2 The Daily Tar Heel Saturday, October 23, 1976
Pirates hope for swashbuckling season
Pat Dye's band of Buccaneers
invade landlubbing Tar Heels
by Grant Vosburgh
Sports Editor
As the 50,000 spectators filed out of
Kenan Stadium a week ago, a distraught
Carolina student was heard to say,
"Thank God for basketball season. The
Blue-White game's only a month away."
Indeed, the Tar Heels' 71-13 loss to
N.C. State Saturday was a big
disappointment for both fan and player
alike. The whole Chapel Hill
atmosphere was geared for a victory
over the rivals from Raleigh.
The Carolina defense was no match
for the State offense in the early going,
however. Three quick Wolfpack
touchdowns in the first half made even a
diehard UNC football fan dream of
Dean Smith and Carmichael
Auditorium.
But for UNC, there's no looking back
now. What lies ahead is perhaps the
most crucial game of the season for
Carolina a game that could be the
catalyst for both teams remaining wins
or losses.
Yes, there is something worse than a
loss to State back-to-back losses to
State and East Carolina.
The Pirates from Greenville roll into
town today with a 6-0 record, a national
ranking and two of the most dangerous
pair of skinny legs this side of Pippy
Longstockings.
Running backs Eddie Hicks and
Willie Hawkins, co-proprietors of the
now-famous H & H Trucking Co., team
to give ECU as explosive a backfield as
any around.
But if the trucking industry is thriving
this year, then much of the credit goes to
quarterback Mike Weaver, who directs
the Pirate multiple attack. Although
small, Weaver's quickness and sleight-of-hand
makes his execution of the
wishbone masterful.
The defense is led by safety Jim
Bolding, a four-year starter who has
been mentioned on several All-America
teams. Linebackers Harold Randolph,
Harold Fort and Tommy Summer, end
Zack Valentine and tackle Jake Dove
aid Bolding and two other returning
backs, Reggie Pinkney and Ernest
Madison.
UNC Coach Bill Dooley said that the
undefeated Pirates may be the best team
the Heels will face this season.
Before getting to specifics, Dooley
added, "First, let me say, everything
you've heard about East Carolina is
true.
"Overall offensively, defensively
and the kicking game this is as fine a
team as we'll play," he said.
Although statistics art a good thing to
have, the real test comes on the football
field each Saturday. And this is where
the Bucs have made believers
throughout the nation. They opened the
season with a 48-0 massacre of Southern
Mississippi, a team Alabama could only
down 24-8. Seven days later, a shocked
Carter Stadium crowd in Raleigh
observed as the Pirates destroyed the
N.C. State defense for a 23-14 win. After
a comeback win over William & Mary,
East Carolina knocked off Southern
Conference foe The Citadel 22-3. Next
came Southern Illinois and a 49-14
Pirate win.
Finally the Pirates slipped by VMI
17-3 last Saturday, in what was not a
spectacular win, but was good enough
to vault ECU into the Associated Press
Top 20.
The national notoriety is the first of
its kind in the history of East Carolina
football. But Head Coach Pat Dye, who
did his interning under Alabama's Bear
Bryant, said yesterday it wasn't all that
important. . .yet.
"Very few of our players were
recruited by larger schools," he said.
"I'm sure it means a great deal to them to
be ranked. But I've coached at a school
that has been ranked in the Top 20, Top
1 0, in the Top One. I know it's not where
you're ranked today but in December
that holds some real meaning and
prestige."
Dye said that UNC's lethargic
offensive and defensive showing against
State was hard to analyze.
"I was not surprised by the State
Carolina game. I was surprised that
State moved the ball the way they did.
I'm impressed with Carolina's defense. I
think they've spent more time
concentrating on the run, though, and
maybe have been hurt more overall by
the pass."
A classic understatement.
The Tar Heels have outrushed their
opponents 1229 yards to 1164, but the
scales lean heavily to the other side in
the passing department. UNC has a
paltry 558 yards through the air in the
first six games, while opposing
quarterbacks have amassed 1 192.
Despite all this, Dye says he respects
the Tar Heels.
"I know some of the defensive
coaches and I know they have talented
players. They're big and strong.
"What I'm saying is, you put our 48 or
50 players on paper against Carolina or
State, and there wouldn't be any way we
could match up. Fortunately, we have
1 1 on the field that match up reasonably
well."
This is a big game for both teams. A
UNC victory could keep bowl hopes
alive and stave off a nosedive following
losses to Missouri and State.
But what's in it for East Carolina?
Last year, the 38-17 Pirate win gave
Greenville folks the satisfaction of
drubbing a Carolina club. Could a
season with wins over both State and
UNC enhance ECU's chance for
entrance into the Atlantic Coast
Conference?
Maybe so. But if Pat Dye is thinking
along those lines, he's keeping it to
himself.
"A win over Carolina at this time in
our season could be the best thing that's
ever happened to us," he said. "We
could get ready to play the rest of our
games knowing that we can line up with
other teams.
"What I'm saying is," he said with a
pause, "a win over Carolina Saturday
would make our chances to go
undefeated a whole lot better."
And it might make Carolina fans
more impatient for the Blue-White
basketball game.
Hie Modem
rjjp Jazz Quartet
p X J Comes to Carolina October 31,
f 8:00 P'm-in Memorial Hall.
(ffj $5 TOCECETS
on sale now at the Union Desk
A Carolina Union presentation
On the cover
Staff photographer Bruce Clarke was
on the sidelines during the Carolina-State
game and took these pictures of Mike
Voight (top) picking up yardage against
the Wolfpack and Matt Kupec (bottom)
rolling out to avoid a State defender.
Voight picked up 84 yards, one more than
was needed to break Don McCauley's
Carolina and ACC rushing record.
Kupec passed for 158 yards in his first
collegiate start.
I ZZ ' 1 "Jypi-V A
It's Gonna Taste
So Good