Sept. 12, 2007

By Jim Sumner
TheACC.com

"There was a great offense on the field today and there was a great defense on the field. Unfortunately, Carolina had both of them."

That was North Carolina State coach Bo Rein, trying to figure out how his 1977 Wolfpack had just lost big to its rival from Chapel Hill. The 1977 Tar Heels did that to lots of teams. Boasting a potent offense and perhaps the best defense in ACC history, Bill Dooley's last North Carolina team blew through an ACC so strong that for the first time the league produced four bowl teams and four teams with at least eight wins.

The seeds for UNC's 1977 dominance were planted two seasons earlier, in the ruins of a 3-7-1 disaster. Defensive tackle Dee Hardison remembers, "It was embarrassing. The media blasted us, the fans blasted us and they were right."

It was back to the woodshed. "We despised losing," says Hardison. "We hit the weights, we got bigger, we got stronger, we got faster. We grew together. We became a family."

Dooley hired Tom Harper to coach the defensive line. "He was a great teacher," according to Hardison. "He improved our technique, got us lower, improved our explosion."

Harper wasn't the only great teacher. Dooley had put together a staff for the ages. Tailback Doug Paschal says, "It was like a classroom. These guys knew their stuff and knew how to teach it." Assistants Harper, Jim Donnan, Al Groh, Gary Darnell and Jim Dickey had all either been head coaches or would later become head coaches.

North Carolina went 9-3 in 1976 but a loss to NC State kept them from the ACC title. The Tar Heels returned most of the defensive starters from 1976 and added tackle Rod Broadway, who missed the previous season with an injury. Most of the defensive players shaved their heads at the beginning of the season in a show of solidarity. Hardison, Broadway, and nose tackle David Simmons were the linchpins of the defense. Hardison, 6'4", 255 pounds and faster than most backs, was simply unblockable by one man. Broadway wasn't as gifted as Hardison but was almost as effective. Linebacker Buddy Curry says, "Rod was a great technician and was very smart. He was never out of position."

Hardison, Broadway, and Simmons clogged up the middle, enabling players like Curry, end Ken Sheets and linebacker Bobby Cale to go after the ball. Curry says, "We had incredible freedom to make plays. The big guys up the middle gave us the chance to chase people."

Dooley notes, "Curry was our big-play guy. He was one of those players who was always around the ball."

Led by hard-hitting Alan Caldwell and Ricky Bardens, the secondary was as effective as the front seven. Hardison says, "Our defense was disciplined but aggressive. It was designed to attack, to force turnovers, to intimidate. We got after it."

The defense was so talented that a youngster named Lawrence Taylor couldn't break into the rotation.

The offense needed more work. Tailback Mike Voight was the ACC Player of the Year in 1975 and 1976 but he had graduated. UNC got a glimpse of life after Voight when he missed the 1976 Peach Bowl with an ankle injury and Kentucky shut down Carolina, 21-0. Voight wasn't the only loss from 1976. Most of the offensive line also graduated. Offensive returnees included quarterback Matt Kupec, receiver Mel Collins, and guard Mike Salzano.

As fate would have it, UNC opened 1977 on the road against Kentucky. Football isn't normally the first sport one associates with Kentucky, but under Fran Curci, the Wildcats were nationally competitive during this period. They were also serving an NCAA probation for recruiting violations. UNC's defense controlled Kentucky's offense but a fumble on a punt led to a late UK touchdown and a 10-7 Kentucky win. Kentucky would end the season 10-1, ranked sixth in the AP poll.

The schedule got a lot easier. The Heels cruised over Richmond 31-0 and Northwestern 41-7. Then the schedule got tougher again. Texas Tech came to Chapel Hill, a rematch of a Sun Bowl game played five seasons earlier. Again, Carolina's offense sputtered and a late field goal gave the visitors a 10-7 victory.

North Carolina began the season trying to replace Voight with running-back-by-committee - Paschal, 250-pound Billy Johnson, Phil Farris, Delbert Powell, and others. Gradually, a freshman, "Famous" Amos Lawrence, emerged as first-among-equals. The speedy Lawrence was a different type of runner than the Don McCauleys and Mike Voights who had made Carolina "Tailback U". Hardison claims that Lawrence "could run faster sideways than most people can run forwards."

