North Carolina State University Athletics
From The First 99 Games
11/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 16, 2010
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. -- In a series that spans more than a century, there are bound to be a few thrilling performances, unexpected outcomes and memorable situations.
Saturday is the 100th meeting between NC State and North Carolina, a series that dates back to 1894. Below are a handful of games that Wolfpack will remember -- for the most part -- quite fondly.
The Tar Heels lead the overall series 66-30-6, including a 34-17-1 mark in Chapel Hill.
But the Wolfpack, which is riding a three-game winning streak over its biggest rival, is gaining on them. The last time the teams met in Kenan Stadium, head coach Tom O'Brien and freshman quarterback Russell Wilson came away with a 41-10 victory.
First Success
(Oct. 28, 1899)
The students at the North Carolina School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (NC State’s first official name) organized football and baseball teams soon after the doors of the school opened in 1889 and played its first official game in March 1892. But the University of North Carolina began play in 1888 before and had a more established program.
So it’s little wonder the early Farmers had little success against either the UNC scrub team or the varsity, failing to score in each of the first six games. But on Oct. 28, 1899, the two teams met at the old North Carolina State Fairgrounds, across Hillsboro Street from D.H. Hill Library and the Farmers came away with an 11-11 tie. J. Platt Turner scored the first touchdown in school history (worth five points at the time).
“It sent the A&M students off on a wild celebration in Raleigh,” reported Raleigh's News & Observer. “With drum and bugle and flags, they paraded the streets, leaving a perfect din in their wake and stopping now and then to give the college yell.”
A Runt that Dominated
In 1920 and ’21, John “Runt” Faucette dominated against the Tar Heels, setting up both touchdown in a 13-3 win the first year and scoring the game’s only touchdown on a 30-yard fumble return for a 7-0 win the following year. NC State was coached in 1919 and ’20 by Bill Fetzer, who left following the ’20 season to become co-head coach with his brother Bob at North Carolina.
The game that didn’t happen
(Oct. 4, 1952)
Saturday’s game at Kenan Stadium is the 58th consecutive year that the two in-state rivals have met.
NC State and North Carolina were scheduled to play on Oct. 11, 1952, when a polio outbreak in Chapel Hill forced UNC to cancel two games, the first against Georgia two days before it was to be played and the second against the Wolfpack a week later. NC State, which depended heavily on football ticket revenue from its game at UNC, hastily tried to revamp its schedule.
Georgia agreed to meet the Wolfpack in Athens, Ga., on Oct. 4, the day NC State was scheduled to meet Davidson. But Davidson had an open date the next week, and the Wolfpack asked to move the game back a week. Davidson initially refused, so NC State made plans to play at Davidson early in the morning on Oct. 4 and then take a train to Georgia to play the ultimate twi-night football double-header.
Davidson eventually relented, and the Wolfpack played the road games on consecutive weekends instead of the same day, losing at Georgia 49-0 and beating Davidson 28-6.
The next fall, both NC State and North Carolina joined the new Atlantic Coast Conference and have met on the gridiron every year since.
First ACC win
(Sept. 26, 1956)
After three years of going winless in the new Atlantic Coast Conference, the Wolfpack opened the 1956 season with a 26-6 upset of the heavily favored Tar Heels, who were welcoming alum Jim Tatum home as head coach and promoting seven preseason All-America players. The Pack had gone 0-9-1 in the league’s first three seasons. It had also lost nine consecutive games to the Tar Heels, spanning 14 years.
But this win was the first of three in a row by Wolfpack head coach Earle Edwards of Tatum’s Heels. In 1957,which opened with a victory over the Tar Heels, the Wolfpack won its first ACC title.
Roman Defense
(Sept. 24, 1960)
Junior quarterback Roman Gabriel won this game, but not with his All-American throwing arm. Called into emergency action in the defensive secondary because of an injury to Tom Dellinger, Gabriel played both ways against the Tar Heels. With his team leading 3-0 late in the game, sacked the North Carolina quarterback and teammate Claude Gibson grabbed the fumble in midair and returned it 29 yards. The Tar Heels got another chance to win the game, driving the length of the field in the final moments. With 1:30 remaining, Gabriel intercepted a third-down pass at the 4-yard line to preserve the victory.
A football doubleheader
(Sept. 16, 1967)
The Wolfpack and Tar Heels were indeed part of a rare football doubleheader to open the 1967 season, playing an afternoon contest at Carter Stadium. The Wolfpack handed new UNC coach Bill Dooley a 13-6 loss in his first game leading the Heels, thanks to a 55-yard pass from quarterback Jim Donnan to Harry Martell midway through the fourth quarter.
Later that evening, Duke and Wake Forest met in the second game of the day at Carter-Finley, in the first – and so far only – Big Four Football Doubleheader.
A fast start
(Sept. 14, 1968)
NC State owned a 14-0 lead at UNC’s Kenan Stadium before the Wolfpack ever ran an offensive play. The Pack’s Gary Yount retuned UNC’s first punt of the day 84 yards for a touchdown and defensive back Jack Whitley grabbed a fumble out of midair and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. The Wolfpack won 38-6 en route to Edwards’ fifth ACC Championship.
Becoming popular, Part I
(Sept. 23, 1972)
First-year coach Lou Holtz became an instant hero and his team got a standing ovation as they walked dejectedly off the field at Kenan Stadium.
The teams were tied at 27 late in the game when Wolfpack punter Mark Cassidy fumbled a high snap at his own 5-yard-line. The Tar Heels recovered at the 1 and running back Billy Hite scored the go-ahead touchdown with 58 seconds to play.
