by Lee Pace, GoHeels.com
CHAPEL HILL—It’s been 38 years since the Tar Heels so thoroughly dominated an opponent from the Big Ten, Southeastern, Big 12 or Pac-12 conferences as they did in their 48-14 destruction of Illinois Saturday in Kenan Stadium. A Bill Dooley-coached team traveled to Northwestern in early 1977 and, with a freshman named Amos Lawrence gaining 101 yards on 10 carries in his third game, hammered the Wildcats 41-7. That team would finish 8-3-1, win the ACC championship and limit opponents to a stupid 7.4 points a game.
It’s getting way ahead of ourselves to suggest something quite so special might be brewing this fall with the Tar Heels.