Page Eighteen THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sundav. November 6. 1955
Sunday, November 6, 1955
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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Sunday, November 6, 1955 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
FOOTBALL SAGAS:
Yost, Steger And
Grid History
Offensive Maneuvers
Cover
(Continued from Page 16)
Distant Journey, made by the
Czechoslovakian State Film Com-
pany shortly after World War II,
by its captain Herb Steger - the
Wolverines fought grimly back,
but the game was lost. Over-
shadowed by the feats of Grange,
Steger continued to plow away
at the Illini.
A .photographer on the sidelines
caught a lucky shot of Steger try-
ing to do the impossible. It later
appeared in the 1925 MIchigan-
ensian-and is reproduced fir the
first time in the Michigan Daily
today-with its original caption
"Fight Like Steger."
Steger is shown with four Ilini
clinging to him--yet bareheaded,
he is still clawing his way for-
ward. Determination like this
gave Michigan a warcry and a
legend.
BUT Michigan is even more than
"Fight Like Steger." It is
Louis Elbel, who scrawled a march-
ing song on the back of an envel-
ope as he marched up Chicago's
Midway in November, 1895.
This song commemorating a
12-0 Michigan triumph over A.
A. Stagg's arch-rival Chicago Ma-
roons, was called "The Victors."
Michigan is also the saga of the
Little Brown Jug, a worthless
piece of crockery that Yost brought
up to Minneapolis for his team's
water on a gray Halloween day
in 1903.
After struggling to a bitter 6-6
tie in the mud, Michigan left its
Jug on the bench, and the Minne-
sota groundskeeper confiscated it.
Years later, they wrote to Yost,
"Come up and win your jug back."
Yost did, and kept on winning it
for many years to follow.
MICHIGAN is many other things
--a tradition that is also ex-
explifiled by shouts of "Roll 'em
Up," those backward band hats,
the writing of "Varsity" on a De-
troit streetcar by J. Fred Lawton,
and even the historic carved
tables at the Union,. which once
served customers at Joe Parker's
dispensary.
This tradition, the fabric of
names, events, and legend, has
provided a rich backdrop for the
drama that is currently being
written by Michigan's 1955 grid-
iron ensemble. Without it, foot-
ball would be merely 22 men and
a bag of wind.
(Continued from Page 16)
ing executed. The fullbackreceives
the ball from center and starts
towards the line at a point im-
mediately on the inside of his own
quarterback, who in turn pivots
to face the rupner. The fullback
may or may not hand the ball to
the quarterback-if he does the
quarterback can hand the ball
either to the right half, to the
left end or lateral to the left half
sweeping the right end.
Another series wnich is begun
upon the receipt of the ball by the
fullback is called the spinner se-
ries. Instead of moving directly
toward the line of scrimmage, the
fullback as he receives the ball
takes a step forward and makes a
complete spin in the backfield.
The fullback can pivot in either
direction and may hand the ball
to either halfback or to the quar-
terback to start a buck lateral se-
ries in motion. He can, of course,
keep the ball after faking a hand-
off to one or more of these men
and plunge into the line himself.
The maneuvers required to per-
form a play from the spinning se-
rOes require a great amount of
skill and a high degree of timing
and is one of the reasons the full-
back in the Michigan single wing
is an extremely important mem-
ber of the backfield.
The Play...
The formations and series are
the vehicles of the various plays
run from scrimmage. It would be
a hopeless task to enumerate the
hundreds of plays which proceed
from each of the formations and
series, but it may be of some ben-
efit to explain in a general way
the logic of their use.
During the execution of every
play from a series or formation
the members of the backfield car-
ry out, as far as possible, their
own individual maneuver, regard-
less- of whether they receive the
ball or not. The purpose of this
of course is to add deception to
the execution.
The plays are planned to make
it possible to run the ball through
as many possible points in the line
as each series will permit, making
it possible to penetrate the same
defensive position in many dif-
ferent ways. Not only is it pos-
sible to hit the same point with
various backfield combinations,
aiding deception, but different
blocking combinations, can be used
on the same defensive personnel.
One may well wonder what is
the purpose for such a complicat-
ed offensive system, and why one
set of plays would not be suffi-
cient. One reason for variety in
offense, a as been ai 1
carrier passes the ball
ceiver who has slipped
area vacated by the
man.
The Punt .. .
to a re.
into the
defensive
Miss Rupa Meta of India dances the "Manipuri," a dance depicting the play of Lord Krishna. The on-
stage shot was taken by Robert Kiley with a Hasselblad, f 5.6 1/10 using using TRI-X film.
The close-up shot of Prof. Gilbert Ross of the Stanley Quartet was taken during a Quartet rehearsal
by John Hirtzel, Daily chief Photographer.
In the lower right-hand column, an artist is shown inking the finished lithograph stone preparatory to
Printing. Daily photo by Chuck Kelsey.
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provide for attack at every posi-
., tion in as many ways as possible.
Defensive men may be strong in
the face of one type of block but
weak in another, or able to stop
one backfield series only to be
completely fooled by another. And
when the opposition is aware of
the diversity of the offense it must
attempt to protect itself through-
out-allowing the offensive team
to strike at the weaker points of
the line with its stronger plays.
The strategy of the offensive
team is based on finding the
weaknesses in the defense. When
E and if this weakness is found the
offense will concentrate upon it
in as many ways as possible un-
til the opposition is forced to
compensate, usually weakening it-
self at some other point.
r If no specific weakness can be
found the offensive team may at-
tempt to develop a weakness
through use of counter plays. By
striking directly at certain points
in the defense, using specific
backfield maneuvers, the offense
will attempt to make the defense
. overly aware of certain plays.
