Evening star., 1959-10-13
BY COL. RED BLAIK
Former Army Football Coach

NEW YORK, oct. Is (AP).-
Last Saturday I returned to
West Point and suffered for
two old coaching friends, Penn
states Rip Engle and Army's
Dale Hall. AS II they didn't
have enough to do directing
their teams, both had been
compelled to keep track OF the
. player traffic caused by the
new "wild-card" substitution
rule.
The traffic- direction handi-
cap almost cost Penn State the
game. The "wild-card" rule
also prevented an Army team,
seriously depleted by injuries to
KEY men and without depth IN
many positions to begin with,
the use of its vital pasSer, Joe
caldwell, in the crucial closing
minutes of the first half. Cald-
well had used UP his two
charged entries for the second
period.
/, Late in the first half. with
+, Penn State leading, 1913, q
pass interference penalty gave
the Nittany Lions a first down
on the Cadet 4-yard line. But
. before they could put the ball
: IN play, they were penalized 10
wards to the Army 10 Tor an
, illegal substitution.
'Wild-Card' Victim
. Apparently, Engle had be-
come understandably confused
by the "wild-card" rule-as
many other coaches have and
, will continue to be, until 1t Is
,rescinded. Rip was unaware
: that Halfback Dick Hoax, the
. man he sent in, already hao
. used up his two charged en-
tries for the period.
From its 10, Penn States ace
quarterback, Richie Lucas. tried
a pass which he would not have
attempted from the 4. 1t was
intercepted by Cadet Guard
Nike Gasp, who ran it SO yards
to an apparent touchdown:
fortunately for State and
Engle. an Army player had
'heen offside. Otherwise, Army
e weuld have trailed only S-1O'
. tied 1910 or led lilo at the
end of the half, and probably
: would have gone on to win.
In other words, confusion
caused by the present substi-
tuition rule might have cost
penn State q game it deserved
to win. and earned Engle un-
fair censure.
Meanwhile, Hall had to keep
Caldwell on the bench during
this important phase: win
:Toe in action, it is unlikely the
nass interception by Penn
state which originally gave
the Nittany Lions field position
before the pass interference, or
the interference itself. would
have taken place. With star
Halfback Bob Anderson, Left
End Don Usry and others in
capacitated, Hall was further
handicapped by an utterly use
less rule.
Everybody Confused
This new substitution rule
provides that q player may re-
turn to the game as many times
as he wishes within the same
period, provided he is the only
one returning, time is out and
he has not used up his second
charged entry.
Are YOU confused? SO are
the coaches and officials. Ac-
tually, it was not until some
time after the rule was written
and they had a chance to Scruti-
nize the wording closely, that
the coaches became aware OF
the Joker in it. The joker is
that once a player has used
'up his second charged entry,
he cannot return again IN the
same quarter under any con-
.ditionS.
In trying to keep count Of
charged entries, at least one
coach has experimental with
three segregated benches, for
players with none, one or two
charged entries. How silly can
the Rules Committee make you
get?
Oficials are equally unhappy
about it. They must keep an
individual card for each quarter
and mark a circle next to a
players first entry and an K
next to his second. The line
of. substitutes filing past the
umpire or field Judge, to be
checked of by the numbers,
;. circles and KS, is suggestive
Of the 4 o'clock shift Of guards
ina nut foundry.
: This process can slow up q
game to the point Of boredom.
: Army-Penn State took three
hours instead of the normal
two hours and 20 minutes. The
substitution process was re-
sponsible for the dragging-out
far more than the many costly
penalties incurred by the
Cadets.
Platoon System Needed
This new rule is nothing but
0 false step in what must ulti-
mately be a return to unlimited
substitution, which permitted
1iira two-nlatoon football (the