The North Carolinaâ€"NC State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the North Carolina Tar Heels football team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and NC State Wolfpack football team of North Carolina State University. Both universities are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and are permanent cross-division opponents. North Carolina leads the all-time series 66â€"35â€"6, though the rivalry has been very competitive in the ACC era. North Carolina State won the most recent contest, 33-21, on November 25, 2017. The Wolfpack has also won three of the last four, and eight of the last eleven games between the schools. It is annually anticipated as the biggest college football game in the state of North Carolina.
Preâ€"ACC era
North Carolina vs. NC State Football Highlights (2017) - North Carolina vs. NC State: Wolfpack running back Nyheim Hines rushed for 196 yards as NC State beat the rival Tar Heels 33-21. Jaylen Samuels racked up 75 total yards and a score as well...
The first game between North Carolina and NC State occurred October 12, 1894 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 44â€"0, the first of six straight victories for North Carolina to open the series with NC State. The Wolfpack tied North Carolina four times between 1899 and 1905 before the series went on a fourteen-year hiatus, with North Carolina leading 8â€"0â€"4. Following a 0â€"0 tie on November 8, 1902, the student body of Duke University sent NC State a congratulatory telegram, showing the significance of another intense regional rivalry between Duke and North Carolina.
The two rivals met again on October 23, 1919, and North Carolina narrowly escaped with a one-point victory. On October 21, 1920 in Raleigh, North Carolina, which was the fourteenth meeting between the schools, the Wolfpack won for the first time. NC State backed up the win with another victory the following season. The Tar Heels dominated the preâ€"ACC series with a 31â€"5â€"6 record.
ACC era
North Carolina and NC State were both charter members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which played its first season in 1953. Since that year, the rivalry has been played every season without a break. NC State hired Earle Edwards as head coach in 1954, and he was able to have considerable more success against North Carolina than his predecessors. When Edwards was hired, NC State played in Riddick Stadium, which held half as many people as North Carolina’s Kenan Memorial Stadium. Due to this fact, Edwards opted to play home games versus the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill from 1956 to 1964. Despite playing on the road during those years, Edwards amassed a 6â€"3 record against North Carolina during that time period and a 9â€"8 record during his career as head coach of the Wolfpack, making him the winningest NC State coach against the Tar Heels.
In the first 26 seasons of the ACC, the series record was tied at 13, but beginning in 1979, North Carolina went on a seven-game winning streak. During this time, North Carolina head coach Dick Crum amassed an 8â€"2 record against the Wolfpack. NC State hired Dick Sheridan as head coach prior to the 1986 season, and he went 6â€"1 against the Tar Heels. However, following Sheridan's retirement from coaching, North Carolina went on another seven-game winning streak, leaving NC State head coach Mike O'Cain winless against Tar Heels coaches Mack Brown and Carl Torbush. The 1998 and 1999 games were held at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, with the Tar Heels victorious in both. During the 2000s, NC State went 6â€"4 in the series, including winning the last three games of the decade under Tom O'Brien. From 2000-2017, NC State leads 11-7. The series record in the ACC currently stands at 35â€"30 in favor of North Carolina.
Notable games/moments
October 12, 1894: This was the first meeting between UNC and NC State.
Game results
North Carolina victories are shaded ██ blue. NC State victories are shaded ██ red. Ties are white.
See also
- North Carolinaâ€"NC State rivalry
- List of NCAA college football rivalry games
- Most-played rivalries in NCAA Division I FBS
References
