The Wilmington morning star., 1947-11-09

a SndVely IS GpOltGd W hoFS
an offense-minded coach. Snavely, being the soft-spoken mentor
of the North Carolina Tar Heels, makes news when he speaks
Wade, being the head publicity man Tor the UNI rloS'er
makes news when he listens. So we have news
Snavely says he always has been offensive offensive
minded, we mean. And he says he always will be. Or at least
Wade says Snavely says SO. We are gonna get this right.
Now we are not the least bit qualified to speak with any
authority on Snavely, except that when ne was ploung ne
Cornell football teams some years back, we watched the Big Red
do business in a big way more than once.
But, it is our private belief that snavely is not offensive
minded. that is. We think this, because the cagy Carl has
neglected to introduce the explosive T formation at the nj
versty of North Carolina.
Now it is not our intention to claim that the T formation
attack is a better all round system to use than the single wing
80 religiously employed by snavely, but we do claim the spread
formation is better for "an offense-minded coach:
We privately think land this is very private) that the
Tar Heels themselves would like to see their coach give the
T a chance to click, especially in view OF the fact that oppos-
ing teams have pretty we'll stopped the UNC attack this season.
The single wing doesn't explode, though it may in the long
run grind out a smoother offensive march.
Used with a smart signal caller and field general, and with
men who have glue on their fingers and do not get into the habit
of fumbling too frequently Ghunbling is frowned upon at most
schools), the T attack is easily the most menacng. With a break
away runner like Charlie Justice (well he WAS), the T can't
be beaten.
Let's look at it in action. Remember the pro teams almost
all employ the formation which George Halas OF the Chica-
go Bears introduced. And the pro teams must give a good
account of themselves, win or lose, in order to keep bread
on the table, and oeo on the bread.
One week ago today, the Boston Yanks were leading the
Bears 24-14 with three quarters gone. That amt supposed to
happen, yknow. The Bears don't like to lose. So Halas talked
to 'em for q minute on the sidelines.
And the the greatest field general and passer of them
all, aging Sid Luckman, took over. In eight consecutive plays,
with Luckman completing six out of six passes, the Bears
racked up six points, plus the big one after the touchdown.
The march carried "A yards. and it was a Bear 7 party in
Boston.
And after the kickoff. and the Yanks punted, the Luckman-
led Windy City champs rocketed 81 yards in seven plays for
another six-then seven points, to win the ball game 1924.
The second march was primarily on the ground. But
scoring NAV eliminated in a Luckman to Ken kavanaugh
pass, the first for seven yards and the second for IS yards.
Each brought home six points. Kavanaugh is the old Louisiana
State all-star end, who once caught four touchdown passes
against Boston College when the Bengals won a 1920 victory.
What we're getting at is that probably only the T formation
could have produced the spectacular scoring march needed in
such a short time. It explodes, you see. 1t may backfire, but when
it works its what the crowd likes to watch, and it rolls. Beside
it the single wing is colorless.
Look at this. The Bears started that first march on their g.
Mike Holovack went % yards on a delayed buck. Then Luckman
started hurting. He hit Jim Keane for five, George McAfee for
II, Kavanaugh for H. Joe Osmanski picked up three through
the middle, and then came three more Luckman bombs. The
second scoring march was similar mixed up on the ground.
and in the air, all from the T and performed to a T perfection.
Luckman connected % times out of As attempts, tossing all
four touchdown passes, three of them to Kavanaugh. His
aeriaLs throughout the day gained 24 yards, more than the
combined ground attacks of both the Chicago and Boston
teams!
This was the T formation at its best. The Yanks used it too,
and scored "a points against a heavily favored Bear eleven.
They're not stopping the I, Halas will tell you. They
say they are, but when it scores 81 points in one afternoon,
it's still working.
And we think it's strictly an offensive weapon or formation
We think Snavely is secretly a very defensive minded coach. While
at Cornell he wasn't, but while there his single wing was match
ed with other single wings, before the T became so well iked.
Now it's a different story.
Not that the Tar Heels should change they're doing
okeh and 50 is Snavely. But his talk of being offensive -.
minded is so much talk.
When snavely gets that way, you'll be seeing Justice dart
out of a complex T spread. Or maybe it won't be Justice. It
might take a few more years to get Snavely over to the side of
the T.
Gne things certain. The old stubborn coaches who are
waiting for this new tangled formation to die Out, are waiting
in vain.
It's here to stay.