University of Virginia Library

UNC, Tigers Picked To Pace ACC
Terps ,State Battle To 24-24 Tie

By BILL BERNO

In what could be a portent
of things to come, Maryland
and N.C. State kicked off the
21st season of ACC football by
playing to a 24-24 deadlock.

This year's title race could
be one of the closest in the
history of the conference, with
five of the seven teams fielding
teams which are bona fide
contenders.

North Carolina's Tar Heels
will be trying to defend their
title, but Bill Dooley's team
was obliterated by the
graduation of 14 starters from
last year's 9-2 squad. Much of
the Tar Heel's success will
depend on how well a fine
group of sophomores can break
into varsity action. Dangerous
runner Ike Oglesby appears to
have shaken the muscle
problems that sidelined him in
1971.

In contrast to UNC is
Clemson, which has returned
nearly everyone and probably
has the deepest team in the
conference. The Tigers have a
strong offense, but the defense
was paper-thin last year and
will have to be much improved
if the Bengals are to oust North
Carolina.

Third place will be a battle
between Duke's Blue Devils
and the Terps from Maryland.
Duke lost All-American Ernie
Jackson, but has tailback Steve
Jones back to grind out more
yardage. The big problem for
Duke will be physical survival
in the first three games against
Alabama, Washington, and
Stanford. If they can stay away
from injuries, the Devils will
challenge for the conference
crown.

Maryland has a new coach,
Jerry Claiborne, and one of the
best freshman crops ever. Most
of last year's starters are
scrambling to beat off the
challenges of ar newcomers.
Although the team is basically
a question mark, the quality of
personnel suggests that the
Terps will be much improved
over last year's 2-9 record. In
fact, the word in Terp territory
is that there are several
potential All-Americans suiting
up for Maryland.

N.C. State has a great group
of running backs, but there
won't be much daylight for
them unless the Wolfpack can
come up with some blockers
on the front line. The
quarterback slot is Bruce
Shaw's exclusive domain, and
the receivers had better hope
that the runners can carry the
load.

Wake Forest is definitely
the favorite to occupy the
cellar, with new coach Tom
Harper unable to find the right
combination of players to
produce a winner.