Here are two NC State football games that are completely unimaginable with today’s fast-paced, high-scoring offenses, and both resulted in Wolfpack wins.
In one, nearly 30 years ago against the same opponent State faces this weekend in Western Carolina, the Wolfpack’s nationally ranked defense did not allow a first down the entire game. It’s an NCAA record that is shared by many, but the last time it happened was in the Pack’s 67-0 win over the Catamounts on Sept. 1, 1990, at Carter-Finley Stadium.
The other game is even harder to believe: In head coach Beattie Feathers’ second game at NC State, his team beat Virginia 13-0 on Sept. 30, 1944, in Norfolk, Virginia, without getting a first down and managing only 10 yards of total offense, both of which are NCAA lows for a winning team.
The Western Carolina game on Sept. 1, 1990, was simply a case of a Division I-A team overpowering a I-AA opponent in a season-opener. NC State’s defense was loaded with All-America defensive backs Jesse Campbell and Fernandus “Snake” Vinson, along with cornerback Sebastian Savage, and linebackers Billy Ray Haynes, Ray Frost, David Merritt and Tyler Lawrence.
Not only did the defense hold the Catamounts to 17 yards in total offense, but it scored four of the Pack’s 67 points by sacking Catamount quarterback Kevin Thigpen twice in his own end zone. State’s offense scored on five of its seven possessions in the first half, and five different players had rushing touchdowns.
For the game, running backs Aubrey Shaw and Tyrone Jackson led a ground attack that amassed 400 yards on 72 carries, while quarterbacks Terry Jordan and Charles Davenport guided the team to at least two touchdowns in every quarter.
“I never thought even in my worst nightmares that it could have been this bad,” said Western Carolina coach Steve Hodgin after the game. “We didn’t even give them a good scrimmage.”
State’s 592 yards in total offense still ranks as the ninth best in school history. The 67 points were the most scored by the Pack since a 78-0 win over Roanoke in 1919, a season in which State had the three highest scoring games in school history (80-0 over Guilford, 100-0 over Hampton Roads and 78-0 over Roanoke in the first four weeks of the season).
The game against the Cavaliers had a couple of extenuating circumstances. First, it was played during World War II, when every team in the country had limited access to qualified players. Most of the best athletes were already enlisted in one of the service branches or enrolled in one of the military training programs at various colleges across the country.
NC State’s travel roster for the train ride to Newport News the night before the game was just 28 players — and that was a larger number of players than at any time of the previous season.
The Pack had beaten Milligan 27-7 in Feathers’ first game, but it was a heavy underdog against the Cavaliers.
Secondly, that afternoon, Norfolk’s Foreman Field was practically under water with nearly two inches of rain falling during the course of the game, which was the first meeting between the neighboring schools in 37 years. The turf was a sopping, soggy mess. The Wolfpack’s practice the day before in Newport News was canceled because of rain.
For three quarters, neither team could move the ball. In fact, State didn’t even try in the wet conditions, kicking the ball away to Virginia on either first or second down of every possession. The Cavs, mostly buried in their own territory, made it past midfield a few times, but never really threatened the goal line.
Then early in the fourth quarter as the heavy rain started to subside, Virginia halfback Dick Michels attempted to punt the ball away on third down. The center snap flew over his head and when he tried to recover it, the ball squirted into the end zone.
There, NC State’s Lum Edwards fell on the ball for the first touchdown of the game. Mendel Zickefoose kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Five plays later, Virginia had the ball deep in its own territory following a clipping penalty on the kickoff, a 2-yard loss on a rushing attempt and an 8-yard loss on a fumbled snap.
When Michels tried to punt the ball away near his own end zone, this time the snap was low and it slipped by the kicker and into the end zone. NC State’s Tony Gaeta fell on the loose ball for the second gift of the game.
The Wolfpack recorded the shutout win despite just 10 yards of total offense and no first downs. It was the first of four wins during Feathers’ 7-3 debut season against teams from Virginia.
NCAA records are rare for most teams, unless they are one of the major football factories.
NC State kicker Marc Primanti still owns the NCAA individual record for his perfect 1996 season, in which he made all 20 field goals and all 24 PATs en route to winning the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker. Linebacker Nate Irving owns the NCAA single-game record for tackles for loss, making eight against Wake Forest on Nov. 18, 2010.
State holds two other NCAA team records, for the most consecutive passes attempted without a running play (32 at Duke on Nov. 11, 1989, in a 35-26 loss) and the most tackles for loss in a single game (24 vs. Florida State on Nov. 11, 2004).
Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.
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