The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1941-12-11

what he knew about a passing at
tack. After watching Boston Col
Iege last fall and Notre Dame this
fall, my guess would be that In
structor Leahy knows his share.
SIN my opinion" Leahy said,
''the passing game moves in about
this order: First, the passer; Sec
ond, pass protection; third, receiv-
ing. Each detail is important.
"To- keep passing game work
ing on the winning side you must
have first-class passer-you must
give him protection and you must
have speed that can get to the pass
and then hold it,
Notre Dame this year had all
three essentials = something they
were unable to show against Army
in the rain and mud. The greatest
pass weakness is weather.
"The best passers are bOrn-not
made-to a large extent" Leahy
continued. "They must have
natural aptitude for throwing a
football. A coach can improve an
average passer-but he can't make
him into a Luckman, Baugh, an
O'Brien, an IsbeI, Parker or an
Albert"
''Or Bertelli?" we suggested. Mr..
Leahy smiled, wanly, "Or a Ber-
telli," he added.
"Giving the passer protection
and catching a ball are easier to
teach-and learn. We have devel-
oped good receivers in year. We
couldn't develop good passers in
that time. Good passers-I mean
the better ones-usually started as
kids, something like the caddies
who later on make most of the lead
ing pros.
"GoOd protection is just as nee
essary. You may remember how
well Dutch Meyer at T.C.U. sur
rounded Davey O'Brien with Al
drich and HaIe-center and tackle.
We use more than two protectors
at N0tre Dame"
There were times in the Navy
game when almost the entire Notre
Dame line seemed to be on guard
around BerteIi who was rarely
hurried or rushed, even by Nays
desperate efforts to break through.
Season Oddities
There are always wide football
ranges, but 1941 was fairly close to
the al-time record.
For example, the first five oppos-
ing teams scored 1872 points against
Pittsburgh this season. These five
teams had averaged slightly better
than 26 points game.
Then suddenly Fordham couldn't
score against Pittsburgh. This was
the main shock of this game-more
than Fordham's defeat.
Baylor, beaten by Villanova,
slaughtered 48 to by Texas A. and
M, suddenly turned on a great Texas
team, a team that had averaged
"a points a game against teams that
looked to be about on Baylor's level
and gives Texas an even fight.
Pittsburgh never had a chance
to get back on her feet after fac
ing such teams as Michigan, Min
neSota, Duke and Ohio State on
successive Saturdays.
But the Panther was on all four
feet against Fordham, which has
developed the mournful nack of
jumping off the cliff once a year
somewhere along the route.
One answer is that certain teams,
such as Harvard, start slowly and
begin moving up week by week.
Others, starting at top speed, be-
gin falling back around nid-season.
Harvard, beaten by Pennsylvania
and Cornell in her first two games,
was a match for anybody at the
end of the season.
From Coach
Question-Would you like short
tip? You football writer's build us
up beyond our actual strength, and
then a lot of you cut our threats
because we lose. A lot of us are
not as good as you said we were,
even while winning-and not as bad
as many think when we are losing.
It's the average football writer