Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Dec. 17, 1970, edition 1 / Page 5
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5 Heels, Sun Devils in Peach showdown Th- Di y Ti Hi: iN'l 1. i if! 11! S 1 i t ! H i )1 ! i ! j ' - i - . :. I , 5 i ; I ..,- i f I t it .... " by Chris Cobbs Sports Editor Something of the legacy of the 19th f.-ntury Western desperado survives in Arizona in 1970. Arizona remains a state that is oeraphically isolated, remarkably varied Ind often breathtakingly beautiful. .. a Uate that attracts adventurers. un-seekers and a certain percentage of. I xcuse the word, rowdies. It is still a home for an outlaw, in the omantic sense of the term, as evidenced y this year's Arizona State University 'Xtball team. The team, nicknamed, appropriately tnough, the Sun Devils, consists of an xriting collection of renegade-types. Athletes from New York to lawaii-including one from Nashville, k'orth Carolina -grace the lineup. Its physical attributes are speed, lithe trength and quickness-the classic ttributes demanded for Western survival. Its best athletes, as pictured on the over of the schooTs press brochure, are ean, tanned and downright rnery-looking. Its coach, a refugee from Pennsylvania lamed Frank Kush, has achieved jotonety in his profession for the Choo Choo Justice, left, and Ken Willard, Tar Heel running stars of the 1940's and early 1960's, preceded current Ail-American Don McCauley on Carolina bowl teams. . Snnm i i emaeois by Howie Carr Sports Writer "People ask me why I came to Arizona - state to go through all this," Sun Devil lalfback J.D. Hill explains. 'Well, I came aere because of who's been here. Charley Taylor), the Hawk (Ben Hawkins), Travis Williams)-they all said if I made it hrough four years under Frank Kush hen pro football would just be a breeze." That just about sums up why Frank fvush, the head coach of Arizona State, as been able to build a football dynasty ii Tempe, Ariz. "All our efforts are aimed at making ach individual athlete realize his full otential," says Kush.. "It takes a lot of pcrifice and discipline, but it will pay dividends not only now, but in later life." That may be so, but the fact remains hat ASU "football players have even Iccused them (the coaching staff) of direct physical abuse, the pushing of fodies past their capacity to perform or ven stand up, the use of drugs on players, the forcing of injured players to :ompete with the risk of permanent rippling," according to Washington Post olumnist Nicholas Von Hoffman. "Sure we're hard on them," says Kush, vho owns a 98-30-1 record over his hirteen-year head coaching tenure, making him fifth among active coaches in winning percentage. 'To find out who's ough and who's not we make them kick he hell out of each other. But in the long un they're better off for it. They're all ery young and immature. I'm just trying o give them the benefit of what I've Rrned." Kush "learned" in Windbar, Pa., where p was one of fifteen children of a coal piner. His father died when the young tush was 14, and he went to work in pine number 35, where he'd probably lill be had it not been for his gridiron alent. Kush played for Biggie Mann at Michigan State, where he was selected as n All-America" in 1952, despite I sighing only 170 Kunds. I Following his graduation he did a wo-year stint in the armed forces, serving I Ft. Benning, Ga." j After his discharge he served as line ?ach at Arizona State for three years I'til 1958, when he was appointed head boot-camp he operates in the spring and . fall to get his players ready. And he gets them ready, make no mistake about that. So ready that 20 of them are now playing professional football; so ready that he stands fifth in the country among active coaches in lifetime winning percentage; so ready that Arizona State won all of its 10 games this year and a bid to the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30. The Sun Devils averaged six touchdowns and 515 yards in total offense per game to win recognition as the best team in the West. The wire services ranked A.S.U. eighth in the country, but the highly-respected Sports Illustrated accorded Rush's team ahead of Nebraska, which was branded the nation's third best squad by the polls. All of which would seem to leave the Sun Devils behind (which no one is going to do in a footrace) plodding but powerful Texas. Now then, since Carolina has been selected as the dude to maintain order in the saloon when the Sun Devils come east to Atlanta and the Peach showdown, what is to be done by high sheriff and Coach, Bill Dooley? The Tar Heel mentor says his team is "faced with a heckuva challenge. Arizona State has unbelievable speed. They run every play in the book and run them all well. They have terrific balance in their attack." - i .EDevi! : coaclh Kush's teams became famous for their great running backs, who were developed by a unique process. 