In May, we started a countdown to NC State football's season and ACC opener against Louisville, a game that was originally scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 3.

In mid-June, the game was moved up a day to Wednesday, Sept. 2 in order to not conflict with the Kentucky Derby which was postponed from the traditional first Saturday in May to Saturday, Sept. 5 over Labor Day weekend.

Today, July 13 marks 51 days from the Wolfpack's season opener, for now.

Each day, The Wolfpacker will do a countdown to the season with a reflection on the significance of that number to NC State.

Legendary offensive lineman Jim Ritcher's No. 51 is one of 10 jersey numbers to be retired in NC State history. That's only appropriate for the College Football Hall of Fame inductee.

The three-time first-team All-ACC selection is one of two offensive Wolfpack linemen to have their jerseys retired at Carter-Finley Stadium, along with No. 63 Bill Yoest. Ritcher was a two-time consensus All-American as an upperclassman in 1978 and 1979.

His senior season, in 1979, he won the Outland Trophy for the nation's most outstanding college interior lineman in the same year the Wolfpack won the ACC Championship. NC State had come off of two successful campaigns in the years prior, including a Peach Bowl victory in 1977 and a Tangerine Bowl victory in 1978.

Ritcher went on to be a first-round draft selection by the Buffalo Bills in 1980 where he spent 14 seasons and made four Super Bowl appearances. The lineman played his last two NFL seasons for the Falcons in 1994 and 1995, but was later inducted into the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame.

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