The current forecast calls for a 55 percent chance of rain in Chapel Hill for the Carolina-Notre Dame game at noon Saturday. The Tar Heels have been installed as 22-point underdogs against the No. 3 ranked Fighting Irish.
I am old enough to remember the 1968 game on October 19, in Kenan Stadium, when 7th-ranked Florida came to town undefeated with All-American running back Larry Smith. Hurricane Gladys arrived about the same time as the Gators, but Carolina decided to play the game and 28,000 fans still showed up. It was Bill Dooley’s second year as head coach and the Tar Heels had lost their first two games 38-6 at NC State and then blew a 27-3 lead to Paul Dietzel’s South Carolina Gamecocks before edging Vanderbilt 8-7 in Week 3.
The circumstances in itself were remarkable. Chapel Hill had been suffering through a severe drought, so bad that physical education classes were reportedly cancelled to conserve water in the community under severe weather restrictions. And then the drought ended on game day — spectacularly. Gladys produced winds approaching 100 miles an hour along stretches of the North Carolina coast.
When he heard about the weather forecast, Dooley smiled and said in his Mississippi drawl, “Well, rain can always be the great equalizer.” Florida didn’t do too well in the swamp on the road.
Smith fumbled a Florida record 8 times (of 11 by the Gators) with a wet football, and UNC’s Don Hartig made three field goals including a 47-yarder that was a school record at the time. Many of the fans left or sought coverage in the concourse, but the students had a blast and rushed the field in their soaking clothes they wore like armor as Carolina posted a 22-7 victory. As Dooley said rain was the great equalizer.
These were not exactly the halcyon days of Carolina football, but it was sure fun in the late 1960s. A single game ticket cost $4. Barbarella was playing at the Carolina Theatre, the Monday luncheon special at the Zoom Zoom was $1.19 for country style steak with two vegetables, soup, salad and rolls. You could buy a pair of Converse basketball shoes for only $9.50 at Eastgate Hardware. Photos were all over The Daily Tar Heel with the headline “A Great Day in Mudville.”
Carolina then lost four straight games and finished 3-7 after a second straight upset win over Duke in the season finale.
Unfortunately, the Heels had to go to Gainesville the next year to complete the home and home series. The Gators coach Ray Graves, who had lost Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier, hadn’t forgotten what happened in the hurricane and addressed the crowd at the Friday night Gator Growl pep rally in the Swamp in front of 50,000 students and fans thirsting for revenge. Addressing the Tar Heels who were staying in Ocala 40 miles away, Graves said, “North Carolina, we owes you one.”
On the first snap of the game sophomore quarterback John Reaves found All-American wide receiver Carlos Alvarez with a 70-yard touchdown pass to begin the 52-2 slaughter. Reaves and Alvarez were not eligible as freshmen and did not play in the 1968 game. But no one could erase that monumental upset year before by the Tar Heels and their drenched students having the time of their life.
It’s more of a rainstorm than a hurricane forecasted for Saturday against the Irish, but as the late Bill Dooley said, rain can always be the great equalizer.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro during football and basketball seasons.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
