As football entered the 1900s, it was a brutal, rushing game. The forward pass was not yet in vogue, so defenses ganged up at the line of scrimmage, and offensive formations were devised to displace them. Surprisingly, the "I-formation" was invented that year by Coach C.M. Holister at Northwestern University. Coach Holister stacked three backs up in a line behind his quarterback, one more than the I-formations we see now. In fact, David Nelson asserts that there is little in modern day rushing offenses that was not developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The rules committee in 1900 made four changes to the rules: 1
- A touchdown is made when any part of the ball is on, above, or across the goal line and is declared dead by the referee.
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