1939hotmagic
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If you enjoy Tech football history, if you enjoy learning about the development of schemes over the decades, you'll enjoy this obscure bit of football history.
The 1931 game between Florida and Georgia Tech was a clash of two future College Football Hall of Fame coaches, both of whom were enduring two-win seasons. (Tech won this game, 23-0.) Florida coach Charlie Bachman had played for Notre Dame and was an All-America offensive guard, and eventually became a coach, his five-year stint with Florida coming before a grand 14-year run at Michigan State where the Spartans went 79-34-10 in that period.
Tech, of course, was coached by William Alexander, whose 25 year record at Tech was 134-95-15 despite the 1929 through 1934 seasons being a rough go of 17-38-3.
Retired quite a while as of 1969, Bachman then wrote and self-published a booklet setting out a modernized version of the “Notre Dame Box” offense (a modified single-wing); toward the end of the booklet, in a discussion of defenses, he had some interesting remarks about the 1931 game with Tech.
“In 1931 our Florida team played Bill Alexander’s Georgia Tech team in Atlanta. It was in this game that we got our first look at a defensive maneuver that came to be known as ‘shooting the gap,’ or later as red-dogging. Against our Notre Dame shift formation Bill’s team used the regular over-shifted 6-2 defense with their fullback [modern term – linebacker] playing about 2 feet behind the line and in the gap between our end and tackle.
On wide plays to his side the defensive fullback crashed through this gap and into our backfield where he caused all kinds of trouble, which included two fumbles. . . .
It seemed that the Georgia Tech incident was the beginning of what became known in collegiate circles as ‘screwy defenses.’ Some teams smashed their ends and drifted their tackle to cover the outside. Others slanted their lines, and others widened their lines and placed their linebackers on the inside. Stacked defenses became common, in fact, coaches got a look at about every type of defense with variations that the human mind could conceive. A further development of the original Georgia Tech maneuver is the present day blitz, where linebackers and occasionally a free safety in various defense patterns break through the line to rush the passer and break up any other play that may develop. . . . “
The 1931 game between Florida and Georgia Tech was a clash of two future College Football Hall of Fame coaches, both of whom were enduring two-win seasons. (Tech won this game, 23-0.) Florida coach Charlie Bachman had played for Notre Dame and was an All-America offensive guard, and eventually became a coach, his five-year stint with Florida coming before a grand 14-year run at Michigan State where the Spartans went 79-34-10 in that period.
Tech, of course, was coached by William Alexander, whose 25 year record at Tech was 134-95-15 despite the 1929 through 1934 seasons being a rough go of 17-38-3.
Retired quite a while as of 1969, Bachman then wrote and self-published a booklet setting out a modernized version of the “Notre Dame Box” offense (a modified single-wing); toward the end of the booklet, in a discussion of defenses, he had some interesting remarks about the 1931 game with Tech.
“In 1931 our Florida team played Bill Alexander’s Georgia Tech team in Atlanta. It was in this game that we got our first look at a defensive maneuver that came to be known as ‘shooting the gap,’ or later as red-dogging. Against our Notre Dame shift formation Bill’s team used the regular over-shifted 6-2 defense with their fullback [modern term – linebacker] playing about 2 feet behind the line and in the gap between our end and tackle.
On wide plays to his side the defensive fullback crashed through this gap and into our backfield where he caused all kinds of trouble, which included two fumbles. . . .
It seemed that the Georgia Tech incident was the beginning of what became known in collegiate circles as ‘screwy defenses.’ Some teams smashed their ends and drifted their tackle to cover the outside. Others slanted their lines, and others widened their lines and placed their linebackers on the inside. Stacked defenses became common, in fact, coaches got a look at about every type of defense with variations that the human mind could conceive. A further development of the original Georgia Tech maneuver is the present day blitz, where linebackers and occasionally a free safety in various defense patterns break through the line to rush the passer and break up any other play that may develop. . . . “
