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7-3-1 by Thomas A. Price William%-BriceStadium Septenber 15 The 1973 football Gamecocks open their season against Liberty Bowl Champs Georgia Tech. Returning to Coach Bill Fulcher's Georgia fold this year are Liberty Bowl MVP quarterback Jim Stevens and All-American Randy Rhino. On the receiving end of Stevens' passes will be split-end Jim Robinson, flanker Jim Owings and tight-end Mark Fields. Robinson will be trying to snare All-America honors as an improvement over his All-South recognition for last year's 48 receptions for 812 yards. Splitting up the running assignments in '73 will be last year's ground-gainer Greg Horne and fullback Bruce Southall. The Yellow Jacket defense keys around one man, safety Randy Rhino. An All-America pick as a sophomore, Rhino led the nation in punt returns with a 17.6 average and was seventh nationally with eight pass interceptions. The Gamecock looks for Georgia Tech to improve upon last year's 7-4-1 record as they should only lose to top national powers Southern California (No. 1) in 1972, Auburn (No. 5), and Tennessee (No. 8). We see the Engineers as a three-point victor over Carolina. Houston Astrodome Septenter 21 (Friday) It has been over 15 years since Carolina played football on a Friday night and the Houston Cougars are going to make it a tough Friday. A team that is regarded as possibly the best ever for Coach Bill Yeoman is led by senior quarterback D.C. Nobles. Working out of the Veer-T, Nobles set school records last year for most attempts (209) and most completions (101) in a season. On the receiving end of passes that went for a total of 1,351 yards and 15 touchdowns last year are returnees tight-end Marty Watts and flanker Bryan Willingham who garnered 20 and 15 aerials respectively last season. Mar shall .Johnson with a 7.6 rushing average for last year is the top rnan for the Cougars in the running dlepartment. Johnson, a junior, will be joined by Leonard Parker, a fullback, who moves into the spot vacated by Pucddin' JIones. S tr ong on defense last year, Houston should be even better this year as ten of last year's starters return. The Cougars c:ouldl possibly go without losing a game this year if they aren't upset by Auburn. It looks as if the Gamnecocks are going to be 0-2 as Houston should win by f if teen. Williams-Brim Stadium Septen-ber 29 Remember Bob Hitchens of Miami (0) the All-American who Jast year almost single-handedly demolished the Carolina defense? He carried the ball forty-five times Predii for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Well, he's back. However, he's one of only four starters from last year's offense to return and it appears that Coach Bill Mallory's Redsk ins are going to have a tough time attaining even the 7-3 record that has become their standard over the past five years. On defense Miami should fare well as they have seven men coming back from their number six ranked team of a year ago. This team is led by linebackers Brad Cousino and Mike Morios who combined for 1327 BR( cted Fc 289 tackles last year. The Redk ins shouldn't fare toi poorly this season with the likes c Hitchens and their highly toute defense. However, we see Miami a the Gamecocks' first victim of th season. The Cocks will win b, fourteen. Lane Stadium, Blacksburg October 6 With Don Strock gone, Charlo Coffey's VPI squad will be a bunc of turkeys. Gone with Strock are three the top Tech receivers from la season. It appears that the Gobbli S| LY IRVERAD2 >r Game defense will be called upon a great deal this year. These man are f experienced as eight of them are j from last year's starting team, but s experience that yielded 23 points e per game last year can be done without. Virginia Tech will have a tough time this year as they have to face West Virginia, Southern Methodist, ) Houston, and Alabama. Their very h average defense will more often than not fail to rise to the occasion. We see the Gamecocks as six-point winners in Blacksburg on October T6.. BLOCKS FROM DUlTCH SQ cocks. GrovesStadium Winston-Salem October 13 Last year, Deacon Coach Chuck Mills' team finished with a 8-3 record. Unfortunately, for Mills and the Wake Forest fans, he was at Utah State last year, not in Winston-Salem. Mills likes his teams to throw the ball, but at Wake there is a significant lack of both quarterbacks and receivers. The only bright spot on the Wake Forest roster is at fullback, a (See Page IS, Column 1) I8 4.m. UARE