Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-13
HARVARD PLAYS
WORRYING YALE
An Attacking Play Put Into Effect Against the Tigers Gained consid- erabIe Ground.

Apparently unnoticed by the ma Jorlty of football critics, Harvard, in its game with Princeton last Satur- day, put into effect an attacking play which not only gained considerable ground and brought one of the two Harvard touchdowns, but in addition It presented such a wealth of possi- b1Eties that Yale coaches, in their endeaNors to formulate an offsetting defence, have reached only the head scratching stage.
 The play created all sorts of com ment Many thought the Harvar dteam was taking unnecessary chances. Others thought the Haughton-coached outfit had suddenly become struck with over-confidence, and a number would have staked their reputations on the contention that the play could easily be smeared by any sort of a real de- renee But the very few of the liar yard-Princeton audience who really diagnosed that attack knew in a mo- ment that it was a wonder, and now are watching to see what further use the Harvard team will put it.
 The play is a nine-men- on- the-line attack.
 On this formation only the quarter pack and cne carrying back are left behind the line of scrimrnage. and to those who did not look into its possi- bilities and into it's effect upon the op- posing team it eSemed that Harvard had given away it's play
 Well, they must think Bradlee is unstoppabie,'' remarked a number of spectators when they saw Mahan and Francke move to the ends of the Grim son line. That over confidence may go againnst Princeton, but it will be a bad thing to try on Yale' And even when Bradleee went through for a touchdown theye stil held this opin- ion.
 If these persons had stopped to view the situation that this formation pre- sented to Princeton, their ideas might have changed.
 From this nine-men- on -the-line for nation Princeton was unable to tell whether the ball was to be carried through the line or hurled through the ar on forward pass. The placing of extra Harvard men on the liEe seemed to indicate the latter, and as a, result Princeton's secondary defence split and moved to points opposite ethe men on the ends of the Harvard line. By so coing they weakened the center of the Princeton defence and made it only necessary for Harvard to open a hole and show Bradlee a clear field to a touchdown.
 This working out of the formation was one of many that can be started from the nine-men-o -the-line play. Once worked successfully as a rush ing play the tendency of the secondary defence men among Harvard's future opponents would be to form in a mass behind their line and thereby present a favorable opportunity for the Grim son team ot work a forward pass. In addition, the nine men, on- the-line for nation would furnish excellent inter- ference at an end-around or skin tackle play, and there appear a host of additional possibilities in the forma- uon, all of which Harvard has not yet revealed. but in which undoubted- ly the squad has been trained.
 The nine-men-on- -the-line formation and its possibilities is but one of the bones of contention over which the ale coaches have been and will be struggling with, for during a. number of it's games Harvard has been forced to show several cards of the hand it eXpectetd to hold unnoticed until the Yale game. The double and the de- layed pass are included in the number The Quadruple and forward pass are others and were best demonstrated in the Penn State contest.
 It was by means of the delayed and double pass that Harvard worked it's greatest havoc against Princeton. Both plays were exceptionally well conceal ed iand the delayed pass appeared by far the Strongest play Harvard yet has known. In this play Logan esnt one, two and three men into his op- liIley SdCH ing the ball, and when he had succeed ed in pulling the entire Princeton team into its attempts to block these three, he passed the ball and gave his runner plenty of open space in which to gain.
 Hardwick and Bradlee were partic- ularly effective in carrying the ball un- der these conditions and the only de- fence there seems to be for this play is whole team equipped with such an abnormal amount of football instinct that its men know just exactly where the ball is every Second, for men who rush to stop fake charges are decidedly out of the play when the ball really is passed.
 Another card of Harvard's that has become known to Yale as the result of the Harvard game is liar wards defence for the extended lime formation, formation which has been used by several of the big teams as the vehicle for forward passes or quar- terback runs. Until last weeks game there seemed no sure defence for this play The Army had worked it many times to success. Princeton had used it with equally good results and many of the western schools had made the play one of their chief scoring factors.