Football History Rewind Part 60

We resume our year-by-year look at the game of football in this edition of Football History Rewind. On the docket is the 1927 College game; the rules revisions, the contenders, and the champions that made the season a memorable one.

The highlights from an official’s point of view of the 1927 season are the rule changes that occurred. These four revision from that season are the root of some very basic rules that we still have today.

1927 Rules Changes in the Kicking Game & Goal Post Location

The most obvious and dramatic rule change of 1927 was the moving of the goal posts. Yes despite what NFL films shows in the 1960's, college football first moved their goal posts from the goal lines to the end lines in 1927. The reasoning of this change was not so much for the safety aspect but for the encouragement of kicking an extra point. (Note: The NFL used collegiate rules from the League’s inception till 1933. Thus the NFL had their goal posts on the end line till 1933 then moved them to the goal lines for the 1933 through 1965 season when they finally adopted the end lines too.)

The Rules Committee recognized that the point after touchdown had become such a common mission for teams the past five years they wanted to create an easier trajectory for the kickers. Trying to get a ball to fly over a ten foot high cross bar in a ten yard span quickly is a difficult task made a bit easier by adding another ten yards to the equation. The trajectory is less steep and thus easier to produce with the increased distance.

A second change to the kicking portion of the game came in the area of punted scrimmage kicks. Punts and their subsequent returns were found to be limited as kicking teams tended to fumble the ball forward and advanced after recovery in an attempt to reach the line to gain. This trend was thwarted by a rule in which on punt plays the kicking team could not advanced beyond the point from where the kickers recovered it. This rule from 1927 is most likely the foundation for the modern rule that the kicking team cannot advance a kick.

Scrimmage pre-snap 1927 revisions

The other two rules changes of 1927 that have had lasting impacts are both associated with what offensive teams can do in between downs. The on going leveling of the playing field between the offensive and defensive sides of the ball was once again tinkered with in the name of fairness.

The first such rule prevented the offenses from stalling the game. The Committee imposed a new concept where as it required the ball to be snapped within 30 seconds after the ball was deemed ready for play by the Referee. The offshoots of this are of course the 25 second clock in high school football and the 45 second times in college and pro levels.

The second rule of 1927 that restricted the offenses was that all eleven players of the team with possession of the ball must stop completely for at least one second prior to the snap of the ball. This squashed a couple of different practices used by offenses that gave them an unfair advantage. They could not easily quick snap the ball and they also had to establish a formation, especially in the back field, at some point during the period prior to the snap.

Highlights of the 1927 season

The National Champions of 1927 was the Bob Zuppke coached University of Illinois. This squad was dubbed the “nobodies from nowhere” as they were not thought to be one of Zuppke’s best teams. The Illini finished the season with a 7-0-1 record as their only tainting was an early season tie with non-conference Iowa State.

Close behind Illinois in the chase for the crown that year were the Minnesota Golden Gophers coached by Doc Spears who finished with no losses but had two ties that season. Spears based his success on good physical conditioning and good hard contact on the opposition. The impact of this approach was best reflected in the fact that Big Ten teams did not want to schedule Minnesota. Ohio State Coach Jack Wilce may have summed the style of Spears teams best when he said, “You may beat Minnesota, but the next week you can’t beat anybody.”

Another team that nipped at Illinois heels all season long was the Pitt Panthers. Coach Jock Sutherland was in his fourth season at the school. The Panthers were ranked number 2 in the nation in the Dickinson System ratings released in December 1927. Pitt went undefeated all season long with one tie against a tough Washington and Jeffereson Presidents team on November 5. The other stumbling block to overtaking the Illini was a close 7-6 loss at the 14th Rose Bowl to Stanford. Other teams faired well in the 1927 season as well. Tufts recorded a strong record at 8-0-0. Army finished with a 9-1–0, Springfield    held a 7–0–2 record while the team that tied Pitt, Washington & Jefferson sported a 7–0–2 mark on their ledger.

The 1927 season had some lasting impacts to the game of football in its rules revisions. The next season would also be a memorable one but not for its new rules. Please look back soon to see how the Pro game fared in 1927 as part 61 of this series will explain soon when it is released

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Unknown author - This cropped photo is from the 1927 University of Pittsburgh versus West Virginia official souvenir football program, page 27