Today's Tidbit... First and Five, Eight, Ten, or Fifteen
www.footballarchaeology.com
During the game's early years, football's rules were virtually identical to those of rugby which did not allow teams to maintain possession from one scrimmage or scrummage to another. When football went down the possession path in 1880, the rule makers assumed that teams possessing the ball would play honorably, punting when they could not advance the ball after a few scrimmages. However, Princeton had other ideas and kept the ball play and after play versus Yale in 1880 and 1881, leading to new rules requiring teams to gain five yards in three downs or turn the ball over to the opponent.
Today's Tidbit... First and Five, Eight, Ten, or Fifteen
Today's Tidbit... First and Five, Eight, Ten…
Today's Tidbit... First and Five, Eight, Ten, or Fifteen
During the game's early years, football's rules were virtually identical to those of rugby which did not allow teams to maintain possession from one scrimmage or scrummage to another. When football went down the possession path in 1880, the rule makers assumed that teams possessing the ball would play honorably, punting when they could not advance the ball after a few scrimmages. However, Princeton had other ideas and kept the ball play and after play versus Yale in 1880 and 1881, leading to new rules requiring teams to gain five yards in three downs or turn the ball over to the opponent.