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GA]\, Sputtei ^3HnV3*^?f'5 p.;7r^-i^B '"'W ~.r-J.'.y^^C- .. y^7^;--?-=: ~= ^-f r^ivrr-F? r,^g?flv " ; j;\o'"H i^^V ~1:^ -VI ^ -- [ 4- ?- JHHH^W >c Johnnie Wright dives for yardage in Big Ft By CHUCK WRIGHT SUW Wrttgf Last week in Lexington, Ky., the performance by Carolina's special te was about the only cloud in an other silver-lined performance. Saturday nig Williams-Brice Stadium, the shoe wa tne otner toot, so to speaK ? i specifically, the feet of punter Chris man and kick return specialist Thomas. Were it not for the outstandin turned in by these two and their cohor the special teams, a Carolina vii wouian t nave come as easily ag Virginia, if at all. "We feel like Troy Thomas is a good returner . . . and Chris Norman ki better than he has since he's been h understated USC Coach Jim Carlei think those two things along with defense won the game without any r vation." For certain, it wasn't a successful control offense that won it for Gamecocks. Carolina managed on! yards total offense in the first half, mj the Cavalier defense look awesome. "THE FIRST half was a disaster c fense," said Carlen. "I was embarra Their defensive people just outcoache offensive people in the first half." In fact, about the only thing the Cai crowd had to cheer about in the first i minutes was Thomas' 43-yard TD return with just 24 seconds remaining second quarter. "Yeah, I think it cam good time," laughed an obviously 1 Thomas after the game. IECOC -2 nog woroiin i|Ri 0 F RlHr -t--^ ! USC's Saturday night win over Virginia. eet t. "I think they thought I was going to ca for a fair catch and they relaxed," Thoma poor said. "I just split the seam. I thought I wa jams going to get tackled at first. . . and whe wise the guy hit me and slid off, I just stood it u ht in and picked up a couple of blocks . . . and ra s on it on in" nore That gave Carolina its first lead of th Nor- night at 7-3, and seemed to swing tfc Troy momentum in the direction of the heretofoi g job punchless Gamecocks. ts on THOMAS STRUCK again in the thir ctory quarter. He fielded a Jeff Walker punt ; ainst the USC 25, dribbled it a few times, the streaked down the sidelines for 56 yar< punt before being bumped out of bounds at tl ir?lrt*r\ <r? V?vm VII^IIUU 19, ere," "No, that (dribbling) wasn't part of tfc i. "I plan" Thomas joked. "I was looking at tli our man running downfield and then when eser- looked up to catch the ball he was real clos to me and I didn't have a chance to coi I ball centrateonit." . ^ As so often happens, the bobble work< [y 44 out for the best. Virginia's first wave aking coverage flew by Thomas, opening up tl sidelines for the Valdosta, Ga. sophomor The return set up Carolina's secoi a I s ? it - 1 l m 1J ** >n of- loucnaown, a uiree yaru run uy ioaa oerr (gsed. That upped Carolina's lead to 14-3, whii d our looked safe considering the way the defen was playing and, especially, the way Chi rolina Norman was punting. thirty "He's an exceptional punter, not i punt average punter, but and exceptional pu in the ter" emphasized Carlen after the gam e at a And it's highly unlikely that he would ha lappy had any argument from the Virgin locker room. s? thomas, p.ge 10 tr (ST JCi ?d a Defeat S^aHngHnnnHHi Suff Pho: t.v ( Ai'taS I o mas, Norman ?nA^i/if Tanirn is i IS H :- ";-'::U p Ml is ^ jWlfek,,.. ... . . eh an -.JIBS Troy Thomas looks for opei ^SDIE ft Caval By MARK PLATTE t] Editor i' ? To put Saturday night's Y Carolina-Virginia football l game in its proper per- 1 speetive, consider first the t v T"W r A ^1 13 1 il 1 uva l^ivaucrs ana uieir i recent accomplishments. Since Virginia Head Coach t Dick Bestwick was c pronounced savior six ] seasons ago in an attempt to j have a football team rival its r basketball counterparts, 1 resurrection may have j turned into insurrection. [ Bestwick, after Saturday's 21-3 loss to USC, has won a i meager 15 games in 61 at- ' tempts. Their last victory, on Nov. I 1 of last year againfct Ten- ; nessee, has provided the team with a fond memory that some of them have been sharing during their last nine consecutive losses. Acainst the Gamecocks. who probably should have given punter Chris Norman half the gate receipts for almost single-handedly embarrassing the - Cavs, UVA brought dropped passes and a non-existant defense back in vogue. Pjimlinfl nn nthpr si Hp nf i Instrumen $' Ressurec mF A 1 - t f y / ning on punt return. t. ! iters * he line, brought such an nconsistent offense into the ;ame that the USC 7-3 lalftime lead was supplied >y defensive back Troy Fhomas'144-yard punt return ouch down with 24 seconds eft in the half. USC scored twice more in he second half while luarterbacks Gordon Jeckham and Terry Bishop split playing time. But it was rhomas on another spec macular punt return in the third quarter who brought the ball back down the field 57 yards to the UVA 19 to set up Carolina's second score, rwo carries by Johnnie Wright for 16 yards and one three-yard run by Todd Berry increased the score to 14-3. The final drive of the night started at the Carolina 44. After being sacked twice, Beckham completed a 25-yard strike to Horace Smith on third and 21. Then USC kept the ball in the sure hands of Kent Hagood, Todd Berry and finally Johnnie Wright, who bruised his way into the endzone at the 4:44 mark of the third quarter. The 4-3 Gamecocks, See NORMAN'S, page 9. tat don I * ' I : WfJ&li / JH - . | 7~ 1IL.** m L"; j * !':y:-~'vi~. :> SUH fho<o by CAPIRS HAMMOND