Ted Brown had to be talked into going to Syracuse on that day 41 years ago.
A week earlier, just after Brown rushed for an abnormally low 48 yards against Virginia, his mother, Lillie, died at the family’s home in High Point. The mother of seven, diagnosed earlier in the year with an aggressive form of cancer, was just 41 years old.
Normally consumed with football, Brown thought about nothing in the preseason and throughout the first two games other than his biggest fan and his best friend. The 1977 season began with a thud, in a 28-23 loss to East Carolina. Then came his mom’s quick decline prior to the Virginia game.
And then she was gone.
With head coach Bo Rein’s permission, the junior running back missed every day of practice the week before the team’s Sept. 17, 1977 trip to Syracuse’s Archbold Stadium. He was planning to miss the trip completely, but, after talking it over with his family, decided that the only fitting eulogy for his mom would be a gridiron performance dedicated to her memory.
“They suggested that I might as well go ahead and give it a try,” Brown said of his decision to play in the contest. “So I went out and really played for her.”
And his tribute is still in the record books.
To be honest, it wasn’t going well. Sure the Wolfpack was easily handling the Orangemen (as State’s opponent this weekend was known back then) with a comfortable 24-0 lead on the field where All-American running backs Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little and Larry Csonka once chewed up the turf for the Orange.
Ted Brown, rather distractedly, had run for touchdowns in the second and third quarters, but had gained just 45 yards on nine carries. He was looking squarely at his second consecutive game under 100 yards.
To make matters worse, an interception by Wolfpack safety Tommy London had pinned State down near its own goal line. Billy Ray Vickers ran for three yards on first down, and offensive backfield coach Darrell Moody was looking to get a little more space behind quarterback Johnny Evans on second down.
Moody called a simple counter-dive play, hoping that Brown could give the Pack that breathing room. Evans faked to Vickers, spun around and handed the ball to Brown.
The All-ACC tailback went looking for a little crease up the middle, but found a wide gaping hole, courtesy of All-American center Jim Ritcher and left guard Tim Gillespie, leaving just the Syracuse free safety between Brown and the other goal-line, so far down field that it was hidden by the curvature of the earth.
And then he was gone.
Untouched even once, Brown accelerated for a 95-yard touchdown run that was a full first-down longer than the 81-yard touchdown he scored against Michigan State on the exact same play as a sophomore.
“Fifty percent of the time the linemen break open a hole big enough for me to cross the line of scrimmage untouched,” Brown said, crediting Ritcher, Gillespie along with Frank Hitt, Chuck Stone and Chris Dieterich. “That certainly makes my chances better.”
It was a classic kind of play Brown made throughout his Wolfpack career and his eight years in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.
“It wasn’t anything exotic at all,” the late Bo Rein said after the game. “We just wanted to punch out a first down.”
For the day, the Wolfpack gained 395 yards on the ground, with both Brown and Vickers amassing more than 100 yards each and combining for 248.
The yardage total — and the rout — could have been bigger had the Wolfpack not fumbled three times inside the red zone and four times overall. It didn’t really matter — the Wolfpack’s defense, led by linebackers Bill Cowher and Kyle Westcoe, kept the Orangemen from crossing midfield until late in the fourth quarter.
Brown’s Syracuse romp still ranks as the longest rush from scrimmage in NC State football history and one of the longest in ACC annals. That’s not surprising, since many of Brown’s records have gone mostly unchallenged since his career ended almost 40 years ago.
For the 1977 season, Brown had 1,251 yards, entering his senior season as the nation’s top returning rusher. He had high hopes for the Heisman Trophy, and his eyes set on the career rushing record Tony Dorsett had set while at Pittsburgh.
An early season injury “limited” Brown to just 1,350 yards on 302 carries his final season, and losses to Maryland, Clemson and Penn State in a five-week midseason swing knocked Brown out of the Heisman race. Oklahoma’s Billy Sims won the coveted award, while Brown finished sixth in the voting.
Forty years ago this week — on Oct. 21— Brown became the ACC’s all-time leading rusher in the grandest way possible. He virtually strolled for 189 yards in Chapel Hill to erase Tar Heel tailback Mike Voight’s career rushing total. He hasn’t relinquished that record in the last four decades.
Brown’s career total of 4,602 rushing yards is the ACC’s oldest offensive record that anyone is chasing. The only older offensive record, set by Virginia quarterback Scott Gardner from 1972-75, is 60 career interceptions.
Some of Touchdown Ted’s league scoring records have been surpassed. With 49 rushing touchdowns and 51 career touchdowns, he’s now third and fourth on those lists, respectively. However — and this continues to mystify those unfamiliar with the NCAA’s way of doing things — none of Brown’s postseason stats count in his career totals.
None of his career totals — all recoded in just 39 regular-season starts — count the 399 yards on 74 carries, the 84 yards on nine receptions and the two touchdowns he collected in three bowl games.
That 95-yard romp is only a fraction of Brown’s career total, but it remains the most meaningful run of all.
Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.
——
• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker
• Like us on Facebook
