Omaha daily bee., 1916-12-27
TWO WESTERN MEN
ON CAMPS ELEVEN
Baston of Minnesota and Har-
ley Of Ohio Given All-Amer.
ican Honors by Golfers.
POLLARD GETS A PLACE

Basten OF Minnesota and Harley
Of Ohio, were given places on the ALL
American team by Walter Camp, foot
ball expert, writing for the current
issue Of Golfers. Camps accompany
ing story in part is as follows:
Every season there are certain
marked developments in foot ball
play. Last year the run from kick
formation came to its own and
proved the strongest feature of the
attack. lii several cases this year it
was shown, however, that this forma-
ton must have connected with it the
threat, Of the forward pass and the
kick GIn case the last man in the
back field is known to be runner
only it, naturally simplihes the prob
lem for the defense quite materially.
The most marked feature of this sea-
sons development was, however, the
various. methods Of, thinning the de-
fensives line-that IS, forcing the Sec
ondary defense back, by the threat
Of forward passing and kicking from
close formation, and, at the same
time, by formations and shifts in the
back field, compelling the men play
ing oilSthc forward line of defense to
separate farther from each other and
thus make thrusting and plunging
plays more effective. The University
OF Pittsburgh, under Warner, showed
the simplest method of doing this by
means of formations of the back
field es;They were not complicated,
and ,fhey involved the principle of
the direct pass.
Colgate under Bankart used a
somewhat more complicated method
of quick shifts from regular formation
with tandem, and pass through the
quarter out for line plunge ON tackle
like that of Huntington's day.
Brown, under Robinson, used splits
in the line and also quick shifts and
developed the best kind of attack to
get star like Pollard loose. >
Minnesota accomplished similar re-
suits through rapid shift plays, the
taking OF linemen back into the back
field and then "hepping' them up
into the line of scrimmage, thus put
ting enormous pressure suddenly upon
the predetermined spot.
Washington and Jefferson had the
most effective forward passing and
, in McCreight one of the best men to
make the pass.
The.best individual defense was de-
vcloped by Yale i'll its two final
games. This defense practically
stalled the Harvard attack--an at
tack which had formerly been very ef-
fectiye.
The conclusions of the season on
this point would indicate that no team
has yet introduced sufficiently elias
tic system to meet all attacks, and
there will probably follow more ex-
periments. in the placing of the sec
ondary men, in the attempt to cover
a greater range and to anticipate the
play of the attack This will be most
marked in the endeavor to force the
forward passer SO that he will have
less time in which to work and thus
make. the longer passes less likely
because the receiver will be unable
to reach point so far down the field.
Now as to the quality of play. The
first and most important feature OF
the season of 1916 is the considera-
ton of the unquestioned fact that the
teams failed more generally than in
any other season to run true to form
Even the admitted leaders seemed
guilty of temporary lapses. In some
cases these prevailed entirely through
a game, and in others for a period or
two.
There are some who contend that
the forward pass is responsible for
these extraordinary reversals, but the
facts do not bear out this contention
and we must look deeper for the
cause. Investigation of this kind
proves pretty conclusively that these
reversals have come in great meas,
ure from sudden upset of the spirit
of team. This upset may be through
fumbling at critical moments, seri.
Gus mistake in judgment or knowl.
edge; of rule, or some catastrophe
of kind that has strong psychology.
cal effect on the team. Pittsburgh's
situation in the Navy game was
brought about by tumbling and mutt
ing; Minnesota's in the Illinois game
through a lack of snap in the plays
and the sudden depression caused by
the nterception of forward pass
which resulted in the appalling score
of "a to 0 against it in the very first
period The Yale-Brown score was
due to too hard line plunging by Yale
i'll the early periods, followed by a
couple of brilliant runs by Pollard, who
had seemingly been unable to get
loose in the first two periods. Many
of the teams were put into difficulties
through poor kick at a critical mo-
ment. In fact, the longer one con-
siders the seasons play the more the
conviction is pressed home that neither
teams nor individuals exhibited the
consistency that has characterized
other seasons.