Harlow System Still Prevails in Lamar-Coached Wartime Team

Despite wars and informal teams, one famous tradition of Crimson elevens for the past decade has managed to survive the vagaries of time and conditions the Harlow system of football, an intricate schedule of offensive and defensive plays and signals which is designed to get the most out of every run or block, to use every man on the field in his most efficient capacity, and to confuse the opponent as much as possible.

Dick Harlow, pre-war Crimson mentor and oologist, is in the United States Naval Reserve at present, but Henry Lamar, former Jayvee coach and boxing instructor, is trying to make this wartime edition of a Harvard football team come as close as possible to a Harlow-coached squad. Harlow always refuted the idea of a set "system," but many of his basic ideas on offense and defence have been used consistently, with minor variations from year to year.

Although Crimson tradition, on and off the gridiron, lies on the conservative side, Harlow inaugurated during his reign such startling innovations as shifting defenses and the T formation. Ample proof of his ability is the fact that his former assistants are now spread out in important coaching jobs all over the country, including Earl Brown at Dartmouth and Skip Stahley at Brown.

The whole trick of the system is to work out several series of plays, for each contest, discarding that bunch when the game was over. According to Torbie Macdonald, one-time Crimson ace halfback, and captain, Lamar used almost nine tenths of the old Harlow play series in the game against Worcester last Saturday.

Traditional basic formation for Harvard elevens is a Harlow mixture that has been called everything from a modified T to a modified single wing, or even a double wing. This year a fairly deep punt formation, a straight T, and a regular single wing are figuring prominently in Lamon's plans also.

Keystone of the "Harlow wing" or whatever else it might be called, is an unbalanced line, with only a guard and an end playing to the left of the center. The blocking back stands exactly behind the inside tackle, while the other three line up in a row about three yards behind the line. the fullback and tallback are behind the right and left guards, respectively, with the wingback directly to the rear of the right end.

Of course this formation can be used equally well on the left. It's main advantage over a straight single wing lies in the position of the wingback, who is moved back even with the other runners, instead of being just a step behind the line of scrimmage. This change is essential to the Harlow system, for it saves fleet wingbacks the backward steps they would have to take in the other formation.

It is the fullback who makes or breaks this offensive formation, for he is intrusted with both the deception and the power of the attack. Really the only man for the spectator to watch if he wants to see the plays unfold in true Harlow fashion, he is the one who gets the pigskin on almost every snap in this lineup, spins and fakes it to one, two, and sometimes three-on an end around--different men, often smashing at the line then himself. Of course, added deception comes in the fact that on a fast-breaking smash, the ball sometimes goes straight to one of the other backs.

This play by the fullback reached its Harlow zenith in 1937, when the famous Vernon Struck spinned, reversed, and faked his way into the pages of sports history. This year, Coach Lamar has based many of his plans on a regular T. But fullback Bob Cowen still does the major part of the spinning and faking.

One of the most important hold-overs from Harlow and Harvard strategy of yore is the policy of kicking on third, and sometimes second, down. Designed to "make the break" for the Crimson, the idea depends on a high-calibre punter and fast wingmen. The point, as illustrated amply in the W. P. I. encounter by booter Walt Coulson and several hard-charging Lamar linemen, is to keep kicking after one or two running plays, until a break comes, in the form of a fumble by the punt-returner, or a blocked kick.

Not used so far this year, but not necessarily abandoned by Lamar, is the famous "double shift." Constructed so as to pull opposing linemen offside, although no one would every admit that, it worked to the turn of just 17 offside penalties in the 1942 Penn game. The formation starts with a single wing to the right, but everyone starts moving of a sudden, with the fullback spinning to confuse matters, and pretty soon it is a left formation--with at least three of the opponents offside by them.

Just as important as the offensive tactics in this system are the Harlow shifting defenses. As the other side lines up for its attack, in any formation, the Crimson quarterback calls any one of a number of defensive signals which are designed to outguess the offensive strategems of the invaders. Every bit as hard to master as the offensive signals, the defensive plays revolve around variations of holding, sliding, or charging tactics.

Scientific is the word for the Harlow blocking system. Using mousetraps and angle, or position; blocks as his weapons, the Harvard lineman can get the most efficient block from the least power. Coach Harlow used to advise everyone to watch the key block on every play, saying that it alone determined the manoeuver's success, not the more spectacular running or passing.