Wen theadefense becmsfml
iar with the pattern and begins to
r unconsciously adjust towards the
. attack, the offense can then exe-
cute what are known as counter-
plays-taking all due advantage
of the elements of deception and
surprise.
The Pass ..-.
Up to this point, offensive run-
ning play has been our chief top-
ic of discussion. However, any suc-
cessful football team must include
a strong passing attack in its rep-
ertoire. Once again the plays
which result in passes are far too'
numerous to go over in detail but
certain general aspects of a pass-
ing attack are important. Any
pass play under most offensive
systems will fall into two very
general categories.
The first type of pass play
comes out of a special passing
formation or series with no great
attempt to conceal the intention
to pass, relying solely on the ends
and the ingenuity of the pass pat-
tern to send the receiver into the
open. Under the single wing at
Michigan the left half is respon-
sible for nearly all passes from
such passing series. The quarter-
back has a similar job in the "T"
formation.
The second type of pass play is
more intimately associated with
the running attack. Each play be-
gins as if it were to be a run of
some type and at the last mo-
ment, when the defensive backs
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An essential element of the ofe
fensive game is involved in the
return of a punt or kickoff. In a
sense the yardage gained on such
a return is "profit" because all
of it is gained without being
charged to an offensive down, and
further, can be made while the
defensive team is in loosely forme
ed alignment.
Because of the nature of both
the punt and kickoff, it may ap-
pear that the distance achieved
in the return is left entirely to the
devices of the ball carrier and the
chance that blocks may be applied
by the rest of the team. The back
field man does have considerably
more freedom here and greater
reliance is placed upon his open
field running ability. However, it -
is not true that he is entirely
without an offensive pattern. Ev-
ery punt or kickoff which can be
retrieved at sufficient depth is re-
turned according to an organized
play, either down the sidelines or
through the middle. Every mem-
ber of the team other than the
ball carrier has assigned to him a
blocking object in the sane man-
ner s a I-
In the case of a punt there is a
second method of negating punt
yardage: simply blocking the ball
before it gets past the line of
scrimmage. Not only has the team
gained forty yards the easy way
but it has dealt a most serious
psychological blow to the opposi-
tion. Again a blocked punt is not
left entirely to chance. When it
appears that there is a possibility
to block a punt - perhaps the
kicker is slow in punting the ball
or there is a weakness somewhere
in his protection-it is possible to
apply pressure to various points
of the line in an organized man-
euver.
A Qualification . .
It would not be fair to conclude
this article without a word of
clarification to the reader. What
we have attempted to do is to
outline in the space available
those aspects of the offensive
game which can be formalized by
the coaches previous to the game.
We do not wish to leave the im-
pression that these formal as.
pects are the only variables in de-
termining the outcome of the
game. Formations, series, plays,
and all the rest are merely at-
tempts by coaches to find the best
possible means through which
each player can express his lat-
ent athletic ability, and to offset
as far as possible the contingen-
cies that may develop sponta-
neously throughout the game.
Many variables arise in every
game which tend to defeat or aid
the offensive plan. Fumbles, bad
bounces, slippery field, outstand-
ing defensive play, missed blocks
or tackles, and enumeration could
go on and on. The individual bril-
liance of several team members
and the overall ability of the team
cannot always be compensated for
or guarded against. Nor can we
neglect the psychological factor.
Team spirit along with individual
mental preparedness and confi-
dence play a tremendously impor-
tant role in every game, certainly
a much greater part than the fan
can appreciate from the stands.
Yet the elements that make up
this group psychology are so in-
tangible and individualized as to
be beyond effective control by the
coach.
Allcof these elements blend to-
gether in each game to make
football the exciting sport that it'
is. It would be an impossible task
to determine to what extent the
offensive system contributes to the
success of each team, but experi-
ence seems to bear out the fact
that a well prepared offensive
system is a necessary element in
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Cont
From Belshaz
To The Mech
"I don't care what they write abot
those horrible cartoons?" Boss T
reaction to Thomas Nast's savage i
Daily staff writer, traces the histor
and brings out some interesting 1L
Pop-Corn Ho
The Gothic Film Society makes
standing films from all over the w
year on the sound movie, Gothic
the story of a Jewish family and i
tration camp, on Nov. 7. See Pai
The Phen
Of The Strin
Prof. Ross Lee Finney, noted com
about the "anachronism" of the
grapher John Hirtzel has caugh
Quartet rehearsal in pictures wh
:sc v.
80 Poun
Of Bavarian
Heavy limestone slabs are the firs
graphy. A printing process now pl
artist, lithography involves sever
Tyor, Daily Associate Editor, and
grapher, provide a closer view of t
The Internati
On Carl
The University of Michigan has one
students of any large American u
American here is largely unawar
international population. In a fi
Section presents the background o
gan and introduces several intere
9 through 13.
Weaver & H
Jane Howard, Daily Associate Edi
English professor who intersperses
pieces, Browning and romantic po
phy. See Page 14.
The Loneiie
In A Wil
"The Tree of Man" by Patrick V
reviewer Roy Akers a book which
and remain." White's skill of char
review on Pages 14 and 19.
The Finishi
The human male has had to sacri
but men's jewelry gives him an
stage. See Page 15.
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LINGERIE - SECOND FLOOR
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For The Foo
Phil Douglis, Daily Sports Editor, a
1952 football team, present two A
and tradition. See Page 16.
A Classic
The "long, low and beautiful" lines
car which was exhibited at the Mu
revived in Ford Motor's new Marl
619 E.
Liberty
PHone NO 2-0266