Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-02
Gridiron Game Proved Satisfactory
Demonstrated this Season that Rules Permitted Plenty of Scoring Numbering of Players Badly Needed This System Had Thorough Trial this Season and Made a Big Hit With Spectators.

when the football rules committee gets together this winter it probably will have less work to do than has been demanded for several seasons.
 In general. the grfdiron gamo has been very satisfactory this fall and there is no demand for any altera- tions in the code. One or two points might be simplified. but aside from this things are well enough as they are.
 It has been demonstrated this sea- son that the rules permit of plenty of scoring and that seems to ae what everyone is asking. There were more big score games and fewer scoreless ties this season than eyer before Not an important college team In the country, so far as records are avail able, escaped being scored upon, though it is possible that some of the minor institutions have clear states Three eastern colleges. Harvard, West Point and Union were not beaten. Harvard was tied by Brown which caught her with a large number of substitutes in the lineup.
 The game of football as 1t now stands is all right and if the rules remain as they are long enough for coaches and players to develop all or it's possibilities will keep getting bet
  the last two season, but there stlll is room for improvement and greater things may be expected in the future.
 Some critics maintain that the att tack has all he better of the going at present and that it would be advisa- ble to alter the rules to help the de- fense. This hardly seems a just cria- cisIn. There was a time when the de- fense had things much it's own way and the natural result was that the coaches devoted themselves very largely to the attack. Judging from the results in carrying and passing the ball there will be more attention paid to the defensive game and an improvement in this department is sure to be noticed next year. At least it will take anothe rseaSon or two to prove that there is need of giving the team which has not the ball any aid.
 Yale this year devoted her energies to building up an attack and sIlc- ceeded fairly we'll The Blue had two chances to score against Harvard and probably would have done so except for tumble on one occasion and a bad pass by the center on the other Her team had good supply of ground gaining plays but it's defense was in adequate both against the passing and running game. Next year 1t is to be. exepected that the Eli Coaches will get right tc work repairing the weak spots in their defense and bet ter results are to be expected.
 Michigan proved that 1t is possible to build up a good reliable protection against the forward pass. Opposing teams did very little against the Maize and Blue by this play. Harvard succeeded in working the toss three times for short gains but M. A C., Syracuse Pennsylvania and Cornell had very little success with it..
 On the other hand, the Wolverines showed that 1t could be worked Fix cept in the Harvard game. in which few passes were tried and none was successful, the play proved big ground gainer The touchdown against Syracuse. both of those against Cornell, several against Pennsylvania, and the field goal kicked against the Aggies were made possible by timely and accurate tossing of the ball.
 |: One point in the rules which should be cleared up relates to the safety There was big argument in the Harvard-Yale game over what many critics believe was a score made by Yale through Harvard mans falling on a fumhled ball behind his own goal line. Section 16 of rule 6 goes extensively into the definition of a safety, but would be improved by the addition of a sentence expressly stip- uIating the ruling in a case like that which came up in the Harvard-Yale game.
 There was considerable argument whether the ball is dead when touch ed by a player who is offside. In the Harvard Michigan game, the Grim son players several times touched g rolling ball when they were offsfde and the leather was awarded to the