Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1912 — ANXIOUS FOR BIGGER SCORES [ARTICLE]

ANXIOUS FOR BIGGER SCORES

Football, Men Want to Change Rule* 8o Higher Counts Can Be Made Possible—Some Suggestions. Football experts the college club, their number Including several of the official rulemakers, are pretty well agreed that some radical changes In the rules will be necessary before the next season. The chief clamor for reform Is a demand for plays which will allow more scoring. Possibly this relief wllL be found by returning to a 5-yard gain for first down Inside the 25-yard line, by increasing the number of downs allowed to gain 10 yards to four, or by allowing first down after a 7 instead of a 10-yard gain. dames at Cambridge and Philadelphia show the Inefficiency of the new rules. The Army-Navy game shewed little footballexcept kicking. Dalton’s toe carried the day. Yale and Harvard dabbled with all the wrinkles of the new game, but had to resort to kicking. This constant punting becomes very monotonous to the spectator. It has entirely changed the complexion of American football. The punt was originally put Into the game not as a feature play, but as a last resort when the ball could be carried no farther by the players.. Under the present-rules the*kjck is the main thing' and the game becomes a kicking contest between two men, with the chance of picking up a fumble the chief reliance, for touchdowns scoring. Touchdowns, is pointed out, are' more satisfactory than field, goals; they are what t,he players and spectators would rather see. They represent more jfootball skill, more team skill and more actual football What is wanted of the rulemakers this winter is a game which will not further increase the risk of injuries, but which will beget some degree of finality in advancing the ball.