50 years ago, Houston beat NC State in coldest start to a Pack home game

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When Houston came to Raleigh on Nov. 15, 1969, the Cougars were looking more for revenge than a way to keep warm on the sidelines in a game that had the coldest kickoff in NC State home football history.

College’s football first indoor team — Hall of Fame head coach Bill Yeoman’s team had played in the world-famous Astrodome since 1965 — had not forgotten that coach Earle Edwards’ Wolfpack had come to Houston two years before and beaten the No. 2 Cougars 16-6, the biggest upset in NC State’s history until its 1998 win over No. 2 Florida State.

In the 1967 game, the Wolfpack beat the Cougars wearing borrowed shoes, since they had gone to Houston with their standard shoes that the defense always painted white. They were told they couldn’t wear those on the dome’s Astroturf, and the Houston athletics department gave the Wolfpack a full set of turf shoes.

Against Edwards’ instruction, senior linebacker Chuck Amato and his defensive teammates painted the borrowed shoes white, and the NC State athletics department had to pay for them.

In 1969’s return trip, Houston was still stinging from that loss. They had had high hopes coming into the season, with their first ever preseason Top 10 ranking, which quickly disappeared after they lost at Florida and at Oklahoma State, both of which were unranked.

They reeled off five straight wins afterwards, coming to Carter Stadium (as it was then known) with a 5-2 mark and fangs bared to ruin NC State’s Homecoming weekend.

The Cougars’ high-powered offense — which led the NCAA in 1966, ’67 and ’68 — was capable of putting up big numbers. The previous year, it beat Tulsa 100-6. Earlier that season, it had destroyed Mississippi State 74-0.

Yeoman was an early proponent of the veer offense that NC State perfected during the Lou Holtz and Bo Rein eras of the 1970s, and his teams were able to make unprepared opponents pay. In 1968, the Cougars averaged 568 yards of total offense and 42.5 points a game.

There had been some hiccups that particular season, with Yeoman making a change at quarterback after the season-opening losses, going with sophomore Gary Mullins.

State was in a down year after winning four ACC titles in the previous five years. Edwards was in the next-to-last season of his successful career and had guided his team to wins over ACC foes UNC-Chapel Hill, Maryland and Virginia.

But the schedule was backloaded with strong non-conference games, beginning with Houston and followed by Florida State and Penn State. His team never really restarted after the two-week layoff.

There was really only one thing that could slow the Cougars down in the game: a cold, blustery afternoon. Which is exactly what they got.

The temperature was officially 36 degrees at kickoff, which is the coldest recorded start for an NC State home game since 1954. (Spoiler alert: Projected temperature for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. game against Louisville at Carter-Finley Stadium is 34 degrees, which would set a new mark for coldest home game.)

The Wolfpack had an excellent defense, led by future NFL defensive tackle Ron Carpenter, and was second in the ACC in points and yards allowed. However, it came into the game a little rusty after back-to-back open weeks.

Despite the temperature, the Cougars were dialed in, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter. The Wolfpack’s answered with a 64-yard run by Charlie Bowers in the second period, but Houston’s offense dominated, taking a 17-7 lead into halftime and cruising to a 34-13 avenging victory.

An announced crowd of 31,000 spectators left the afternoon game chilled to the bone after watching Houston roll up 307 rushing yards and 132 passing, both of which were well below their average that season.

The Wolfpack offense, under the direction of quarterback Darrell Moody, managed just 269 yards of total offense.

“It was a delightful day for players,” Edwards said after the contest. “It might have been uncomfortable for spectators who had to sit still.”

Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.

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