Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-12-20
FOOTBALL MEN
TALK OVER RULES
Eastern Coaches and Managers
Oppose New Plans For
Periods

Philadelphia, Dec 90 Coaches and
officials connected with the gridiron
game in Eastern Pennsylvania. also
one from Delaware and another from
Maryland, assembled to the number OF
about thirty at the Walton last even
ing to discuss the football rules and
make suggestions for changes to he
submitted to the rules committee at
its annual meeting. The session con
sumed nearly three hours and went on
record as decisively opposed to tine
Harvard proposition to eliminate the
stop-watch from the gridiron by iii
Viding a legal game into four periods
of so plays each.
Also the session recommended that
the home team supply a standard stop
watch. and passed a motion recon-
mending a rule that would keep hid
den from the coaches of the two con-
tending teams until the start of the
play the identity of the officials select
ed by the central board to serve in that
particular game.
This latter motion was pushed
through by Bob Folwell, the Penn
coach; Wilmer Crowell. Swarthmore
the Lafayette coach, and DR.. Price. of
Crsinus, the Muhlenberg coach.
Another PuzzlinE Question
point of great practical import, since it
applies to the formations used most ef-
fectively this season by the Oregon
eleven, the one he must meet at the
Rose Carnival at Pasadena, New Years
day. He claims his scouts on the West
ern edge of the continent report that
the Oregonian tackles carry the ball
after lining UP three yards behind the
line of scrimmage. The rules specify
that lineman must be five yards ue-
mind the line when the ball is snapped
IN order to carry it legally.
The Oregonians get away with it be-
cause they swing their plays off in
rapid succession at the start of play,
before the tackle has ever taken his
place in the line. The coaches and
officials pondered over the thing at
length, finally advising Folwell to tell
his captain to take 'time-out," right
after the first play, and call the ref
eree's attention to the way the men
were lined up, so that if q halfback
were in a lneman's place at the start
of the play he would be officially a line
lnan thereafter and subject to the rules
governing his carrying the ball.
The meeting expressed itself in favor
of a change in rules to make it legal
for player breaking into the game To
report to any official and for the ref
cree to be extremely careful in plac-
ing the ball after hard scrimmage
close to the goal line. Folwell brought
up this latter point, pointing out that
TWO touchdowns against Penn this sea-
son would not have been scored had the
referee placed the ball properly. In
the Michigan game, he said, the head
lineman tried to correct the referees
mistake, but was waved aside. Fol-
well argued that the head lineman was
IN a better position to see whether
the ball had crossed the goal than was
the referee.
Crowell brought up the protest
against the present system whereby the
coaches have a hand in the selection
of officials, declaring there was no rea-
'son for q coach knowing the identity
of the officials before the game. He
found an able ally in DIR. Price, and
the meeting was won over to a passing
a motion to suggest a change to the
rules committee. Crowell also .argued
in favor of rule to wipe out clipping
a man from behind. Dick Merritt, the
Penn Charter coach, backed hfm up
strongly, but no action was taken.