Early Use of the T-formation in Football
1910 at College of Emporia

    The original T formation is seldom used today, but it was successful in the first half of the 20th century and led to a faster-paced, higher-scoring game. The T formation was made famous by the University of Minnesota in the 1930s and 1940s to win five national titles and by the University of Oklahoma in the 1950s to win 47 games in a row and three national titles.  The key innovations of the T, however, still dominate offensive football.
     The T was the first offense where the quarterback took the snap from under center and then either handed off or dropped back to pass. Earlier offenses used the QB (usually called the "blocking back") primarily as a blocker and the snap usually went to a halfback or tailback. The quarterback under center makes offenses very unpredictable since it is difficult to predict the play called based on formation alone. Second, the T allowed running backs to receive the hand-off from the quarterback and hit the "hole" at near full speed. This allowed more complex blocking schemes and gave offenses a temporary, but significant advantage. Other advantages offered by the T were: the ability of the QB to fake various handoffs (which led to "option" plays), plays developed much faster than with the single-wing, far fewer double-team blocks were required because the back hit the hole more quickly, the back could choose a different hole than originally planned (due to single-blocking across the line), the center was a more effective blocker because his head was up when he snapped the ball, and backs could be less versatile than required of single-wing backs.

   Hargiss himself had used the quarterback option and lateral to a trailing back from a T with the line spread back as early as 1910 at College of Emporia, his first college coaching job.

Markley declaration   player witness from 1910

Emporia Gazette   sports editor E. T. Lowther describes in 1954 column

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame  from the website

K C Star  Pierce "Buck" Astle's remarks, player for Hargiss at KSN