Clemson and NC State have played each other in football 86 times, dating back to the series’ first matchup in 1899 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The next installment of the Textile Bowl will take place in Clemson this weekend, and it may just be the biggest game in the series to date.
The No. 16 Wolfpack (5-0, 2-0 ACC) and the No. 3 Tigers (6-0, 3-0 ACC) will take the field at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, with the ACC Atlantic Division title essentially on the line. That’s nothing new; the two played that quasi-division title game last year as well, but in a broader scope there has never been a game between the Pack and the Tigers quite like this weekend’s.
This will mark just the fourth time in series history that both NC State and Clemson have been ranked for the game, and with a combined ranking of just 19, this is far-and-away the best matchup in series history as far as the polls are concerned. In addition to that, they don’t often meet with both teams undefeated.
In the 86-game history of the series, Saturday will be just the 12th time that both teams enter the game with unblemished records. However, most of those 11 previous matchups came in the first few weeks of the season. After week three, this is just the second time in series history NC State and Clemson will match up with perfect records at stake.
The other time that happened was in 2000, when 5-0 Clemson beat 4-0 NC State by a touchdown in Death Valley. This time, NC State has even more to prove. Saturday’s game will provide the opportunity for the Pack to right the wrongs of what has been an abysmal 14 years of games against Clemson.
The Tigers lead the all-time series record 57-28-1, and while it has been competitive at times, Clemson has absolutely dominated the Textile Bowl in the 21st century. Clemson has won 13 of the last 14 matchups against NC State, dating back to 2004. That lone Wolfpack win came in Raleigh in 2011, and was preceded by seven straight Clemson wins. It has been followed up by six consecutive Tigers’ victories.
That seven-game winning streak from 2004-10 for Clemson is the longest for either team in Textile Bowl history, and if the Tigers beat the Pack this weekend they will match that streak with their current one. The last 14 years have been brutal for NC State when it comes to Clemson, but a win this weekend for the Pack would push the program to a height it hasn’t experienced in a long time.
But to win, the Wolfpack has demons it has to exorcise. The series hasn’t been kind to the Pack for a long time, but it has been especially brutal the last two seasons. In 2016, NC State had a prime opportunity to pick up its first win at Clemson since 2002.
But it didn’t. It’s a game that NC State fans will never forget. With the game tied 17-17 in the fourth quarter, the Pack missed a 33-yard field goal that would have taken down the No. 3 team in the nation. NC State went on to lose in overtime, in heartbreaking fashion.
Fast forward to 2017 in Carter-Finley Stadium. The Wolfpack was putting together a beautiful drive, down a score, looking to tie things up in the final minute of the game. On a fourth-and-10, now-graduate quarterback Ryan Finley connected for a first down with now-redshirt junior receiver Jakobi Meyers.
However, it got called back for an illegal shift, a critical mental mistake for the Pack. On the next play, Finley threw an interception which sealed another heartbreaking loss to Clemson for NC State.
Those games are behind the Wolfpack now, and Saturday brings with it perhaps the biggest game in the storied history of these two teams. The Textile Bowl has been played every year since 1971, and Clemson has controlled it.
However, this weekend gives NC State an opportunity to try and forget about all those heartbreaks and push its program to a new level. A win for the Wolfpack Saturday would be maybe the biggest in program history, and would fully insert NC State into the College Football Playoff conversation.