NC State quarterback Bruce Shaw let the Wolfpack down the field with three quick plays and found flanker Pat Kenney in the end zone on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds on the clock. Holtz, looking to endear himself to the fanbase of his new school, chose to go for a two-point conversion instead of the tie.
He sent freshman quarterback Dave Buckey into the game to throw a daring two-point pass. But the throw was deflected at the line of scrimmage. As the Pack left the field, the NC State fans in attendance gave the team a standing ovation.
“I feel so damn sick inside and so do my boys,” Holtz said. But the Wolfpack fans were enthusiastic about the prospects for the future.
The Tar Heels went on to win the ’72 ACC title, but the Wolfpack went 14-0-1 in its next 15 ACC games, finishing second that season, winning Holtz’s only league crown in ’73 and tying for second in ’74.
Becoming Popular, Part II
(Oct. 18, 1986)
The Wolfpack had already posted thrilling wins over Wake Forest and Maryland during Diek Sheridan’s first year as head coach and came back to tie Pittsburgh in the final moments of the game. Coming off a devastating 59-21 loss at Georgia Tech, the Wolfpack traveled to Chapel Hill hoping to end a seven-game losing streak to UNC.
The teams were tied at the end of the first quarter (0-0), at the end of the second quarter (14-14) and twice early in the fourth quarter (21-21 and 28-28).
With 1:01 remaining, Wolfpack quarterback Erik Kramer hit receiver Nasrallah Worthen on a 37-yard touchdown pass to break the stalemate. UNC quarterback Mark Maye completed five consecutive passes, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Quint Smith with eight seconds on the clock.
Like Holtz 14 years before, UNC coach Dick Crum chose to go for two. Maye rolled right and hit slipping tight end Dave Truitt on the opposite side of the field, with a clear path to the end zone. But officials ruled his knee was on the ground when he caught the pass and the two-point conversion failed.
“We weren’t going to let this one get away,” said linebacker Pat Teague. “This team has come too far, suffered through too much last week and last year. We hurt together and today we won together.”
Treys Rule the Day
(Sept. 29, 1990)
This game was all about 3-pointers. Placekickers Damon Hartman of NC State and Clint Gwaltney of North Carolina provided all the scoring in the contest, but Hartman got the final opportunity to be the hero. After Gwaltney tied the score at 9-9 with a little over a minute to play, the Wolfpack took over at its own 20-yard line.
Quarterback Charles Davenport completed four consecutive passes, advancing his team to the UNC 38 with one second on the clock.
Hartman, who had set the school record with a 54-yard field goal against the Tar Heels in Kenan Stadium in a 48-3 rout, kicked another low-flying liner and broke his previous mark with the 56-yarder as time expired, continuing Sheridan’s dominance of NC State’s biggest rival.
Near perfection under center
(Sept. 26, 1992)
Though he didn’t throw a touchdown pass, senior quarterback Terry Jordan had a day for the ages, completing 23 of 25 passes for 361 yards as the No. 23 Wolfpack beat the Tar Heels 27-20. Jordan did have one of State’s three rushing touchdowns, the go-ahead score in a contest that was tied 13-13. The Tar Heels tied the score again, but Greg Manior scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to play. Jordan did not throw an incomplete pass in the second half. His favorite target, Eddie Goines, had nine catches for 163 yards.
“Forget doing that against a pretty good defense,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said. “We couldn’t do that against air.”
The Wolfpack’s seniors became the first in school history to go undefeated in their careers against the Tar Heels, a feat this year’s senior class can match Saturday in Chapel Hill.
Becoming Popular, Part III
(Oct. 14, 2000)
The Wolfpack entered the game at Kenan Stadium with a seven-game losing streak to the Tar Heels and a new head coach, former NC State linebacker and assistant coach Chuck Amato.
The Wolfpack’s maturing defense forced two critical turnovers and held the Heels to just 286 yards of total offense. Freshman quarterback Philip Rivers caught a touchdown pass from Bryan Peterson and returned the favor by throwing one to Peterson. But the 38-20 was sealed in the fourth quarter when reserve tailback Cotra Jackson came off the bench to fill in for the injured Ray Robinson, rushing for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
Winning score removed
(Oct. 9, 2004)
Junior tailback T.A. McLendon scored the game-winning touchdown with less than 20 seconds remaining on the clock as the Wolfpack…
Oh, wait… Never mind.
Becoming Popular, Part IV
(Nov. 22, 2008)
After losing is first four ACC games, the Wolfpack bounced back in a big way for second-year coach Tom O’Brien. State had beaten East Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest for its only three wins over Division I opponents as it headed to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels.
Freshman Russell Wilson secured his claim on becoming the first freshman to be named first-team All-ACC quarterback, completing 17 of his 28 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns against the mistake-prone Tar Heels. He was brilliant in leading the offense on three long drives of more than 65 yards, including a 97-yard drive in the first half that gave his team a lead it never gave up.
North Carolina fumbled on its first two possessions and had three turnovers in the first half. In all, the Tar Heels had six turnovers, including a fumbled kickoff return that led to a touchdown and a 25-yard interception return by Robbie Leonard that set up the Pack’s final touchdown.
The 41-10 win was the largest margin of victory in the series since the Wolfpack’s 40-6 win in Chapel Hill in 1989. It was also the first time in school history that NC State beat the state’s other four Division I-A opponents in the same season.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
