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North Carolina's Amos Lawrence and Furman's Brett Simmons. llSpil Coming Atl By Matt Ward Gamecock Staff Writer This year's Carolina schedule is one of the most interestng in recent years. The Gamecocks will be facing some of the Southeast's best teams in Kentucky, N.C. State, North Carolina, Georgia and state rival Clemson. With exception of Georgia, all of the above teams participated in a post season bowl last season. The Gamecocks open their 1978 season against the Furmnn PninHinc on Saturday night at Williams Brice Stadiumm. Following their meeting with the Paladins , USC will travel to Durham to play the Duke Blue Devils and return home the following week to oppose the Wildcats of Kentucky. A complete outlook of the teams the Gamecocks face follows: SEPTEMBER 9 FURMAN Though the Paladins will be without former head coach Art Baker, they will again have a high powered offense which features the return of quarterback David Henderson. Henderson had an exceptional year as he had a 56.3 percent completion average on 158 passes with 1089 yards and six touchdowns. Beyond this, Henderson will once again have the services of his favorite receiver, flanker Jimmy Kiser. The biggest losses for Furman will be at Furman will be at running back. The Paladins lost last year's leading rusher Kent Woerner. But, to compensate for the weakness, Furman has seven regulars returning on defense. "We have thekind of team that is capable fo doing more than most _ ^ ^ ? 1 ^ il. i?1_ ft n t * * * ' peupic: LimiK, r urman naea coacn dick Sheridan said. "I believe our opening game with South Carolina will have a lot to do on how successful our season will be." SEPTEMBER 16 KENTUCKY The Wildcats errupted for an explosive season last year as they finished second in the powerful Southeast Conference with a 10-1-0 record. This year should again be a very successful season for Kentucky as the Wildcats return 29 of the 44 players who played a role in last year's I magnificent season. The two major losses will be quarterback Derrick Ramsey and I consensus All-America defensive end Art Still. \ Though the offense will miss the leadership and playing ability of \ Ramsey, the Wildcats return a defensive unit that is without peer in the [Southeast with the possible exception of Alabama. For most of its history the Wildcats have been the perennial cellar dwellers of the Southeast Conference. Though Kentucky was on NCAA nrAkntmn -* A " 1 ' " wmcjliwii iaoi it uiu nui siop me wnacais trom having their greatest season in quite some time. This year should be no exception. SEPTEMBER 23 AT DUKE Last year the Blue Devils of Duke had a rather up and down season. Duke was unable to sustain any moomentum and consequently the Blue Devils finished the year with a 5-6 record and a fifth place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The key to Duke's season rests with quarterback Mike Dunn. Besides | Steve Fuller of Clemson, Dunn is the best quarterback in the ACC. ? Without Dunn in the line-up, the Blue Devils are just a little better off | than Virginia and Wake Forest. However, most of last year's starters are back again, so with a year of I experience there may be improvement. Yet, Duke's season boils down f A AtiA Ki/f A? ti ^ * ** w uhv wift ljutauun. r\o tuug as UUI1II uues wen, UUKe Will ao well. I SEPTEMBER 30 GEORGIA The big question to be answered when the Gamecocks meet the | Bulldogs is whether or not Carolina can finally end Georgia's I domination of this lopsided series. USC hasn't beaten the Bulldogs in two decades. tractions... CZ-fiYn?>nrkf*lec fmr** vy U/f f ?/W/l/VII/t7 J When Georgia does come to Columbia they will field one of the youngest teams Vince Dooley has ever coached. Last year the Bulldogs were unable to come even close to the kind of season they had in 1976 when Georgia won the SEC and went to the Sugar Bowl. "We've got a lot of young people and the only way they're going to get experience is by playing," Dooley said. "It's going to take a lot of patience but I'm excited the season is starting." The Bulldogs will rely heavily on the improvement of quarterback Jeff Pyburn. He is the key to the Bulldog offense.The key to a successful Georgia sseson will be finding the right people to fill the vacant holes on defense. OCTOBER V AT GEORGIA TECH This may finally be the year the Yellow Jackets return to the level of COmDetiflS with the hest teams in thp Snilthenct After noinrt tKo _ , . ... MVMwaavMwWi (MVVI UOUIg U1V TT iOll' bone offense for the last couple of years the Yellow Jackets under the direction of head coach Pepper Rogers have decided to dump the wishbone and bring more passing into what was a sagging offense last season. "Everytime a team team played us they would stack the defensive line with more linemen," Rogers said. "By using the pass to a greater extent we'll keep the defenses more honest. Georgia Tech will institute the "I" formation. By using this formation the Yellow Jackets hopeto utilize the talents of their exceptional running back Eddie Lee Ivery. Ivery broke the school rushing record with 900 yards and almost six yards per crry. But the Yellow Jackets obviously need a quarterback who is talented enough to throw the ball. Among the leading candidates are Ted Peeples and Gary Hardle. Against the Yellow Jackets last year the Gamecocks had their finest defensive effort as they shut out Georgia Tech 17-0. OCTOBER 14 OHIO UNIVERSITY Homecoming week for Carolina and what a better opponent then the Bobcats of Ohio University. The bobcats finished the 1977 season winless. Returning for the Bobcats for the Bobcats are ten returnees; five on offense and five on defense. The top returnees for Ohio University are linebacker Tedd Lucas and tailback Kevin Babcock who gained 585 yards. Last year's Bobcat team was depleted with injuries. The main concern for Ohio University is to keep their people healthy so that last year's collapse will not happen again this year. OCTOBER 21 MISSISSIPPI The biggest news story to it Mississippi football fans is when they found out that Steve Sloan would replace former head coach Ken Cooper. Last year Ole Miss had a 5-6 record but Sloan has a couple of positive factors going forhm this year. Returning to the line-up will be it returning regulars. It has been a few a few years since Ole Miss has been fighting for supremacy in the SEC. Sloan was brought in to get the Rebels on the road to recovery. The leading performers for the Rebles on offense will be John Fourcade at quarterback, Freddie Williams and Leon Perry at running back and Curtis Weathers plays the tight end position. The Rebels top defensive players include Charlie Cage at defensive end and Eddie Cole at linebacker. Though it may take some time before Ole Miss reaches its past levelof greatness the addition of Sloan as head coach was a much needed change for the best. OCTOBER 28 NORTH CAROLINA The Tar Heels came so close in their Liberty Bowl outing against Nebraska and with any luck this season the Tar Heels could very well be in another major bowl this season.