1977 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

The 1977 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the North Carolina Tar Heels of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1977 NCAA Division I football season.^[1]

1977 North Carolina Tar Heels football
ACC champion
Liberty Bowl, L 17–21 vs. Nebraska
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 17
Record	8–3–1 (5–0–1 ACC)
Head coach	Bill Dooley (11th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jim Dickey (3rd season)
Captain	Alan Caldwell, Dee Hardison
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 17 North Carolina $	5	–	0	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 19 Clemson	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
NC State	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Maryland	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Duke	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Virginia	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	9	–	1
Wake Forest	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	1:30 p.m.	at Kentucky*		Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 7–10	57,796	^[2]
September 17	1:30 p.m.	Richmond*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	W 31–0	47,100	^[3]
September 24	1:30 p.m.	at Northwestern*		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 41–7	19,597	^[4]
October 1	1:30 p.m.	No. 13 Texas Tech*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	L 7–10	48,000	^[5]
October 8	1:30 p.m.	Wake Forest		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	W 24–3	48,000	^[6]
October 15	1:30 p.m.	at NC State		Carter Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	W 27–14	51,300	^[7]
October 22	1:30 p.m.	South Carolina*		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	W 17–0	48,250	^[8]
October 29	1:30 p.m.	at Maryland		Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	W 16–7	42,683	^[9]
November 5	1:30 p.m.	No. 13 Clemson		Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	T 13–13	50,500	^[10]^[11]
November 12	1:30 p.m.	at Virginia	No. 19	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	W 35–14	21,000	^[12]
November 19	1:30 p.m.	at Duke	No. 18	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	W 16–3	40,078	^[13]
December 19	9:00 p.m.	vs. No. 12 Nebraska*	No. 14	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl)	L 17–21	49,456	^[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

• RB Amos Lawrence, Fr.

Game summaries

At Virginia

• Amos Lawrence 286 rush yards

References

1. "1977 North Carolina Tar Heels". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
2. "Kentucky Wildcats claw Carolina 10–7". Rocky Mount Telegram. September 11, 1977. Retrieved October 29, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Heels bury Spiders, 31–0". Rocky Mount Telegram. September 18, 1977. Retrieved October 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "North Carolina rips Northwestern, 41–7". The Rock Island Argus. September 25, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Johnson directs Raiders to victory". The Abilene Reporter-News. October 2, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "UNC buries Wake Forest". The Times and Democrat. October 9, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Freshman Lawrence powers Tar Heels". The State. October 16, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Tar Heels blank Gamecocks". The Sun-News. October 23, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "UNC stuns Terps". The Lynchburg News. October 30, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Clemson Football Media Guide - 1978". Clemson University. 1978. p. 1. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
11. "Tar Heels play for tie and get it, 13–13". The Roanoke Times. November 6, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Lawrence clobbers records, Cavaliers". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 13, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Carolina tops Duke for ACC title". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. November 20, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Nebraska's pass-master brings Carolina to Heel". The News and Observer. December 20, 1977. Retrieved January 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.