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sports Carolina tackles MINE MCGEE D uke ...Duke coach. By BILLY COX Gamecock Sports Writer USC's football team, fresh from a 23-17 win over Georgia Tech, will take its revitalized triple option offense to Durham, N.C., to clash with Duke's Blue Devils. Kickoff time is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium, and head coach Jim Carlen is cautious. The Gamecock mentor has been trying to put Saturday night's victory on the shelf. "One game does not make a season," he warned, "and if we play Georgia Tech this week we're gonna lose the Duke game." Duke bit off more than than it could chew by scheduling defending national champ Southern California for its opener. The Trojans sliced up coach Mike McGee's troops in Los Angeles last weekend, 35-7. At home, however, the Blue Devils don't lose very often, going un defeated there in 1974. That, coupled with.the fact that pre-season reports picked this Duke squad to be the school's strongest in a decade, is a pretty good reason for Carlen's apprehension. "I think their offense will present a lot more trouble than Tech's" he said. "They have a very diverse offense, with three capable quar terbacks in (Hal) Spears, (Bob) Corbett, and a freshman we tried to recruit, Mike Dunn." Duke also offers locomotive power in its rushers. Tailbacks Art Gore (5-10, 175) and Larry Martinez (6-1, 200) and fullback Tony Benjamin (6 3,210) will probe Carolina's middle, probably in the same manner Tech did. The Blue Devils run a pro-set attack, and have a corps of talented receivers who can handle it. The most prominent name is all conference performer Troy Slade, who doubles as a return specialist. "Their linebackers are the strong point of that defense,"Carlen noted. Middle linebacker Dave Meier (6-0, 215) is an especially formidable odstacle, leading the ACC in pass interceptions at that position. While early reports hinted that Duke's secondary would be no stronger than a piece of wet KLEENEX TISSUE, Southern Cal completed only two passes against it. Carolina, on the other hand, still needs substantial improvement, according to Carlen. "My pre-season assessment of the team hasn't changed," he said. "We made some mistakes the other night that we shouldn't have. I can show you lots of film to bear me out." While Carlen was relatively pleased with his offense, citing numerous individuals for key defensive plays, he felt a painful lack of consistency. "Our defense gave up too many home-run type plays," he said. "Too many longgainers." More than anything, Carlen was excited about his USC debut in terms of spectator support. "The players really responded to all that noise. It was a victory for the whole city. I just hope it continues for the rest of the season." Gas MARK GEORGE LEARY MORRIS Clemson-Alabama Alabama Alabama Arkansas-Oklahoma St. Arkansas Arkansas Auburn-Baylor Auburn Auburn Carolina-Duke Carolina Duke Florida-N.C. St. Florida Florida Texas A&M-LSU LSU Texas A & M Maryland-N.C. Maryland Maryland Ole Miss-Tulane Tulane Tulane Penn St.-Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohio St. Pittsburg -Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Tennessee-UCLA Tennessee UCLA Appalachian-Wake Forest Wake Forest Wake Forest Citadel-.Colgate Citadel Colgate Furman-Richmond Richmond Furman Mississippi St.-Georgia Georgia Mississippi st. Miami (Fla.)-Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Georgia Tech MissourI- Illinois Missour i Mis sour i indiana-Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Notre Dame-Purdue Notre Dame Purdue Stanford.AAichigan Michig- aMican Bass read By GLENN SAWICKI Gamecock Sports Writer Last year's consensus All America, Earl Bass returned to the USC campus this week and will spend some time working out with the Carolina baseball team which has begun fall practice. Bass was drafted in the first round of the secondary draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and was im mediately assigned to their top farm club in Tulsa, Okla. He joined the club in the middle of the season managing to compile a 2-4 record. The losing record, something which had never occurred for Bass while he was at Carolina, was not as bad as it seemed. In his first appearance wearing a Tulsa uniform, Bass went six innings giving up three hits and one run. As Bass puts it, "I had some bad breaks during the season. Ap parently I wasn't throwing that bad because after returning from one road trip, I was rewarded with a raise." The jump from college ball to triple A ball is a very big one. According to Bass, "the difference is like night and day. In college, you can make a mistake and get USC begin By GLENN SAWICKI Gamecock Sports