New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-28

Nothing original developed in the W
There was, in fact, but one thing
about the 1917 football season that
distinguished it. That was the foot
ballizing of the Army and Navy and
the college service eleven rivalry that
developed. Otherwise this season Will
be an easy one to forget.
In the study Of football tactics moth
ing is more interesting than the vari-
Gus backfeld formations which differ
ent coaches advocate. There is, for
instance, no point Of similarity be-
tween Dartmouth's rhythmic, tossing
attack, instituted by Csvanaugh, and
Penn's end stsbs from semi-kiek for
nation aside from the fact that each
tries to advance the pigskin.
Nor can the line plunges Of Rutgers,
wherein the man carrying the ball is
the only one to slap the line, be com.
pared with the penetrating lunges OF
McLaren. who is followed through by
the remainder of the Pitt backheld.
1T" Formation as Base
Michigan runs the majority Of her
plays from the conventional "1" for.
nation, while Notre Dame employs the
hollow square" Each Of these diff
ferent styles is built with the hope
that il will encourage a faster start
and afford the runner protection, and
all of them seem TO be about equal,
their efficacy depending upon the
backteld men themselves. This is on
the principle that any formation Is =
good one IL IL works.
The most stylish backfeld We hap
pened to observe this season was that
Of Notre Dame, which operated from
square formation that shifted forth
and back as the quarterback ran the
signals. But upon reflection it wasn't
the formation so much as the fast
starting and clever Logging that made
that backfeld stand OUT.
Tom Thorp, the Columbia coach, Is
authority for the statement that the
lndianans practise formations in the
gymnasium to the accompaniment Of a
piano. We were unaware OF that fact
when we commented sometime ago upon
their tango propensities.
When Berry runs from kick forma-
ton it appears that he is unaided by
any interference. That is because no
men are running near him. AS mat
ter of fact, the backfeld has been
drawn UP behind the side OF the line
at which Berry aims, and while he is
running alone the Penn backs have
alphabetically put the end and second
airy out of commission. In the case
of Berry and Penn this is more fiction
than fact.
Foster Sanford has the most inten-
sively trained eleven in the East. The
New Brunswick mentor does most
things differently. Observe Rutgers
kick formation. Instead of dropping
back ten yards TO punt, Whitehill is
less than FIVE yards behind his centre
when he receives the ball. The gem
eral assumption on a punt is that the
punrer shall stand so far back OF MS
own line that even should a rival for-
ward break through, the kick may be
gotten away before 1t can be blocked
Line Must Hold
Sanford, on the other hand. assumes
that his line must hold. and with this
vital responsibility on its shoulders II
usually does. Consequently Rutgers
gets an added FIVE yards on every KICK.
That. in an Industrial world would be
called efficiency in production.
Rutgers, moreover, discards the an
Gent idea that all three backs must nit
the line on a direct drive. In the days
when the other backs could haul their
ball-carrying brother along the ground
until he came to forced stop this was
practical and entertaining. but Sanford
figures now that two men in the rear
pushing mean little, if anything.
The main idea is to open hole some
where in the rival line through which
the back advances on his own mo-
mentum. IL is expected that the back
is slippery enough or his feet TO pick
the best spots en- route, and that he will
hold his feet at least until he bangs
into the secondary.
; This one-man proposition has the ad-
ditional merit Of resting the two other
backs for their turn at carrying the
ball. and is another step in the rehnlng
and concentrating of backheld attack.
The Dartmouth quarterback Feeds the
ball TO his men while they are at top
speed by throwing it to them distance
Of approximately twelve feet IL Is
more spectacular than the hand-to-
hand passing Of the customary style.
But as backhelds ,now are manipulated,
F. all OF the men are Iequlieu az bNiSS ~
take direct passes from the centre, and
this has had apparently no 'endency to
swell the total of fumbles. The as
sumption would be that IL would.
Percy Haughton's Camp Devens
eleven, that took Camp Upton for a
to 0 victory, will next clash with the
Newport Naval Reserves. II would APP
pear that this game should be an even
one. and with Black and DR.. Bull, Of
Yale, at Newport, and the line of ex-
Harvard stars under Hsu2hton's wing,
the game savors somewhat of Yale
Harvard contest
In the matter Of scoring two elevens
stand head and shoulders above the
field. They are the Navy and Georgia
Tech. Dobie's Annapolis team has run
I'D a total of 4i2 points to II for its
opponents. while Georgia Tech has
nabbed 423 points TO 10. No other
Eastern or Southern team has reached
the 300 mark, Rutgers coming closest
with 295 to %.
One critic makes these scores the
basis for a claim that the champion
ship could be definitely settled by a
game between the Navy and Tech. This
Is a misleading deduction. The Navy
scored her big points against easy
teams, which an eleven such as Pitt.
which met West Virginia, Pennsyl-
vania, Syracuse and Washington and