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, June 26 marks 68 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.
'68- An ACC Championship year for the Wolfpack
On Wednesday, we highlighted 70 days to Wolfpack football marking 1970 as legendary NC State head coach Earle Edwards' last season in Raleigh. Edwards won four ACC titles during his 17-year career with the Pack, and 1968 marked the last conference championship of his tenure.
After fielding arguably one of the best NC State football teams in history in 1967, Edwards led the Wolfpack that season to its first-ever bowl victory, a 14-7 Liberty Bowl win over Georgia.
Following the Pack's debut bowl-winning season, NC State had another year of success as conference champions in 1968.
Led by quarterback Jack Klebe, the Wolfpack swept all three of its in-state rivals on the road. The Pack took down Wake Forest 10-6 in the season opener at Groves Field, then hammered North Carolina in Kenan Stadium 38-6 the following week before handling Duke 17-15 in Wallace Wade Stadium the second to last game of the year.
NC State finished 6-4 overall, but all three of its losses came to out-of-conference opponents Oklahoma, Southern Methodist and Florida State, who didn't join the ACC until 1990. Despite it's lone ACC loss coming in the Textile Bowl to Clemson in the then-new Carter Stadium (now Carter-Finley Stadium), the Wolfpack edged out the Tigers for first place with a 6-1 conference record.
That season, Klebe led the Wolfpack in passing with 746 yards on 57-of-120 completions including five touchdowns. Running backs Charlie Bowers and Bobby Hall combined for over 1,200 rushing yards in the conference championship season.
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