Writer It seems like it was only yesterday that the Carolina baseball team was playing the University of Texas for the NCAA baseball championship. Now it is the Fall of 75 and everyone has their mind geared for the coming football season, everyone that is except the baseball team. USC has begun Fall practice for the upcoming baseball season which starts next semester. Drills will continue for three weeks, with afternoon sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Head coach Bobby Richardson will have many gaps to fill if the Gamecocks irntend to equal the season that saw Carolina finish mnecock Predic BILLY RAY SALLY COX COOPER WILSON Alabama Alabama Alabama Arkansas Arkansas Oklahoma Auburn Auburn Baylor Duke Carolina Carolina N.C. St. Florida N.C. St. Texas A &M Texas A &M LSU N.C. Mar yland Mar yland Tulane Tulane Mississippi Ohio St. Ohio St. Ohi St. Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma Tennessee UCLA Tennessee Wake Forest Appalachian Appalachia Citadel Citadel Colgate Richmond Furman Furman Georgia Georgia Georgia Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Georgia Tel Missour i Missour i Illinois Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Michigan Michigsan aMichia [y for wini away with it. In Pro Ball, if you make a mistake, it will kill you. You have an area of about four inches on either corner of the plate you can throw to, anything inside of that, will get you in plenty of trouble." Bass dispelled the myth that minor league ball has poor ac comodations and had nothing but praise for the Cardinal organization. "Conditions were very good, we flew to all of the cities in the league and stayed in the cities finest hotels. Each member was allotted 10 free meals but had to provide for their own when we played at home," Bass said. The Tulsa team which plays in the American Association finished second to Denver eight games back. Bass attributed the finish to the fact that Tulsa had 51 changes in the roster during the year because of the Eastern division pennant race between the Pitt sburg Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals. Playing conditions are not quite up to par with what Bass was accustomed to at Carolina. "The only fields which can compare to USC are in Omaha and Wichita. fall basebt second to a fine Texas team. Gone are players the Gamecocks came to depend upon when a clutch situation arose. The likes of Earl Bass, Hank Small, and Greg Ward didn't leave easy shoes to fill. According to Richardson, "We lost more than players, we lost our team leaders. The first base position occupied by Small last season is up for grabs. Steve King, last year's designated hitter and part-time left fielder, is currently the leading candidate for the job." The biggest gap to be filled is on the pitching staff. With two top line hurlers gone in Bass and Ward, the only returning pitchers with adequate game experience are Tim Lewis and Chuck McLean. Richardson said, "Tlhis year, pitching will be the key to our tions BILL BILL BIL GRANT OUTLAW PRt Alabama Alabama Alat St. Arkansas Oklahoma Si. Arks Auburn Auburn Aub' Duke Duke Car t Florida Florida N.C. LSU LSU LSU Mar yland Mar yland N.C. Tulane Mississippi Tula Ohio St. Ohio St. Pens Oklahoma Oklahoma Okla UCLA UCLA Tenr Wake Forest Wake Forest App4 Citadel Citadel Colg Richmond Richmond Furr Georgia Georgia GoS :h Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Geos Missour i Missour i Miss Nebraska Nebraska Neb. Notre Dame Notre Dame Notr er league The crowds are even smaller. We would usually draw around 1,200 fans but they were always very friendly," Bass said. Bass will report to St. Peter sburg, Fla. for the winter league in a few weeks. EARL BASS ...practicing with USC. tI practice success." To combat the pitching shortage, Richardson recruited pitchers more heavily this summer. Among the recruits mentioned as prominent in this year's plans are Jim Lewis, a right hander from Miami Dade Junior College, Hale Hutchens, a righthander from North Carolina, and Mike Tolson, a lefthanded junior college transfer. During the Tuesday afternoon practice, the team was timed in the 30 yard sprint to first base after hitting the ball. The fastest times of the day were turned in by Mark Van Bever and Bobby Richardson, Jr., each covering the distance in 3.9 seconds. The slowest time was by none other than the head coach himself who managed to make it in five seconds flat. - BILLY TT BAKER amo Alabama insas Arkansas irn Auburn lina Duke St. Florida Texas A & M Maryland ne Tulane St. Ohia St. homa Oklahoma essee Tennessee ilachian Wake Forest ate Citadel nan Richmond gia Georgia gia Tech Georgia Tech our i Missour i aska Nebraska e Dame Notre Dame ioan Michiga