Evening star., 1939-12-06
Greater Use Of Punt,
Decline in Lateral
Shown in Survey
Dropkick Makes Slight
Comeback With More
Field GouIs Tried
BY HUGH S. FULLERTON, Jr.

By HUGH S. FULLERTON, Jr.
NEW YORK, Dec. 6.-Develop-
ment of the forward pass as an in
tegral part of well-rounded attack,
rather than as mere threat or the
sole offensive weapon, was the prin-
cipal trend of the 1889 football sea-
son noted today in the annual As
sociated Press survey of what is what
on the gridiron.
Together with that went the more
liberal use OF the kick. especially the
quick kick, as an offensive weapon
and the further development of
varied defenses to meet equally
varied attacks.
The spectacular but dangerous
lateral pass suffered another decline
in popularity and observers in most
regions declared it was as dead as
the chrysanthemum haircut. Only
the Rocky Mountain area. where
teams took advantage of a dry sea-
son after the rain and mud OF 1888
to cut their fanciest didoes, reported
any great use of the lateral.
Dropkick Slightly Revived.
But coaches and qualified observ-
ers nearly everywhere said there
was more forward passing, or that it
was more effective" In several
cases, the reports were that fewer
passes were thrown, but that the
gains were greater. This was true
especially in the South and South
west.
The drop kick as a means OF pro-
ducing field goals and points after
touchdowns experienced a slight re-
vival; field goal attempts were more
frequent, and in many places punt
ing came into its own as a weapon
of offense. This was noted, for ex-
ample, by Yale's coaches. A Big
Six observer reported the quick kick
had become practically a part OF
every teams routine in that con-
ference.
Such widely separated colleges as
Holy Cross, Marshall of West Vlr-
ginia. Arkansas and the University
of Portland used the quick kick
effectively.
The number of forward passes
tried generally depended upon the
ability of the passers, though several
teams resorted to aerial tactics be-
cause they lacked fast backs who
could run through broken fields.
Texas Aggies Favor Power.
Where the use of the forward pass
declined, it was noted there was
strong tendency to mix 'em up"
The deep South and the Southwest,
which had become known as the
passingest sections in the last few
years. began the swing in the other
direction. ,.....
The Texas Aggies. for example,
won the Southwest Conference
crown with a/minimum of passing.
They had the power and used it.
Their opponents were looking for
pitching. Other reports from the
Southwest noted more running and
more scoring on running plays.
The Southeastern Conference
powers, notably Tulane, put their
faith in sheer power, although teams
with less strength continued to toss
far and often. So did those teams
blessed with star passers, or re-
ceivers.
From New England, however,
came the word there was less stress
on passing because even such teams
as Boston College and Holy Cross
found that Charley O'Rourke and
Ronnie Cahill couldn't carry them
alone.
Lateral Is Too Risky.
Coach Emery (Swede) Larson Of
Navy summed up the case against
the lateral thus: The defense solved
it early, and penalties for miscues
were too great to make the weapon
popular.
The use of the flve-man line and
other defensive variations apparent
ly had become old stuff in a good
many places, but at Yale there was
noted vast improvements in de-
fensive tactics" Marquette saw the
five-man line oftener, and the Pa
cific Coast went in strongly for
varied setups. Santa Clara, for ex-
ample, used five different defensive
formations in four of its games.
The usual sad tales of games lost
by fumbles poured in, but the number
generally was reported "about the
same" They were most frequent
where the players were green" But
there was only one explanation Of
1t all. It wasn't the weather this
time, but at Michigan it was said the
more complicated offensive ma
neuvers, with the extra ball han
ding, led to fumbling, and that the
backs generally seemed to be carry
ing the ball more loosely since they
knew no one else could pick 1t up
and run, If they did drop it.