NC State and South Florida will kick off the regular season for both teams on Sept. 2 at Carter-Finley Stadium.

The Wolfpack has some history with the Bulls. Here’s a look back at the three games between the two in football plus some notable recruiting battles.

History was made in the 2005 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, which later became known as the Belk Bowl and then the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

Never before had South Florida been shut out in a game. Never since has the Bulls been shut out. But it failed to score a point against NC State’s vaunted defense in a battle of teams that were 6-5 going into the contest. A few months later, three NC State defensive linemen would be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

The Wolfpack’s offense was not a thing of beauty, either, but two first half touchdowns, one a TD pass from Marcus Stone to Brian Clark and the other a 1-yard run by Andre Brown, was all that NC State needed in a 14-0 win.

The two teams also completed a previous home-and-home series. It started with South Florida coming to Carter-Finley Stadium in 2008. A promising rookie quarterback for the Wolfpack named Russell Wilson was not available after hurting himself celebrating an overtime win over ranked East Carolina the week prior.

Meanwhile, some bulletin board material provided by head coach Tom O’Brien gave the 13th-ranked Bulls plenty of ammo to take out on NC State. O’Brien was asked about USF’s defensive reputation during the week, and out of character made reference to it allowing 56 points against Oregon in the 2007 Sun Bowl.

“That was the spread they were defending,” O’Brien said. “If they’re the gurus, we’d better go somewhere else.”

Wilson’s replacement, Harrison Beck, completed just 9 of 32 passes for 237 yards with three interceptions, and amazingly in the second quarter NC State allowed a safety not once, but twice.

The final result: an ugly 41-10 loss that to make matters worse was played in constant rain.

NC State though returned the favor in Tampa in 2014, when head coach Dave Doeren’s squad rolled to a 49-7 lead midway through the third quarter in what was a 49-17 win.

The game was probably the highlight moment of receiver Bra’Lon Cherry’s career, as he scored the Pack’s first three touchdowns of the game.

So dominant was NC State that the final total yards was 589 to 159 in favor of the Wolfpack.

Catching three passes for 33 yards that afternoon for NC State was freshman receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Two years later, Valdes-Scantling would transfer to South Florida, where he would blossom after a fresh start and is now still playing in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers.

The two schools do not go up against each other in recruiting much anymore. The Bulls did beat out NC State last cycle for three-star tight end Gunnar Greenwald from Satellite Beach (Fla.) High.

The Bulls did offer a handful of players that ultimately signed with NC State, notably in the 2018 class, but USF was not a significant factor in their respective recruitments.

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