5/9/2023 football Edit

May Series: Top 5 UNC Football Teams Of The 1970s

We continue our an nual May series ranking UNC's best football & basketball teams & players of all time. (UNC Athletics)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

Publisher

Andrew Jones has covered sports for 26 years, including all major college & professional sports for daily newspapers & national sites. He's done radio and TV & is entering his seventh year at THI.

No. 5: 1976

No. 19: 1976

Record: 9-3 (4-1)

Bowl: Peach Bowl, lost 21-0 to Kentucky

Ranking: None

Coach: Bill Dooley

All-Americans: Mike Voight (RB); Mark Cantrell (C)

First-Team All-ACC: Mike Voight, RB, Craig Funk, OG, Dee Hardison, DL, Ronny Johnson, DB, Bill Perdue, DL, Delbert Powell, return specialist

Honors: Mike Voight 8th in Heisman Trophy voting; ACC Player of the Year

What's To Know: The UNC fans that saw Mike Voight run the ball have never forgotten watching the “Space Cowboy” help carry the Tar Heels in his career, and to the Peach Bowl in 1976. The Tar Heels notched non-league victories over No. 20 Miami (OH), at No. 18 Florida, Northwestern, at Army, and a nationally ranked ECU team. The loss was an ugly 24-3 setback at No. 12 Missouri and the ACC loss came versus N.C. State by a score of 21-13. Carolina held four opponents to 10 points or less and its most lopsided victory was a 31-6 thrashing of Virginia. UNC spent five weeks ranked that season with a high of No. 14 the first week of October.

No. 4: 1977

Record: 8-3-1 (5-0-1)

Bowl: Liberty Bowl, lost 21-17 to Nebraska

Ranking: 14

Coach: Bill Dooley

All-Americans: Dee Hardison (DT); Mike Salzano (G)

First-Team All-ACC: Dee Hardison, DL, Rod Broadway, DL, Ken Sheets, DL, Buddy Curry, LB, Alan Caldwell, DB, Amos Lawrence, HB, Mike Salzano, OG

Honors: Amos Lawrence, ACC Rookie of the Year.

What's To Know: At least the 1977 Tar Heels won an ACC championship, because it would have been a shame for this squad to be so close to something special yet end up going down as just another solid club in UNC's history. They lost twice by scores of 10-7 (at Kentucky in the opener and at home versus nationally ranked Texas Tech), tied No. 13 Clemson 13-13, and then lost 21-17 to Nebraska in the bowl game. Three losses and one tie - four blemishes - by a total of 10 points. In between were routs of Northwestern (41-7 on the road), South Carolina, Virginia and Richmond and solid wins at N.C. State, at Maryland and at Duke.

No. 3: 1971

Record: 9-3 (6-0)

Bowl: Gator Bowl, lost 7-3 to Georgia

Ranking: 18

Coach: Bill Dooley

All-Americans: None

First-Team All-ACC: Lewis Jolley, HB, Paul Miller, QB, Ron Rusnak, OG, Bob Thornton, C, Jerry Sain, OT, Bill Brafford, DE, Bud Grissom, DT, John Bunting, LB, Ken Craven, KS

Honors: Bill Dooley, ACC Coach of the Year

What's To Know: Bill Dooley's first ACC championship team, this was the result of the culture changing in Chapel Hill. Tough and physical, the Heels perfectly reflected the Old Trench Fighter by playing defense and running the ball physically and right at opponents. Carolina ran the ball 57 times a game averaging 4.3 yards per attempt that season. Smash mouth, big time.

An interesting schedule took them to Illinois in week two (after opening at Richmond), where the Heels notched a 27-0 victory. Carolina sent a message by claiming a pair of shutout road wins to open the season. It then crushed Maryland and won big at N.C. State before losing at home to Tulane, 37-29. The next week was a trip to Notre Dame when Dooley convinced his wounded team they could win. A competitive game ended as a 16-0 loss to the No. 7 Fighting Irish. After that, the Heels cruised, closing with a 38-0 win at Duke before a narrow loss to Georgia in the Gator Bowl.

No. 2: 1979

Record: 8-3-1 (3-3)

Bowl: Gator Bowl, beat Michigan 17-15

Ranking: 14

Coach: Dick Crum

All-Americans: Ricky Barden (DB); Ron Wooten (G)

First-Team All-ACC: Ricky Barden, DB, Mike Chatham, TE, Buddy Curry, LB, Steve Junkmann, OT

Honors: None

What's To Know: Rarely does a team that finishes .500 in league play go down in history, but that's exactly the case with the '79 Heels. This was actually quite a talented group with Amos Lawrence and Doug Paschal carrying the load, a terrific offensive line, and Lawrence Taylor, Buddy Curry, Ricky Barden, Darrell Nicholson, Calvin Daniels and the unforgettable Steve Streater (also its punter) on defense.

But a tough mid-season stretch that followed an impressive 4-0 start appeared to doom the team's potential for a banner season. A win over Pittsburgh (No. 7 at season’s end) helped land the Heels a spot in the Gator Bowl versus Michigan, which openly said UNC was a basketball school and couldn’t win. The Tar Heels notched three wins over ranked teams, with the win over the Wolverines backing up the earlier victory over Pitt and raising awareness of the burgeoning UNC program.

No. 1: 1972

Record: 11-1 (6-0)

Bowl: Sun Bowl, beat Texas Tech 32-28

Ranking: 12

Coach: Bill Dooley

All-Americans: Ron Rusnak (G); Jerry Sain (T)

First-Team All-ACC: Ron Rusnak, OG; Jerry Sain, OT; Gene Brown, DE; Eric Hyman, DT; Lou Angelo, DB, Mike Mansfield, LB, Jimmy DeRatt, LB.

Honors: None

What's To Know: A year after the Tar Heels' rebuilding project under Bill Dooley brought the program an ACC championship, a team that used a multitude of running backs behind and excellent offensive line repeated as ACC champs and became the first UNC club to win 11 games. The Heels went 5-1 on the road, it's only loss a 29-14 defeat at Ohio State, which won the Big Ten and finished ranked No. 9 in the nation.

But the Tar Heels also won at Clemson, 28-24 versus Florida in a game played in Jacksonville, FL, on Dec. 9, which is the latest UNC has ever played a regular season football game. The Tar Heels scored a late touchdown to take a two-point lead over Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl and sealed the victory when Ronnie Robinson sacked the Red Raiders’ quarterback in the end zone for a safety with 43 seconds remaining for a 32-28 victory.