Down (American football)

“ And a similarly undesirable state of affairs [Pg 28] is brought about by the term offensive when his own side have the ball. In this latter case, he seems inspired to become aggressive in his conduct towards his opponent from the moment the men are lined up, and this very often leads him to make any interference of his so premature as to render it useless towards favoring his runner. One of the first things, therefore, for a coach to tell an end rusher is that the terms offensive and defensive, as applied to team work, have nothing to do with the aggressiveness of any individual. ”

“ A few years ago there was quite a fashion for the man putting the ball in from touch to run with it along the edge of the field. For some unknown reason this play seems to have been abandoned, but it is likely at any time to be revived, and the end rusher should therefore be posted upon the modus operandi of it, as well as the best method of preventing its success. ”

“ The direct result of this was to place too few men in the forward line and too many behind it. If to-day we were to revert to fifteen on a side, there is little doubt that we should throw eleven of them up into the rush line, and upon occasion even twelve. ”

“ To borrow a simile from the football field, we believe that men must play fair, but that there must be no shirking, and that success can only come to the player who “hits the line hard.” ”

“ He has 75% inside responsibility and 25% outside responsibility. When the ball is snapped, he uses a hand or forearm flipper charge on the offensive end and brings his back foot up even with his front foot. His main responsibility is to whip the offensive end, and to close the off-tackle play. If the play is a straight drop back pass, he is the outside rusher and he must not permit the quarterback to get outside of him. If the play goes away from him, he is to trail the ball carrier. He plays just like the trail or chase man on the 6 technique. ”

“ Again we start our march toward their goal, far up the field. It is still a fight, every inch of it, but the visitors are playing now solely to save the name of their Alma Mater from disgrace. Defeat is certain, but the spirit of the team inspires its men to keep playing the game with a zeal that cannot but rouse our admiration. Occasionally their brace gives them possession of the ball and once their feared, fleet runner brings back a punt for a thrilling dash of 30 yards, but he cannot play the whole game alone to a successful conclusion. ”

“ Providing we do this, and eliminate the “easy” touchdown, we believe our opposition’s own offense will stop itself 65% of the time through a broken signal, a penalty, or some other offensive mistake. Therefore, if my boys are aggressive while on defense, we’ll probably keep our opposition from scoring about 25% of the time they have the ball. The remaining 10% will be a dog fight. Therefore, we must instill in our defensive men a fierce competitive pride that each player is personally responsible for keeping the opposition from scoring. ”

“ Rushing the passer is a good element of surprise, especially with an 8- or 9-man line. Overloading one side of the line is a sound tactic, too, because you have more men rushing than the offense has blocking, and the quarterback must get rid of the ball quickly. If the quarterback has sufficient time to spot his receivers, then throw to one of them when he breaks to get open, it is difficult for the defense to cover the pass properly.
The men rushing the passer must have their hands up high, forcing the passer to release the ball higher than he does normally. ”

“ They can't stand that smashing attacking business, but you can hold them if you try. Then, at the right time, get the ball and take it up. One touchdown and goal will tie the score, and another touchdown will win the championship for you."
"Boys, will we do it?" cried Dick, turning to his cadets as they surrounded him in the dressing rooms under the grandstand. ”

“ After the safety has lined up in his proper position and stance and sees the flow pass develop, his first step is back and out toward the flow. His area of responsibility is the deep middle one-third of the field, but he goes back facing or favoring the flow. He must get as deep as the deepest receiver and be in a position to cover the middle one-third, as well as be in a position to help out on deep passes from sideline to sideline. He must remember he is the safety, and he must prevent the touchdown regardless of where the ball is thrown. ”

“ It is an offensive must for a team to be able to go wide and to get the long gainer. Occasionally all of us get a good gainer from the inside attack, but most long gainers are from passes or some form of wide attack.
Previously we operated on the assumption if we could gain four yards on each play we would score with a sustained drive. Statistics will prove a team will generally stop itself by some error, or the defense will stop the offense, before the attack can make four consecutive first downs or gain 50 yards, a majority of the time. Consequently a team must perfect its wide game. ”

“ However, in order to do an intelligent job of planning our attack versus the numerous defensive alignments, one must have sufficient offense since not all plays are good against all defenses.
Regardless of one’s offense, the first approach is to establish a good sound middle attack that is based on the trap, fullback hand-off, and a pass off of the same action. Unless a team can force the defense to respect the inside power and force the defensive linebackers and guards to stay “at home,” it is almost an impossibility to perfect the outside attack. ”

“ Then our play is to score by a quick run or a field-goal. The offense we're working up--we'll call it close-formation for want of a better name--is, we think, the best we can find. The idea is to open holes quickly and jab a runner through before our heavier and necessarily slower opponents can concentrate their weight at the point of attack. For the close-formation we have, I think, plays covering every phase. And so, while a good offensive strategy will be welcome, yet what we stand in greatest need of is a play to stop Robinson's tackle-tandem. ”

“ While one quarterback is playing the game, the other quarterbacks are listening. If the boy at the board fails to make a first down, he must punt, and the coach appoints another quarterback to take over. After each play the coach will plot the position of the ball on the diagram, and the players learn to know which defenses to expect. We have found, with other things being equal, the quarterback who has the mental ability to sustain the ball for a long drive and a touchdown will usually be your best quarterback. ”

