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UNC Homecoming

Gridders To Face 'Heels

By John Markon
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Photo by Roy Alson

Cavalier Quarterback Bill Troup Sets Up To Throw Against Army In October 17th Game

It Will Take Another Inspired Effort On the Part Of The Second-Year Thrower To Down UNC

Coming off of a three week
hiatus from ACC play, the
improving Virginia football team
will again see action on Saturday
afternoon against North Carolina's
slumping Tar Heels.

There can be no questioning the
fact that both teams want this win
desperately. For the Wahoos it
represents a chance to both gain
some respect within the Conference
by winning a ball game and deal a
ruinous defeat to a team that is
perhaps our most avid rival.

UNC Homecoming

For Carolina, though, the game
is even more important. Playing
before a homecoming crowd, they
will be trying to rebound from a
catastrophic string of three straight
defeats that has cost them their
national ranking and any chance
whatsoever they had of winning the
ACC title.

Virginia is, of course, also
building a streak as the Cavs'
diminutive winning skin has now
stretched to three games. They
were all against fair-to-poor
opposition, but the emergence as a
passer of Bill Troup, the resurgence
of a potentially powerful running
attack, and the stiffening of a
gambling defense have given the
Wahoo staff reason to smile while
worrying the UNC brain trust.

Not all the coaches, however,
were smiling after the William &
Mary game. Defensive Coach Don
Lawrence, speaking for the entire
staff, expressed general
dissatisfaction with the Cavs' play
and postulated that a more unified
and proficient effort would be
needed to defeat the Tar Heels.

Defense Shines

Mr. Lawrence had words of
praise for defensive stickouts Andy
Minton and Paul Reid, but the
performance of the offense received
no such accolades. Calling North
Carolina "the toughest team we'll
play all year," Mr. Lawrence and
the staff obviously expect a
difficult time of it Saturday.

Interestingly enough, Coach
Lawrence also stated that "ball
control" by Virginia would be the
key to a Wahoo victory. This is also
the Tar Heels' philosophy of
football, the only difference being
that Don McCauley, Mr. Ball
Control, wears a UNC jersey.

McCauley 'Excluded'

Excluding the All-American
running form of McCauley, the
coaching staff and fans of the team
Virginia Coach George Blackburn is
fond of calling "the best in the
conference" have had little to cheer
about in recent weeks. Three
consecutive heart breakers, losses to
South Carolina, Tulane, and Wake
Forest, have taken a lot of the
starch out of Carolina's incipient
football boom.

What has been most galling to
UNC partisans is the freakish nature
of all the defeats. Last week a
missed extra point sealed the 'Heels
doom, and the week before that an
80-yard touchdown pass. In the
South Carolina game a second
string quarterback came off the
bench and led the Gamecocks up
and down the field like a Roman
Gabriel reincarnate.

The Tar Heels, though, face
their make-or-break game with
some unquestionably able
personnel. In addition to running
back McCauley their offense will be
given added impetus by the return
of their injury-prone southpaw
quarterback Paul Miller. Other
offensive standouts are end Tony
Blanchard and McCauley's running
mate, Lewis "Smead" Jolley.

Carolina Favored

The defense, after their debacle
against South Carolina, has played
well but looked vulnerable to a
strong running attack last week
against Wake. A combination of
these two factors will almost
certainly lead to Carolina's being
established as a betting favorite of
well over seven points.

Traditional rivalry between the
two schools is deep-seated and goes
back to 1892 when the teams split
two games.

Our coaching staff rates this
game, along with the VPI contest,
as our biggest. The Cavaliers will
almost doubtlessly be ready.
Chicago will be heard in concert
Saturday evening and a trip to
Chapel Hill this weekend would
definitely not be wasted.