The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-11-26
BACHELORS GREAT
OR DUBS ACCORDING
TO lines STRENGTH
Rx FRANK G. MENKE

dub-according to the strength of
his line.
Eddie Mahan, of Harvard, was one
of the greatest halfbacks that ever
donned the cleats. But it wasn't
merely individual brilliance that
made him immortal. 1t was the 81
braIter line of Crimson, in the days
when Mahan played the game. Had
he been playing on a weak line"
team, it is unlikely that Mahan's
name would have been chanted in
song and story.
In the days of Mahan's greatness,
Harvard had a line more wonderful
than any the game had known in 4
decade Every time the ball was
passed. those great Crimson stalwarts
would lunge forward, crash the enemy
center, the tackles and the guards to
the ground-and there would be three
or four openings for Mahan and his
background men to drive through. Ii
was never necessary for them to
make their own holes for advance
ment. The line made 1t.
And so it goes through all the foot
ball years.
Line MAKES EN-
Pluck the greatest halfback in uni
form today from the team in which he
is now starring-play him with a team
that has a weak line-and the bril-
lance OF that man fades. For halt
back. miracle man though he may be.
with a powerful team assisting HIM,
becomes Just ordinary when he has
not a line to open holes for his adj
vance.
The Southland has produced no
greater halfback than Judy" Harlan
of Georgia Tech. In the earliest games
of the year, he was an Irresistible
force. He crashed through the enemy
lines again and again-and yet again
for gains that ranged from five to
forty wards. That was in the early
part of the season when Tech. was
PLAYING rather mediocre teams which
had lines infinitely weaker than It's
own.
But when Tech. faced Penn State
this year-thrn a different story was
told. The Penn State line was super
ior. AS a result, whenever Harlan OF
any of the other Southern backs got
the ball, they made no real gains. For
the State line knocked over the Teen
linesmen and then stepped through
and losses the runner~fOr loss.
Tech Makes Harlan
It was the superior strength of the
Tech in those early games that made
Harlan a wonder-not the individual
greatness of Harlan. For if it had
| been the latter, then he would nave
repeated against Penn State.
yla pTinRntOn II
was found that Chicago had the better
/ line. AS a result, its backs were aDle
! to make gains through holes made by
! it's linemen. When Princeton had the
| ball.its backfield men could not make
! appreciate gains because its line was
| bowled over by the westerners who
| broke through and dumped the Prince
! ton plays almost as soon as they were
! started.
! In the same era that Mahan achiev
| ed undying glory, Charlie Brickley rose
to immortality by his phenomena
! drop-kicking for Harvard. There is
! no disputing the fact that Brickley, as
! q kicker, had accuracy most unerring
! But much of i would have been nul!ed
! had it not been for the line of Har
! ward which held back the enemy lung
! es until Brickley had q full and fail
/ chance to set himself, take careful aim
and then fire with his boot.
! No Blocking Menace.
J On that day. years ago, when Brick
{ ley kicked five field goals for Har
ward. there never was a time when
there was any blocking Henace. He
might have been out on the field alone
practicing kicking, as far as difficulty
/ was concerned. For whenever the
| bail was passed to Brickley, his lines
men held back the charging enemy as
! though they were men Of putty. Brick
| ley had almost unlimited time to him
| self to pick out the best kicking spot
and to get the ball away.
! If the line of Harvard on that day
| had been less powerful, different
story might have been written, For
! no matter how great a natural kicker
! man may be. he cannot kick sue
! cessfully if he doesn't get time to get
! the ball away. And even an ordinary
! kicker can do great stunts if he car
! take all lifetime he needs TO get the
! ball away
Heston Was Power.
Willis HestOn was perhaps the
/ greatest plunging halfbaCk OF all time
! In every game where his line was q
/ bit more powerful than that of the
enemy, HestOn ran amuck. He was
an irresistible force. But the dear OLD
/ records show that whenever the Mich
| igan team in Heston's day encounter
ed another that has a line just as good
| or a bit better, Heston bucked anC
/ plunged and crashed in vain.
It's the same sort of story al
! through football history. backfielC
! is only as great as his line. If hi,
! line is better than the enemy, then il
is simple matter for him to make
running gains-or spectacular DROP
kicks. But if his own line is weaker
then he is stopped practically every
time he starts, for the enemy has brok
en- through and is upon him before he
can get away.
And so it can be written again, as i
has been written all through the
years, that;
"A backfield is only as great as his