
5. The forward pass is retained, and
in addition a touchdown is permitted
even when the ball is caught over the
goal line.
s. The ball is kicked off from the 40
yard line instead of from midfield.
| Z. The intermisSion between the first
and second and third and fourth quar-
tiers is reduced from two to one minute.
Will Help Big Teams.
The most important conclusions which
foot ball men have drawn from the
new rules is that they give the big
teams decided advantage over their
smaller opponents. which they have not
had since the introduction of the for
ward pass. This, of course, was not
the original purpose Of the rule max
ers. What they set out to accomplish
was to equalize the offense and the de-
Tense. For the last four or rve years
| the defense has been SO much stronger
than the Offense that great many
1910 or otherwise unsatisfactory scores
resulted. Three important games last
year demonstrated the truth Of this
| assertion. They were the Harvard
Princeton, Princeton Yale and Harvard
Yale games. Princeton won the first
two, but not on what might be termed
offensive foot ball. HAD II not been
for the manner in which White OF
| Princeton took advantage of a loose
ball the Tigers would never have beaten
Harvard, and would have lost to Yale
There was no question that in both
instances the Tigers opponents had the
better offenSe, but the Tigers had been
the harvard and Yale machines were
powerless to carry the ball across by
IsIraight foot ball.
HAD the 1911 games been played with
just one OF the 1912 alterations-that
OF permitting four downs to take 10
lyarus-harvard would have been GER
tain to have scored at least twice
against Princeton, and probably Yale
| would have scored on the Tigers with
a touchdown. This Is not sand TO un-
lderestlmate the power or the Prince
ton team, but merely to illustrate how
marked was the Inequality between the
| Onense and the defense. The Harvard
| Yale game was equally unsatisfactory
for the same reasons.
The point about the new foot ball
rules which will be Of most interest
| to the critics OF the game Will be The
influence which they Will nave upon
the line plunglns type OF game one
faction insists that the new rules mean
nothing else but q return to the old
line plunging type of game. Another
/ faction CONTENDS that the new rules
will tend to develop the running
| game only the season itself Will prove
| which theory is correct.
In advance OF the opening OF the sea-
son the weight OF argument seems TO
| be with those who look to the restora-
ton OF the line-plunging game The
development of foot ball since the Tor
ward pass was first introduced also
bears out this contention. The forward
pass was introduced for the purpose
OF opening up the game. but 10 leave
no room FOR the continuation OF the
old style OF game IT was further pro-
yided that the distance to be gained
| in three downs should be Increased
from to ~ yards These two rules
sounded the death knen OF mass forma-
ton; but they did more tnan TINS. IN
that they weakened the offense to such
an extent that many Of the so-called
championship games resulted In W
scores. Naturally, the new rules had
to bear some pretty severe crltlcism,
most Of which was Just
Line Plunging Again.
| Ever since the radical amendment OF
the code foot ball coaches and tacticians
have been working to invent some sort
of an attack which would make it pos
sible to score by straight foot bali. In
this they have been partly successful.
and there has been gradual return
to the old style Of line plunging. But
with last seasons games coaches had
| to admit that under the present rules
they could not develop a consistent
scoring machine. The problem that con-
fronted them was either to eliminate
the forward pass or to return to the
rule which gave a first down with
yards The committee compromised by
deciding upon the experiment Of remov-
| ing some Of the restrictions on the for
ward pass and 20 allow an extra down
In which to make 10 yards. There Is
hardly any reason to doubt, after hav-
ing seen the way the game developed
last year, that the nne-plunging game
will be more popular than the forward
passing and running type.
| The new rule will be particularly hard
upon the small colleges. 1t will, of
course, give them an added opportunity
| to score, but the extra down Will be