'They've got to run tough, so we make them into blockers first," says Kush, outlining his program for running backs and receivers. "You've got to be aggressive to block somebody, 'cause if you're not they'll take your head off. When they learn to block and be aggressive, then we give them the ball." Sidelines frustrating to injured Gulhreth by Mark Whicker Sports Writer "I've been a cheerleader instead of a player the last couple of months, and it's, pretty frustrating," says Carolina safety Rusty Culbreth. Although he has been testing his injured knee with workouts and running with the Tar Heels in practice, Rusty is doubtful that he'll see any Peach Bowl action Dec. 30. "It's on a 'maybe' basis right now, and even if the knee is okay there are a lot of guys who have been playing all year that would probably see action ahead of me,", estimates Culbreth. ; : He suffered his injury while hustling for extra yards on a punt return against State Sept. 19 in Kenan Stadium. His roommate, Greg Ward, replaced him and Culbreth started working out last month. "I can run at just about full speed going straight ahead," says Culbreth, "but I don't know about cutting yet. Also, I haven't been doing any hitting, of course, and I don't know what a direct hit might mean to the knee. "I really want to play next fall. I could graduate in June, but I'm going to hang around for the games next year. We play Notre Dame and several other good opponents. "So I don't know about this Peach Bowl game. It's doubtful thai I will play," concludes Culbreth reluctantly. Of course, Dooley s stable of defenders is not exactly barren or decrepit. The Carolina defense ranked sixth nationally in rushing defense, permitting an average of but 95 yards a game on the ground. Braced by All-Atlantic Coast Conference tackle Flip Ray and linebackers Bill Richardson and John Bunting, who barely missed that honor, the Tar Heels yielded overland yardage at an average of about two-yards a snap. The UNC pass defense, much maligned after Carolina lost to South Carolina and Tulane, snapped back from injuries to , key personnel and developed into a competent unit by the Tar Heels met Duke's explosive Leo Hart to Wes Chesson combination. Hart, who broke virtually every ACC passing record, completed just 13 passes against UNC as the Blue Devils lost 59-34. - The Carolina secondary, even with stars Rusty Culbreth and Richard Stflley injured, was a mature and cohesive unit as , the season ended. As Dooley says, however, the Tar Heel defense has hardly met a backfield whose every member runs the 100 in under 10 seconds. With quarterback Joe 'Spaghetti" Spagnola, running backs , Monroe Eley (of Nashville, N.C.) and Bob Thomas and wingback JJD. Hill, the Sun Devils are the fastest in the West. Another threat is part-time tight end and part-time wingback Steve Holden, an G. .j. ator victory by Mark Whicker Sports Writer As the Tar Heels prepare for the Dec. 30 Pekch Bowl game with Arizona State, they don't really have tradition behind them, it Carolina was unsuccessful in three bowl , tries before Ken Willard, Chris Hanburger and Co. defeated Air Force 35-0 in the 1963 Gator Bowl. The Tar Heel losses include one rout, one close game, and one that the referees 4 helped fdide'JBrlie (Choopsoo Justice, UNC's most famed backy- was involved in all three. UNC's first bowl appearance was after the 1 946 season, when Choo Choo was a freshman. Coach Carl Snavely had two other great runners in Walt Pupa and Hosea Rodgers, plus promising freshman end . Art Weiner, who joined Justice on the All-America teams. Georgia was the Sugar Bowl opponent that year, with Ail-American Charlie Trippi and quarterback Johnny Rauch, now bach of the Buffalo Bills. But Snavely 's eager Tar Heels took a 7-0 lead on Pupa's plunge, and after RaucJ.scored, they upped their margin to 1 07ion a field goal by Bobby Cox. Then Joe Terreshinski passed 60 yards to Dick McPhee to set up Georgia's go-ahead score. The Tar Heels protested that the pass was really a forward lateral, and really started' booing when referee Gabe Hill ruled that end Ken Powell was pushing off while catching a touchdown pass. The Daily Tar Heel said, "We sincerely hope Mr. Hill never officiates another Carolina game." Georgia won 20-10. H L The 1948 team started off . with a vengeance, ripping Texas 34-0 in the Since safety Richard Stilley suffered a shoulder separation in the Duke game, the Tar Heels may need Culbreth in the defensive backfield against