A drink and a show
Resident mixologist
Carl Fox explains how
to make that delightful
concoction, the Mai
Tlai, while veteran
reviewer Walter
Spearman travels to the
Village Dinner Theatre
to see Second Time
Around; both on page
3.
Weekender sports
While the big story is
football, Clemson is
also the barrier to ACC
title hopes for the Tar
Heel cross country
squad. The soccer
team squares off
against Duke at 11 a.m.
Saturday. Weekender
sports are on pages 6
and 7.
.A
L - 1, '
V i wi ruinii - ixaa IrTniTimi AnLMral
Daily ar IM
V
SHI?
V
Friday, November 4, 1977, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Heels go hunting for the title
UNC, Clemson defenses clash for all the marbles
By GENE UPCHLRCH
Sports Editor
It is late summer. Charley Pell leans back
in a chair in the athletes' dining room at
Clemson University, contemplating the
approach of his first year as the head coach
of the football team there. " What this team
needs, " he says as he scratches his head, "is a
little taste of winning. That would change
things around here."
Eight football games have passed since
Charley Pell said that. The former player
under Alabama's 'Bear' Bryant has done
something to the Tiger squad to change it
and give it that taste of winning he said it
needed. The team has won seven games and
lost one. It has the potential now to have the
best record a Clemson team has had in nearly
20 years.
But he thought about other things this
week, namely a Carolina defense, a Carolina
homecoming, Clemson injuries and an ACC
championship.
"I'm concerned about homecoming," he
said from Clemson this week as he looked at
the UNC-Clemson football game Saturday
the Tar Heel homecoming game. "It looks
like we're up against all the odds."
On the line in this game literally is the
ACC championship. A loss for Carolina
would throw Clemson and Carolina into a
tie for the lead with one loss each. Carolina,
should it lose, would have to win the rest of
its conference games (against Virginia and
Duke) to ensure a tie in the league while the
Carolina game is the last league game of the
season for the Tigers. Carolina must win the
rest of its games this season in order to secure
the conference title.
Pell, who normally gets upset at very few
things, ran down the list of Clemson
casualties from the 26-0 Clemson win over
Wake Forest last week. His second-leading
rusher, Lester Brown, suffered an injured
knee and missed two days of practice this
week. Linebacker Randy Scott, the team's
leading tackier, has a thigh bruise and missed
three days of practice. Backup nose guard
Toney Williams has an injured shoulder.
And doctors wouldn't let starting fullback
Tracy Perry have any contact early this
week.
"If we don't get some players well, I don't
know if we'll have enough to fill the plane
coming up there," Pell said.
The game between Clemson and Carolina
is expected to be a defensive struggle because
both teams have strong and experienced
defenses. But Pell said he's worried about
Carolina.
"We'll probably punt," he said. "I'm
serious about having to punt. They don't
have any weaknesses. I don't know what
we're going to do. I'll be honest with you
because, hell, nobody's been able to do
anything against them. They have the most
pressure of any team we've faced so far."
Pell said he's especially worried about the
speed of the Tar Heel defense and the quick
pursuit of opposing quarterbacks he's seen
on defense. Pell's quarterback, Steve Fuller,
is one of the best perhaps THE best
quarterback in the league.
"I don't want them to do to him what
they've done to some other quarterbacks this
season," Pell said, referring to the trouble
encountered by quarterbacks such as N.C.
State's Johnny Evans and South Carolina's
Ron Bass.
Fuller, whom Tar Heel coach Bill Dooley
called "an outstanding field general" this
week, can throw and run and even though
Carolina has encountered some very good
quarterbacks, perhaps is the most versatile
to go up against the highly touted Tar Heel
defense.
Fuller has gained nearly 1,300 yards in
total offense this season and has 12
touchdowns. He has completed 60 of 125
passes for 98 1 yards and seven touchdowns
and has rushed 123 times for 310 yards and
five touchdowns.
Fuller plays behind a big, experienced
offensive line which includes 258-pound
junior guard Joe Bostic, 275-pound senior
tackle Lacy Brumley and 24 1 -pound junior
guard Steve Kenney.
Jerry Butler, a speedy junior who
reportedly does the 40 in 4.3 seconds, has
caught 33 passes this season for nearly 600
yards and three touchdowns. The leading
rusher for the Tigers is Warren Ratchford,
who is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has
picked, up 459 yards this season.
Butjone of the real sparks for the "Tigers
one that has Dooley worried - - is the kicking
threat of Nigerian Obed Ariri, who was
transfered from the top-ranked Clemson
soccer squad when Pell needed a
placekicker. Ariri tied the conference record
against Wake for the longest field goal with a
57-yard boot and leads Clemson in scoring
with 37 points. He has not missed a point-after-touchdown
in 16 attempts and is 7 for
13 in field-goal attempts.
"Anytime they get to midficld. they're a
scoring threat," Dooley said.
Clemson's defense has allowed only 68
points in its eight games this season, and 21
of those were in the 21-14 season-opening
loss to Maryland. Scott, the team's leading
tackier, has thrown ball carriers for a loss 14
times in his 89 tackles and has broken up
three passes.
Despite the strength of the two team's
defenses, Pell said he doesn't think the game
will be a defensive battle.
"People have been asking me that," he
said. "But I haven't seen anybody stop
(Amos) Lawrence or (Matt) Rupee. Shoot,
have you seen anybody stop (Billy) Johnson
or (Doug) Paschal. And then, of all things,
there's (placekicker Tom) Biddle. With him
around, you have to play goalline at the 50
yard line.
"And then, of all things, there's
homecoming. We're playing the
homecoming game at Chapel Hill. There's a
lot of things we'd rather be doing than taking
part in that."