Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Clemso Cunningha, lead Tiger By DINO WISE Gamecock Sports Writer "Everybody is a tough one for us," commented Clemson Coach Red Parker, describing his op ponents on this year's football schedule. The Tigers open with Tulane at Death Valley then travel to Alabama, Georgia Tech, and Georgia before returning home against Wake Forest. The remaining teams on the Tigers schedule are Duke, N.C. State, Florida State, North Carolina, Maryland and South Carolina. Needless to say, the Tigers will have their work cut out for them if they hope to improve on last year's 7-4 record. The Tigers lost only 14 players to graduation last year so they will have plenty of depth this season. The position with the most depth are the receivers, led by All America tight end Bennie Cun ningham. Cunningham led the Tigers in receiving last year with 24 receptions for 391 yards and seven touchdowns. Cunningham will be backed up by junior Harold Cain and red-shirt sophomore Richard Ibach. Competing for the flankers position are Craig Brantley, Joey Walters, and Warren Ratchford. All have good speed and sure hands, both essential in breaking a game open. Quarterback is one of Coach Parker's main concerns. The graduation of Mark Fellers left the job wide open. The leading can didate is junior Mike O'Cain, who was the number two signal caller irgini By GLENN SAWICKI Gamecock Sports Writer When Gamecock fans mention the University of Virginia football team, their memory returns to the opening game of the 1972 football season when Carolina's new Pro Set offense was shown to be very unprofessional. Bill Troup, the Gamecock's expected savior, was dumped behind the line of scrimmage 12 times by a ferocious Cavalier rush which acted as though Carolina's offensive line never existed. That was the last time the two teams had met with Virginia claiming a 24-16 victory. Things have changed at Virginia since then. Ulmo "Sonny" Randle is the new head coach. Randle is a 1959 Virginia graduate who later went on to play professional football for 10 seasons with such clubs as St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, and Washington. Randle was an All-Pro selection four times. Randle's first year at Virginia was a disappointing 4-7 season, but a new attitude started to take hold of the squad. The team had to n faces M, O'C ain offe nse in '74. Behind O'Cain are Rick Weddington, who directed the jayvee offense a year ago, and Rut Livingston, who turned in an im pressive spring. The running back position is one area needing improvement ac cording to Coach Parker. He is not pleased with their progress to date. The running backs are led by Ken Callicutt, who was the Tiger's number one rusher with 809 yards as a sohpomore and Don Tester man, who chipped in with 368 yards. Behind Calicutt and Testerman are Leon Hope, William Scott, Bob Coffey and Thomas Eley. The offensive line, the people who make the offense go, was ripped apart by graduation. Gone are center Maret Cobb, guard Curt Buttermore and All-ACC guard Ken Peeples. Tpat leaves Neal Jetton and Gary Alexander as the lone returning starters. Senior David Lebel, sophomore Billy Hudson and George Hymans are all vying for a tackle spot. At guards the Tigers have Lacy Brumley, Ed Homonoff and Jimmy Weeks trying to nail down a spot. At center is Frank Bethea, behind him are George Jehlen, Gregg Smith and Steve Kenney. The defensive fine is not as aggressive as it should be and this has caused the Tigers problems in the past. Sophomore Jeff Mills and senior Jerome Hill are the starting tackles with competition coming from senior G.G. Galloway. Junior Nelson Wallace will be back at middle guard. Behind him are Thad Allen and Mike Gravely. Senior Frank Wise will team with a impr( season and they were worked hard during practice. The new system started paying dividends as the Cavaliers became a very aggressive football team which never quit. Virginia lost three games by seven points or less. The outlook for this year's Virginia team is very bright. Offensively, the Cavaliers boast two All-America candidates in quarterback Scott Gardner and offensive guard Tom Glassic. Gardner (6-3, 195) a senior from Sarasota Fla., is Virginia's all time passing leader with 3,671 yards. He has led the ACC in total offense the last two seasons with 192. 7 yards per game average in his sophomore year and 225.1 yards per game average in his junior year. Glassic is a 6-5, 245 lb. senior rrom Warren, N.J. playing on the ffensive line, Glassic was in aonspicuous during his first three years. This season Playboy magazine picked Glassic a first eam pre-season All-America. Zlassic has developed in strength >ver the past three years to ac :ompany his size and quickness, :ausing Randle to predict he would re one of the very best linemen this rugged \ A Defense c Gary Kesack at end and Tim Blackwelder, C.H. Ducworth and Chris Clifford round out the rest of the defensive line. The linebacker spots are manned by six returning lettermen, headed by senior Jimmy Williamson, Clemson's leading tackler in 1974. The other spot will be held down by either Tim Stough or Ronnie Smith. Expected to see plenty of action are Dennis Silver, Garry McDowell and Mark Heniford. The the secondary Coach Parker will pick from 11 lettermen to fill the four positions. Senior Lynn Carson and junior Mark Lee should man the cornerback spot. Behind them are Bill Wingo, Malcolm 'A'k SCOTT GARDNER fall. Returning in the backfield from last year's offense, which averaged 343 yards a game, are D)avid Sloan, Bill Copeland, Don Flow and Mike D)owe. Copeland, a 6-1, 194 lb. junior, and Sloan, a 6-1, 198 lb. junior, earned starting jobs after this year's spring drills. Last year Sloan ran the ball for 407 yards while Coelnnd cnarri,d fr. schedu *%A ould be key to Tiger bc Marler and Mike Cornell. Sophomore letterman Ogden Hansford looks to be the replacement for All-ACC strong side safety Jim Ness. Brian Kier and Mike Baldwin , both letter winners, are behind Hansford. Dennis Smith started the last nine games at free safety and led the ACC in interceptions last season. He was filling in for injured All ACC safety Peanut Martin so the Tigers have a real one-two punch at that position. Graduation has hurt the Tigers kicking game. They lost punter Mitch Tyner and placekicker Bob Burgess. This left the Tigers with a handful of non-scholarship ider Ra 328. Ken Shelton is the only graduate from the receiving corps which reutnrs Tommy Fadden at flanker, with Jim Colleran and Jim Wicks at the tight end position. The trio caught 116 passes for 1245 yards. Fadden led the trio with 34 receptions and three touchdowns followed by Colleran with 2* receptions and Wicks with 19. Both Colleran and Wicks collected one touchdown apiece. A new addition to the receivers is Joe Sroba, who was switched from the running back position he occupied last year. Sroba is a durable talented athlete who will be paired with Fadden, giving the Cavaliers the strongest one-two flanker com bination in the ACC. The offensive line of Virginia is the strongest part in Virginia's well oiled attack. The offensive line, according to Randle, can go up against anyone and get the job done. The Cavaliers are big in the middle with junior Rich Switalski (6-5, 240) at center, sandwiched by Glassic (6-5, 250) and junior Dennis Kucyzinski (6-3, 235) at guards. Charlie Hale (6-4, 262), and Paul Tamulonis (6-4, 233) will start at the tackle positions. D)efensively. eight of 11 starters le owl hopes players battling for these im portant duties. The kick returners are led by Warren Ratchford, who returned 20 kicks for 480 yards last fall. Joey Walters and William Scott give Clemson a trio of dangerous kick rAturn specialists. Last season Clemson was probably the best team that didn't go to a bowl game. A bowl game is Clemson's goal this year. Coach Parker said, "To get there we have to get better and play more aggressively." 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