The Washington times., 1931-11-26
FOOTBALLKEEPS
WIDE APPEAL,
SAYS CASEY
BY EDDIE CASEY
Former All-AmeFican Halfback and
Now Head Football Coach
AZ Harvard

At Harvard
BOSTON, Nov. 26.-Football
closes the 1891 season still pre-
eminent as the greatest college
sport in popular esteem and
hence in many ways the most
popular amateur sport in the
world. The season has been
peculiar as far as the general
economic situation n has made
everything odd, but it has In
trenched the merits Of the game
more fairly than ever in the
minds and hearts Of all Of its
protagonists.
While the crowds at the games
have fallen below the figures Of
a year ago, the drop has not
been as great as many predicted
and there were several games
during the season that drew rec
ord throngs Of 10000 or 1000.
To the football fan this sea-
son has brought many realiza-
tionS. First and foremost Is the
fact that our game is now deli
cately poised at the point where
the offensive and defensive sides
of football are about equal. This
has been the goal Of the rules
committee for many years be-
cause such a game is the most
interesting of all. Years ago the
defense had the edge in football
and scores were always low. Then
the offense became too strong
and scores Of over 100 were
common.
Teams Generally Score
This season there have not
been more than three or four
such scores recorded. Yet in every
game both teams have scored or
at least threatened, and such
games as the famous 1888 battle
between Yale and Dartmouth
have been staged which would
have been utterly impossible a
few years back.
This balance was made for en-.
couragement to the small college
team as no matter how big the
other fellow might be he'd not
injure the little fellow. and he is
not certain to get away out at
least one score against him. This
keeps the smaller college hoping
for that big chance when 1t may
score an upset by winning the
game. In this regard upsets have
been numerous at all stages Of
the season, Oregon beating N. Y,
u; st. Mary's victory over South
ern California, and numerous
other such games make football
as uncertain as life itself.
Stick to Old Systems
Such teams as Dartmouth, Bos-
ton College, Indiana, California
University at Los Angeles, have
rescued seasons that started poor
ly by turning in victories over
old rivals late in the season. On
the othe. hand the teams, Of
proven class such as Notre Dame,
Northwestern, Tulane, Tennessee
and a few others have gone
through difficult schedules with
never q let down sufficient to
bring a defeat.
No outstanding new offense has
come to the fore. Howard Jones
at Southern California developed
a new huddle, TuSS McLaughry
at Brown had a spread formation,
but the vast majority Of teams
are sticking to the formations
made famous by Pop Warner or
Rockne.
Probably the play that has
leaped into most universal use
during the fall is the forward pass
behind the line of scrimmage.
While this is not new to the game
it has crept into the offense OF
almost every coach in the country
this year for, the first time.
It has the merit of threateing
q pass down the field to hold the
backs in place and developing into
a. play tackle that requires those
same backs up there close if it is
| to be stopped.