Hill Watch...51 days!!!

76er®

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51 years ago, 1971: A huge wrong was righted when the

Jul 16, 2022, 10:42 AM

28th Amendment was ratified, lowering the national voting age from 21 to 18. I had always thought it was a travesty of justice that you could be sent off to potentially die in Viet Nam for a country that would not let you vote for another three years.

In football, 1971 was another sad testament to the state of affairs in ACC football vs the nation. In our 2nd year under Hootie Ingram, we went 4-2-0 in conference play, and yet finished 5-6-0 overall. Who was the lone out of conference win? South Carolina, who had decided to leave the ACC and compete as an independent in football in 1971. So, even that OOC win was connected to the ACC.

North Carolina, who finished unranked in the AP, but 18th in the UPI, was the ACC Champion in 1971, with a 9-2-0 regular season record, and a 7-3 loss to then No.6 Georgia in the Gator Bowl. The close win dropped the Dawgs down to No.7 in the final AP Poll, No.8 in the UPI.

This was back in an era when there seemed to be about as many different organizations naming National Football Champions as there were teams. 1971 was one of the few years when they all pretty much seemed to agree on one. The lottery winner? Coach Bob Devaney and his 13-0 juggernaut Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Cornhuskers were repeat winners in the AP Poll, having also been rated No.1 in 1970, but only No.3 in the UPI that year. But, they were runaway winners in 1971, literally. The only game they were really tested in all year was the annual showdown with No.2 Oklahoma, where Nebraska prevailed 35-31 on the road. Even in the Orange Bowl, they ran over then No.2 Alabama 36-6. One did not beat a Bear Bryant Alabama team that badly, and the pollsters all took notice.

But, away from the glitz and winning, the ACC mostly toiled in obscurity in 1971. Clemson managed a 2nd place ACC finish, even with our poor overall record. The defection of South Carolina meant that, at least temporarily, the ACC was operating with only seven teams. The apparently hip thing to do at the time must have been to give your regular season games a bowl type name, as, per Wikipedia, Clemson played in no fewer than four of these.

But, the season started with two straight opponents from the rival SEC. Kentucky escaped Death Valley with a close 13-10 win in the opener, and No.14 Georgia rolled the Tigers there 28-0 two weeks later. Highly unusual to have a bye week one game into the season, but there it was.

Clemson had STILL not learned to stay away from Grant Field, and paid the price again, losing our 3rd straight game to open the season, 24-14.

Now, for some reason, our next game at No.14 Duke was christened as The Oyster Bowl, and was played in Norfolk, Virginia. Neither offense evidently liked seafood, as Duke's stayed home altogether, and Clemson only managed three points, to take a 3-0 win.

The following week, our then regular win over Virginia was named The Tobacco Bowl. The Tigers smoked the victory cigar, winning 35-15 over the homestanding Cavaliers.

Clemson dipped back into the SEC the following week to face No.5 Auburn on the road, and got pounded for it, 35-13.

Wins and losses alternated weeks for the rest of the season. A 10-9 squeaker over Wake Forest in the Valley was followed by a 26-13 loss to the Tar Holes in Chapel Hill. A 20-14 win over Maryland at home was followed by a home 31-23 loss to NC State in the “Textile Bowl”.

Luckily, since we were alternating wins and losses, the next weeks opponent was South Carolina. Now, here is why things in Wikipedia should not be taken as gospel. The game was listed as being the “Palmetto Bowl” in 1971, even though that name was not officially given to the game until 2014. But, by whatever name, or no name at all, the 17-7 road win at Carolina Stadium before 57,242 fans was a good ending to a bad season for the Clemson Tigers. Enjoy the 5-6 offseason, because it gets even bumpier in 1972. Clemson leads the series 39-27-3 over South Carolina.

Kentucky L 10–13
No. 14 Georgia L 0–28
At Georgia Tech L 14–24
No. 14 Duke W 3–0
At Virginia Richmond, VA W 35–15
At No. 5 Auburn L 13–35
Wake Forest W 10–9
At North Carolina L 13–26
Maryland W 20–14
NC State L 23–31
At South Carolina W 17–7 Attendance 57,242 (Clemson leads series 39-27-3.)

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Was looking for your story earlier so I could make my shameless piggyback post. While no notable tunes mentioned 1971 in the lyrics, it was a great year for music. Among the top songs was Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin considered by many to be the greatest rock song of all time with it's great guitar solo and the mysterious meaning to it's lyrics. Other top songs were Imagine by John Lennon, What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, and Joy To the World (which Tnet brings) by Three Dog Night. An interesting song from that year that sticks in your head was American Pie by Don McLean. "The day the music died" apparently referred to the plane crash a dozen years earlier that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper. Other lyrics reflected on the social and cultural changes of the time.

Among the things happening in the country were NASDAQ being added to the NYSE, Amtrak beginning operations in the United States, Disney opening in Orlando, and half a million people meeting up in Washington DC for a war protest. In technology, Intel introduced the first microprocessor.

The war protest was depicted in the movie Forrest Gump when he was in DC to receive the congressional medal of honor for heroism in Vietnam. He wandered up behind the stage and was asked to speak and as he started talking, some guy unplugged the mic. It was plugged back in as he was saying "that's all I've got to say about that" Then he was asked his name and as he said it, Jenny came yelling and running across the pool. Wouldn't that be a dream - standing in front of a crowd and a beautiful woman runs through a pool to meet you and jumps into your arms. But I digress.

Btw 76er, gotta hand it to you, you do good work posting the daily summary of Clemson and college football from past seasons with interesting side stories and the times they were set in. I don't see how you do it every day. Its kinda like a mini research project/ term paper/ essay/ synopsis. I enjoy reading it and adding a bit of bs to it, hope you don't mind. The Hill Watch was O.J.'s gig to begin with, we're just using it for a platform; I reckon he's ok with that. Especially since all he has to do is post the same 2 lines everyday and just change the number lol, jk.

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

Taylor Hearn Harry Olszewski day! Go Tigers!

Way to go O.J.!***

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

51 years ago, 1971: A huge wrong was righted when the

Thanks for adding these to OJ’s hill watch***

Re: 51 years ago, 1971: Good job 76er

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...51 days!!!

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