the bombs of Arizona State quarterback Joe Spagnola. Lou Angelo, Greg Ward, Richard Garrett, Tracy Bridges and John Swofford are the other deep backs available. Linebacker Jim Webster, who njured an ankle against Virginia, should play against Arizona State. Culbreth, at 5-9 and 167 pounds the smallest man on the team, describes himself as "drowning in my own self-pity" after his injury. The Tar Heels' state of mind was no better. Carolina managed to beat Maryland and .Vanderbilt, but South Carolina and Tulane both burned the Tar Heels with long bombs and won 35-21 and 24-17. After Carolina was beaten by Wake Forest 14-13, the team regrouped for four wins in a row, and one big reason was an improved secondary. Ward, Stilley and Angelo matured into an adequate unit. "I used to think I was pretty strong individual," says Culbreth, "and could handle just about anything myself. "Then I got hurt, and it was my first experience with an injury of any kind. 1 was "in pretty bad mental shape for a while until I realized thai I needed other people. They really pulled me through." alP? conference choice who led She nsiiori in punt returns with an avenge of 193 yirds ar.d scored touchdowns of 94 ar:i 73 yards. ;Tbe"'line is medium-sized md quick, like r.s defensive counterpart, according to Doiley. Staunch est members of the Sun Devils defense are Junior Ah You, a ferocious rusher, tackle Bob Davenport and safety Windlan Hall. If the Tar Heels have never met a faster; team that Arizona Slate, it is doubtful that the Sun Devils have ever had- to deal with Don McCauIey's equal either! Assurdedly not, if you listen to Dooley, who has repeatedly called the UNC tailback the greatest running back in the'country. McCauley, in making every All-America team one could list, rushed for ! U720 yards, averaged 5.3 ysrds a carrV ithis season. He picked up over half of Carolina's ground yardage, which is to sayfcsi accounted for over a third of the tearrTs total offense, and scored 126 of its 346 points. The 3rd annual Peach Bowl, scheduled two weeks hence in Grant Field, Atlanta, promises to attract a near capacity crowd of '60,000 to witness this match of Western speed and Eastern power. It is a game that has all the makings of a ,Big Shootout," which would be the secpnd of those in a month and a fitting finish. , to collegiate football in the calendar year 1 970. Kenan Stadium opener, then beat Georgia 21-14. Weiner caught two touchdown passes in UNC's 20-0 win over Duke, and Snavfc'Iy directed Carolina to New Orleans onc&i again, this time against Oklahoma. UNC drove smoothly to the Oklahoma 14 oh the game's first drive, where Myrtle Greathouse intercepted a Justice pass and toole- it back to the Heels 14. Jack Mitchell's touchdown was soon equalled by a plunge by Hosea Rodgers, but the extra point failed and the Sooners led 7-6 at half. ' r Kl ;:: Weiner, usually sure,-handed, dropped a sure TD pass as the half ended, and the breaks continued to favor Oklahoma in the second half. Mitchell's pass to Frank Anderson was deflected by Bill Flavisch, and9dropped into the Sooner's hands to set up OU's second touchdown. dklahoma won 14-6 on those two near-misses, defeating one of the best Tar Heef teams in history Weiner, Justice and quarterback Bill Haye led Carolina to another bowl bid in 1949, The Heels lost three games that j'ear to the country's finest. LSU stopped UNC. 13-7;, in Baton Rouge, Tennessee smoinered Carolina in Kenan 35-6, and the invincible Notre Dame machine pulled out of a sticky 6-6 halftime tie to win 42-6 in Yankee Stadium. Weiner pulled the Heels past Duke 21-20 when he blocked a Mike Souchak field ; goal attempt with four seconds remaining. So - Carolina went to its third major bowln four years, and suffered its most decisive loss, 27-13, to Rice. Blocking back Paul Rizzo scored both UNC touchdowns after 80-yard drives. r j I - J t ' i : Safety Rusty Culbreth ;What other people? Your teammates? TNot just them. It was! just a conglomerate of other people-everybody in general. They put all the letters that I had received on a big table." .. Culbreth doesn't feel he deserves a lot of attention for his plight. jThere are a lot of other players that are, actually out there on the field that deserve it more than me," he says. "1 just fee more like a prop to them now, rather throne of them." j-ike a forlorn Brooklyn Dodger fan on the; season's last day, Rusty Culbreth has littkti-to say or think except "Wait next year." f : i . i M ' - " f ' " Jy : ' ' " ' ' i -, i . - -" - jL ' ''' g r - j ? " -sr' k s i ; - ; w , ; ) eL ' . - ) i ' S. H S i . .. ... : ? : ' T y ' : - y - , . : - 7 . :;' f n. - . A - - " ' - v, I ' , -4 - - .. . . ' fc - -v Heel