University of Virginia Library

Offensive Year In ACC

By Gordy Rawles

Cavalier Halfback Dave Wyncoop Scores Against Tulane; Ref Signals, Wave Players Trail

Photo By Bob Gill

Hopefully, Virginia Fans Will View Similar Scene This Saturday Against Maryland's Hapless Terps

Saturday, November 23 is the
last day of the 1968 football season
as far as the University of Virginia
and the entire Atlantic Coast
Conference is concerned. A Wahoo
victory on Saturday would clinch
third place in the conference, a 7-3
mark, and their most successful
season since 1953. Elsewhere,
Clemson, 4-0-1 in the conference,
bids for their third
outright title with a victory over
upset minded South Carolina, and
Duke eyes a first division spot and a
win over arch-rival North Carolina.

The Cavaliers, the ACC's
all-time scoring champs, entertain
Maryland in Charlottesville,
Duke, the ACC's all-time yardage
champs, visits Chapel Hill.
Meanwhile, the championship
hopes of N.C. State, with a final
conference record 6-1, ride on the
success of South Carolina, cast as
the spoiler of the ACC. Clemson
must come up with a win over the
Gamecocks, for should they lose or
tie, the title would go to State's
Wolfpack.

If Virginia and Clemson win, it
will mark the first time since 1963
that three conference teams have
finished the season with overall
winning records. State, 6-4, is the
other team with that distinction.
South Carolina may have dashed
the title hopes of Virginia, but a 7-3
record and a first-division finish are
still very much in sight.

The Atlantic Coast Conference
team statistics race reads like a
Virginia handout, with an
occasional reference to Duke. The
Cavaliers lead in four of eight
categories and trail by a narrow
margin in a fifth, while the Blue
Devils are tops in two.

Virginia is the rushing leader,
both offense and defense, the total
defense leader, and tops in the
scoring column. The Wahoos also
excel in total offense where Duke
leads by a 5 yards; both
teams are ahead of any previous
record for moving the football from
scrimmage.

The Blue Devils have gained
3,818 yards to 3,813 for the
Cavaliers. With Leo Hart, the
individual leader in total offense
and a 260.7 yard average per game
in passing offense, it might appear
that Duke would run away with the
total offense category; however,
Virginia could still capture this fifth
title if UNC, leader in passing
defense, can stop the air attack of
the Blue Devils' sophomore ace.

The word of the year in the
ACC is "offense," but the name of
the year is yet to be determined -
Frank Quayle or Buddy Gore. The
two halfbacks, Quayle of Virginia
and Gore of Clemson have some
things in common. Both are seniors,
both have been all conference and
both, after 29 games, have
accumulated 2,479 yards rushing.
This figure, a mile and two-fifths, is
the most rushing yardage ever by a
back in the history of the ACC.

In his career Gore has carried
the ball a record 568 times and has
averaged 4.36 yards a rush. He
holds the ACC's single season
record for yards rushing with
1,045.

Quayle has carried the ball 480
times and has a per carry record of
5.07. He is the ACC's all-time
scoring leader with 33 touchdowns
and 198 points.

They have only met on the
gridiron once, and that was
September 24, 1966. Clemson won
that game 40-35. Gore ran 25 times
for 117 yards and scored once.
Quayle had only 11 yard rushing,
but caught seven passes good for
103 yards, a total of 114 yards of
offense. He scored twice.

Gore, in two tries against South
Carolina, has gained 319 yards
rushing. Quayle has 312 yards
rushing against Maryland. Each has
had his best individual game in the
particular series. Gore had 189
yards last year against the
Gamecocks, while Quayle had a
record 221 yards against the Terps
his sophomore year.

But perhaps the finest
testimonial to these players is that
their teams have had over-all
winning records during the years
1966-67-68. Clemson has won two
ACC titles and is going for an
unprecedented (for Clemson) three.
Virginia has finished in the first
division twice and is going for a
third time, both unprecedented.