“ The scrub, against whom the Varsity matched forces that afternoon, had been having some secret practice of their own, and they worked a couple of tricks on the rather surprised first team that netted a good gain, and eventually a touchdown.
"That's something you must be on the lookout for," said Mr. Martin, who was a bit chagrined over what had happened. "It isn't enough to play well on your own team, you must watch what the other fellow is doing. Now try again, and put some ginger into your work." ”

“ The quarterback must always be cognizant of the fact he cannot score without the ball; consequently, he wants to make certain he has possession of it before pulling out of there. If he gets in a big hurry, he is likely to drop the ball to the ground. ”

“ Everyone knows the effect an interception can have on both the offensive and defensive teams.
In order to do an intelligent job of telling our quarterbacks where not to throw the ball, we must know the maneuvers of the opponent’s defensive secondary on action passes and on drop back passes. However, we always give our opponents credit for being as smart or smarter than we are. They, too, teach their quarterbacks where not to throw the ball. Consequently we try to make their job even more difficult by using some stunts in our secondary. ”

“ We work hard on our returns. We want a good return so that if we must surrender the ball by punting to the opposition, we’ll give it to them back in their 3-down zone. By this I mean they must make a first down in their first three plays or they will be forced to kick the ball back to us on the fourth down. If we get a poor return and cannot move the ball and must punt it from deep in our own territory, we might give the ball to them immediately in their 4-down zone. Now we have increased their chances of scoring by 25% merely because we did not get a good kick-off return. ”

“ The only time we kick from a tight punt formation is when we are backed up inside of our own 3-yard line and it is impossible for us to kick from a spread formation since our kicker cannot get the sufficient depth of 13 yards which we think is necessary. Therefore, we always tell our quarterback we should never kick the ball from behind our own 3-yard line. ”

“ One of the greatest problems that confronts a coach is to select the proper men to start in a game. Injuries often handicap a team. Ad Kelly, king of all line-plunging halfbacks, had been injured the week before at Princeton and for that reason was not in the original lineup that day at New Haven. ”

“ There are numerous offensive sets a team can employ in order to force the opposition to cover using a man-on-man coverage. When using different sets and formations, I think it is more advisable to teach all of the eligible receivers pass cuts, rather than having them classified under pass patterns which would affect the whole team. As an example, the quarterback could call a formation that would set the left halfback right and split the left end out. ”

“ Like a shot, through the rush of men one of our ends tears in, dives for the ball, rolling over and over. He grasps it in both arms and tries to regain his feet for a run to the opponents' goal, but there is a man who throws himself at him and flattens him to earth again. It is our ball, however, but 15 yards from the goal, and a touchdown almost within our grasp. Can the team make it? ”

“ He does not know his offense, and has little understanding and knowledge why his plays are not effective. He is unaware of what the defense is doing. Generally he calls plays quickly—any play to get the team out of the huddle. He destroys team morale and spirit. His team generally loses badly. He is not coachable. I cannot build [187] a winner with this type of quarterback, and I consider him highly undesirable.
The quarterback who works to avoid mistakes is a second type of individual. ”

“ The #4 man is not blocked, and the passer is going to option from him. As soon as the passer has possession of the ball, he watches the #4 man. If he comes up to tackle the passer, the latter throws to the open receiver. If the #4 man drops back to play pass defense, the passer is instructed to turn upfield and run with the football. If our passer feels he can gain at least four yards on the play, we want him to run with it most of the time. The play is much better against a team that uses a 9-man front than against an 8-man front alignment. ”

“ When we are trying to rush a field goal attempt, we never rush from both sides at the same time, and we always play our 3-deep pass coverage. The only exception is that our safety will line up a little deeper so he can handle the ball if the situation warrants it. We are always as conscious of the fake field goal attempt and pass as we are of the actual place kick. ”

“ We do not believe a defensive lineman will ever get a straight run at the spot where the kicker’s foot meets the football if our players occupy their proper positions, unless the defensive man comes from the outside of our protection. For this reason, we feel it is not necessary for our players to block for more than a second before going down under the punt. Our players are instructed to count, “One thousand and three,” then release downfield covering the kick. ”

“ Section I. When the opponents are inside your own 35-yard line, there is always much danger of their scoring either by a touchdown or a goal from the field. Strive to prevent in every way possible the enemy's securing possession of the ball in this territory. The general policy should be to kick on first down or just as soon as you secure the bali. The danger in rushing the ball in Section I is that a fumble may occur and the ball be secured by the opponents. ”

“ The wind had in it just the hint of winter, but the sun shone bravely down and glinted on the green grass of the football field—a field marked off in white lines, so meaningless to one not familiar with the game, yet so full of meaning to a player.
Soon what a struggle there would be to cross those same white lines—especially the last, whereon were the goal posts, and to gain which every last ounce of strength, every atom of breath, every nerve and sinew that could be urged to lend speed to the runner would be called upon to do the utmost that the ball might be shoved over for a touchdown. ”

“ The hands must be used freely on the defense to jerk the opponent aside. The most effective method of breaking up the play of an opposing team is illustrated when a team possesses forwards who are able to penetrate the opposing line, starting the moment the ball is snapped and either tackling the man with the ball or so throwing his interference into such confusion that the runner is tackled the moment he reaches the line of scrimmage or even before. ”