Paschal gives a running back's perspective. "Amos had that ability to turn a simple, off-tackle play into something big. He had that extra bounce to get outside, the ability to make people miss, and the speed to out run defenders. It was a lethal combination."

Paschal adds, "Practicing every day against that defense helped the offense get better. These guys were ready to put it to us in practice every day and we had to get better just to survive. Dooley epitomized smash-mouth football and he stockpiled well-disciplined linemen and backs. We just had to get the experience."

Texas Tech ended the non-conference portion of UNC's schedule for a few weeks. The defense keyed a 24-3 win over Wake Forest in the conference opener. Carolina took a 7-3 lead when defensive back Bernie Menapace hit Wake Forest's Ronchie Johnson, forcing a fumble that Caldwell took 72-yards for a score and Wake never got close again.

A trip to Raleigh and NC State was next. The Wolfpack was on a five-game winning streak that included a 24-20 win over Maryland and a 17-15 squeaker over Auburn. Led by running back Ted Brown and quarterback Johnny Evans, NC State figured to give UNC's defense its stiffest test yet. It wasn't close. The Wolfpack didn't even cross midfield until late in the third quarter and the peerless Brown was held to 51 rushing yards. Curry gave UNC the early lead when he scored on a 31-yard interception return. "My eyes were as big as saucers," he says. "It just opened up like Christmas morning."

On offense, Lawrence shaked and baked for 216 yards and the usually conservative Heels even converted a fake field goal, setting up a touchdown. It was 27-0 before State scored two late touchdowns, to make the score a more respectable 27-14.

North Carolina's special teams also were an asset against State. In addition to the fake field goal, North Carolina got a 50.4 yard average from punter Johnny Elam and a pair of field goals from reliable Tom Biddle. Biddle would end the season with 15 field goals, many of them crucial kicks.

The Tar Heels took one final trip outside the ACC, defeating South Carolina 17-0. They held the Gamecocks to 166 yards in total offense. Biddle kicked a 43-yard field goal late in the second quarter for the only first-half score. A Lawrence touchdown gave Carolina some breathing room at 10-0.

Maryland was next, in College Park. The Terrapins had won the three previous ACC titles and had not lost a conference game at home since 1972. NC State had defeated Maryland earlier in the season in Raleigh, so the Terps needed a win to stay in the championship picture.

Maryland drew first blood. Lloyd Burress picked off a Kupec pass and returned it 63 yards to the UNC 2, setting up a touchdown run by Steve Atkins. Later in the first half, Maryland drove deep into Carolina territory. Maryland coach Jerry Claiborne disdained the field goal on 4th and goal from the one. George Scott got the ball but never made it out of the backfield.

Buddy Curry went on to play eight seasons in the NFL, so he has a lot of football behind him. But he remembers this play. "Our defensive line just broke down the blocking. I had a free shot and I stuck him."

The score stayed 7-0. Atkins didn't play in the second half due to injury and Maryland's offense became totally ineffective.

Still, Carolina had to score and Maryland wasn't making it easy. They didn't get the equalizer until the final minutes of the third quarter when Kupec hit Collins from the Maryland 35. The Terps fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Ken Mack pounced on the loose ball for UNC. Biddle kicked a 25-yard field goal, making it 10-7.

The UNC defense made the fourth period a miserable experience for Maryland quarterback Larry Dick. Ricky Barden picked off a pass to set up a 30-yard Biddle field goal. Caldwell picked off another errant toss and Biddle connected from 25 yards out. The third interception of the quarter, this one by Bobby Cale, sewed up the 16-7 win. Hardison says, "To be the champions, we had to beat the champions."

With the Maryland win, North Carolina was 3-0 in the ACC. Everybody else had at least one loss and UNC finished with road games against two teams from the bottom half of the standings. But first, the Clemson Tigers were a major hurdle and they would prove to be a significant obstacle. Clemson had lost its opener to Maryland 21-14 but came into Chapel Hill with seven straight wins after that loss, including 7-6 at Georgia and 7-3 over NC State.

