Rule Change Permits Free Subs; Yovicsin Considers Two Platoons

The two-platoon system will return to college football next year.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee voted Sunday to allow unlimited substitutions every time the ball changes hands. That means coaches will have no difficulty sending in offensive and defensive platoons.

"The only hedge is that we'll have to teach half the kicking game to our offensive team and half to the defense," Harvard coach John Yovicsin said.

Yovicsin, in the annual report each coach submits to the American Football Coaches Association, asked for what most other college coaches also wanted--completely free substitution along the lines of pro football.

But, short of that, the coach recommended the adoption of a rule similar to the one the Rules Committee just adopted.

Yovicsin said at that time that he thought two-platoon football was "a real break for the Ivy League. We can cut down on practice time, because you can teach a boy more defense in an hour and 15 minutes of one-way practice than in an hour and forty-five minutes of two-way practice.

"It should reduce injuries, because the boys know their jobs better. And it increases the number of boys playing football."

About half the teams in the Ivy League used specialized platoons this year. Yovicsin considered it, but decided not to when pre-season injuries seriously depleted his halfback and tackle corps.

By the Yale game, however, the coach was substituting as entire backfield, one and, one tackle, and two linebackers on defense.