This Saturday, NC State will celebrate its 125th year of varsity football. The world has changed drastically in the past century-and-a-quarter, and so has the NC State football team.
Humble Beginnings (1892 – 1907)
On March 12, 1892, the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Aggies began their first football game on a field in what is now Pullen Park. Over 200 spectators attended as “A&M” defeated the Raleigh Male Academy, 12-6.
The next year, the team would play its first intercollegiate game, wearing its original pink and blue colors. In 1894, it held its first game against rival UNC-Chapel Hill.
No team name was used consistently during this time. Although Aggies was initially and commonly used, “Farmers and Mechanics” and “Techs” were also used regularly. In September of 1895, brown and white were selected as the new team colors, only to be quickly replaced by the current red and white later that year due to student support.
In 1902, Oliver M. Gardner was named captain of the team. Gardner would later become the governor of North Carolina. In 1906, the team attempted its first ever forward pass, still considered a controversial play at the time. By 1907, football games began taking place on campus at what would later become Riddick Stadium. That same year, the team went undefeated and won its first South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship.
Becoming the Wolfpack (1908-1953)
After winning a second conference championship in 1910, the team officially competed as NC State after the college was renamed in 1918. Competition was cut short that year due to the outbreak of World War I.
In 1921, the name Wolfpack was first used for the football team. Allegedly, an alumnus wrote into Technician calling the team “unruly as a pack of wolves.” The same year, NC State became a charter member of what would become the Southern Conference.
In 1946, the Wolfpack defeated Duke and Clemson on the way to its first bowl game appearance. Four years later, NC State defeated Maryland in its first nationally-televised game. 29 years after joining the Southern Conference, State helped charter the newly-formed Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953.
Making a Statement (1954 – 2000)
Under head coach Earle Edwards, the Wolfpack won five ACC championships and made two appearances in the Liberty Bowl. During Edwards’ tenure, halfback Dick Christy and quarterback Roman Gabriel, both All-Americans, played for the Wolfpack. Coach Edwards retired in 1970 after 17 seasons and remains the football coach with the most all-time wins in NC State’s history.
The ‘70s proved to be a successful decade for the Wolfpack, as two more ACC Championships were won and six bowl appearances were made. From 1972 to 1975, famed coach and analyst Lou Holtz led the Pack before being hired away to coach the New York Jets in the NFL. Later in the decade, linebacker Bill Cowher played under coach Bo Rein. Cowher would go on to be a Super Bowl-winning coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The early ‘80s were not kind to NC State. From 1978 to 1986, the Wolfpack failed to make a bowl game. During this period, future NCAA National Championship and Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll served as defensive coordinator with the Pack. Later that decade, under coach Dick Sheridan, the team would revive itself and make six bowl appearances into the early ‘90s.
Red and White in the 21st Century (2000-Present)
In 2000, Wolfpack alum Chuck Amato was hired as head coach. The same year, Philip Rivers became the starting quarterback. In 2002, the team compiled an 11-win season and finished ranked No. 12 in the nation. Rivers would go on to become a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback in the NFL and continues as the quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers today.
In 2008, under coach Tom O’Brien, Russell Wilson became the first freshman quarterback in ACC history to be named first-team all-conference. Wilson is now a Super Bowl-winning quarterback, having won with the Seahawks in 2014. Current Chicago Bears quarterback Mike Glennon led the Pack to an 8-5 record in 2011.
In 2012, head coach Dave Doeren was hired to replace O’Brien. Despite a disappointing initial season, every year since has seen the Wolfpack make a bowl appearance. Impressive play as of late has lead NC State to the cusp of being a ranked team once more, with the Pack receiving votes in the initial AP Top 25 poll. As the 2017 season begins, hopes are high for another history-making year.