but this came after the Owls had opened up a 27-0 lead. Tobin Rote, future pro star with Detroit, Green Bay and San Diego, passed for one touchdown and Billy Burkhalter ran for two others. Twelve seasons went by before the Tar Heels had another team worthy of bowl status, but the 1963 team was certainly worth waiting for. The running of Willard and Eddie Kesler "was beautifully balanced , by. ' quarterback Junior, Edge's passing.Edge. f Jled the conference in, total offense with , 1413 yards and outdueled Georgia's Larry Rakestraw in a 28-7 Tar Heel win. Carolina tied for the ACC crown and beat the other co-champ, State, 31-10 in Kenan Stadium. An 11-7 loss to Clemson in Death Valley kept Jim Hickey's crew from winning the title outright. The only other loss for Carolina was a 3 1-0 disaster at Michigan State. Sophomore Max Chapman's 42-yard field goal gave Carolina a heart-stopping A 6-1 4 win over Duke on Thanksgiving : , IdMvHJ 1 Plrpv" jew - - --mtnrir in-in i I- iin.iii.,imi.initirllr n r. " . n n. fr-rnni.- im.... i r.i in ni-in., m 'Eridksoii comfiileiirii tieeiis laaiL by Howie Carr Sports Writer "This team can hold its own with anybody on any given day. Their potential is great, and I don't think they've realized it." That's the way Chucks Erickson, former athletic director (1951-68) describes the Peach Bowl-bound Tar Heel football team. Erickson, who has seen every previous Carolina bowl game, ranks this year's edition as equal to or stronger than any of the othr teams that phyed in post-season games. "They have just as much talent as any team, and with McCauley they're probably stronger," he S3s. "This is the strongest bowl team. The 1947 team was as good as this year's, but they didn't go to a bowl." Erickson rated the 1 947 Sugar Bowl game against Georgia, which Carolina lost 20-10, as the most exciting game. "On their record, Georgia was the strongest team we ever played in a bowl game." he recollects. "We played a , wonderful game. It was close right through, but there were some questionable calls against us. "As far as satisfaction goes, the I960 Gator Bowl was the best." Erickson says, remembering UNC's 35-0 victory over Air Force. "It was a lot easier to relax in the press box with Willard and Edge and the others out there. Heels ink the Gator Bowl thai year was ! Day and enabled Hickey to accept a Gator Bowl date against Air Force. End Bob Lacey caught 48 aerials for 533 yards that year, while Willard and Kesler combined for 940 yards on the ground. The Falcons had the nation's second-leading scorer in quarterback Terry, s Isaacson, and most forecasters thought that Isaacson would rip the Tar Heel defense to shreds in Jacksonville. But Terry suffered the same treatment Duke's Leo Hart got this year. Rartiy-waJ he allowed to get his passes off, and one he did throw was intercepted by Ronnie Jackson to give UNC its second touchdown. Willard, Edge and Kesler all scored on short runs and sub QB Gary Black ran for one score and hit end Joe Robinson for another The Falcons were plucked 35-0, with the mechanical Tar Heel ground game accounting for 251 yards. Although Carolina has lost three of four bowls, two of their losses could have easily gone the other way. o cam win the victory over Duke, an event which Erickson describes as his "single happiest moment in football. It was when that kid from the western part of the state (?Iax Chapman) kicked a long field goal to beat Duke 16-14. "The 1949 Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma was a good game, too," he explains of the 14-6 loss to the Sooners. "There was more defense in that one. Our team has worked so hard they peaked a couple of days before the game." Erickson doesn't really think that the two stars who led their teams to bowl games, Charlie Justice and Don McCauley, can be compared because of their different styles. "Justice was a tremendous passer, kicker and runner. He was more of a breakaway threat," he says. "I've never seen a stronger runner than McCauley. He knows w hat to do when he gets the holes. "McCauley is very dedicated," continues Erickson. "He's worked hard, and it shows. When considering the two, you've also got to remember the weight difference. Justice was only 168 pounds, while McCauIey's about 210." Erickson, who was 2th!etic director when Bill Dooley was selected as head coach in 1967, is pleased with the football program's progress. "What Dooley has done is to bring in a lot of local boys." he says. "This has built 3 lot of state-wide pride in the team. Our i' iu-rc's j healthy situation here." 4
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Dec. 17, 1970, edition 1
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