Perhaps more importantly, Clemson had won three of its last four meetings with UNC. Curry recalls, "Clemson was always the most physical team we played. They were deep and strong. We usually wore teams down over the course of a game but we couldn't wear them down."

Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller and wide receiver Jerry Butler were as talented as anyone in the ACC at their positions and the Tigers had a platoon of tough running backs. They were able to do something that no other ACC school could do, sustain two, long scoring drives with the game on the line: the first an 83-yard drive, the second covering 84 yards.

Lawrence ran for 150 yards on 17 carries for UNC, including a 59-yard scoring run. That touchdown gave North Carolina a 10-7 lead at the half. The score held up until the early part of the fourth quarter, when Lester Brown's two-yard run put Clemson back on top. However, Obed Ariri missed the extra point, his first miss of the season. And it came back to haunt the Tigers.

Still leading 13-10, Clemson drove to the UNC 18 and threatened to put the game on ice. However, Fuller and Brown botched the handoff and Carolina fell on the loose ball. They had six minutes left. But they would have to come back without Kupec, out with a shoulder injury. His replacement, Clyde Christensen, was living a backup's dream - a chance to come in and save the day. Christensen completed a pair of third-down passes and fullback Bob Loomis busted a 24-yard run on a draw play. The drive stalled at the 13 and Biddle came in and coolly drilled the field goal, his second of the game, with ninety seconds left. The game ended in a 13-13 tie.

Curry says, "We considered ourselves lucky to come away with a tie. We were worn out."

Dooley just laughed at those who criticized Carolina's decision to go for the tie. "We wanted to win the game but winning the ACC was more important. A tie was the same as a win for us. It was a no-brainer. We'd be dumb to do it any other way."

The ACC heavyweights were in the rear-view window but North Carolina still had to maintain its focus for the final two games. A trip to Charlottesville ended in an easy 35-14 Carolina win. Lawrence, a native of Virginia Beach, made a triumphant return to his home state with an ACC-record 286-yard rushing performance. Any chance Duke had of pulling off the season-ending upset ended when its star quarterback Mike Dunn was knocked out of the game. The final was 16-3 and UNC had the ACC title wrapped up.

Hardison ended up as a first-team All-American and was joined on the All-ACC first team by Broadway, Sheets, Curry, Caldwell, Lawrence, and Salzano.

The Liberty Bowl game was a disappointing 21-17 loss to Nebraska. North Carolina led 17-7 after three quarters but Nebraska reserve quarterback Randy Garcia led two late-scoring drives, the game-winner coming after a fumble recovery at the UNC 43.

Dooley left Carolina the following January for Virginia Tech, which offered him the chance to be both head coach and athletic director. "I wasn't looking to leave," he muses, "but when they offered me both jobs, that got my attention. I just couldn't turn it down."

Dooley maintains that 1977 "was my best defensive team, no doubt about it. Good athletes, determined to win, with a desire to excel. They found a way to make plays. You can't top that."

The statistics support that view. UNC ended the regular season with only 81 points allowed, an average of 7.4 points per game. That led the NCAA and is still a source of pride for Hardison, who now lives and works in Fayetteville. "It just shows how far we had come. I tell people all the time that I played on the best defense in the country. And we did it as a family."

Curry agrees. "We had a lot of talent on that team but what made it memorable was that we had so much chemistry. The teamwork and camaraderie is what I remember more than the wins and losses."

---

Jim Sumner's articles on southern sports history have appeared in the ACC Handbook, the ACC Area Sports Journal, Blue Devil Weekly, Inside Carolina, the Wolfpacker, Baseball America, Basketball America, and other publications. His latest book, Tales From the Duke Blue Devils Hardwood, was published in 2005. In his bimonthly column "Looking Back... by Jim Sumner", he will examine the rich history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

This article can not be copied or reproduced without the express written consent of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

E-mail Jim Sumner