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 For his first two years at the University of Wisconsin, Alan Ameche was “the Horse,” plain and simple. For his final two years, thanks to the infinite wisdom of the NCAA rule-makers, he was “the Iron Horse.” In an effort to cut the skyrocketing costs of college football, the sport that paid most of the bills for all other college sports with the exception of basketball , the NCAA decided in  to return to the dark ages and reinstitute ironman football. “Two-platoon” football, which had been invented by Michigan’s Fritz Crisler after World War II and perfected by Army’s Colonel Earl “Red” Blaik, was deemed a luxury that college football could no longer afford. Blaik was first introduced to two-platoon football when Army defeated Michigan, –, in . In that game, Crisler employed eight defensive players , eight offensive players, and three players who played on both sides of the ball. Despite beating Michigan with ease, Blaik was impressed with Crisler’s innovative system and decided to employ it with modifications at Army. Digging into his military background for terminology, Blaik dubbed the different units “platoons.” Between  and , Blaik’s two-platoon teams twice finished second in the AP poll and never finished lower than eleventh. Consequently, almost every major football program in the country adopted two-platoon football. This system of unlimited substitution brought an obvious improvement in the quality of play. To carry the military analogy a step further, there were always fresh troops on the field. It all changed, however, before the  season, when the NCAA instituted its new rule that stated that only one player could be substituted between  The Iron Horse  plays. If the substitution was made in the first half, the player substituted for was not allowed back into the game until the second half. If a player was substituted for in the second half, he was finished for the day. Needless to say, most players and coaches thought the new rule was a huge step backward. Some, however, like Tennessee head coach “General” Robert Neyland, were all for the change. Neyland rather crudely hailed it as the end of “chickenshit” football. Like it or not, the rule remained in effect until the fall of , when twoplatoon football was welcomed back and even special teams—kicking and punting squads—were introduced to the game. But the original rule change also meant big changes in Madison. Offensive players had to learn defense and defensive players had to learn offense. Players who had been starters suddenly found themselves on the bench because now, instead of  starters, there were . Most of the players felt like Roger Dornburg did about the new rule. “I was a linebacker for two years and then they came up with the new rule and we had to play both ways and all of a sudden I’m a defensive halfback ,” Dornburg said. “Beats the hell out of me, why they changed the rule. It was a God awful rule.” Even stars like Ameche were affected. With the rule change his job description changed from fullback to fullback/linebacker, his minutes increased, his carries decreased, and ultimately his offensive production declined. “You bet it hurt [Ameche] playing both ways,” said Dick Nicolazzi. “It was a stupid rule. I guess the idea was to cut down on the number of scholarships they were giving out, but it took a hell of a toll on a running back to play linebacker, too.” For his part, Ameche played the good soldier. He had played some in the defensive backfield in high school, but playing linebacker was totally foreign to him. More important, by this time in his career Ameche was well aware that NFL teams were anxiously awaiting him and that playing both ways did nothing but shorten his career and potentially end it. Still, he said publicly that he appreciated the challenge of learning the new position and even welcomed dishing out some hits. “There are a lot of things to watch, where the end plays, how he shifts his feet, the movement of the tackle and I guess I have to learn it all at once,” Ameche told Bill Furlong in the Sport magazine article of November . Talking of the abolition of the two-platoon system before the season, he spoke of it as a fait accompli, as something which no argument could change in . the iron horse  [3.15.156.140] Project MUSE...

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