Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 44. NC State
AROOOOOOOOOO (Wolfpack Noises)
I’m gonna be honest, I know literally nothing about NC State prior to Philip Rivers’ graduation. They’ve been a fine program though, having been ranked at some point in 11 of 15 seasons from 1989-2003, and since then have had some real quality players including Russell Wilson, Bradley Chubb, Mike Glennon, and David Amerson. Blessed with consistent coaching (all 5 of their coaches since 1986 have lasted 6 or more years each), that probably explains their sustained success, but also could explain why they’ve only finished in the AP Top 15 once during this timeframe.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 14 | North Carolina State | 2002 | 27.042 | 11-3 |
| 14 | North Carolina State | 1992 | 22.539 | 9-3-1 |
| 20 | North Carolina State | 2010 | 20.358 | 9-4 |
| 19 | North Carolina State | 2021 | 20.15 | 9-3 |
| 19 | North Carolina State | 1988 | 17.243 | 8-3-1 |
| 24 | North Carolina State | 2017 | 16.764 | 9-4 |
| 18 | North Carolina State | 1994 | 16.484 | 9-3 |
| 25 | North Carolina State | 1991 | 16.261 | 9-3 |
| 25 | North Carolina State | 1986 | 15.0 | 8-3-1 |
| 29 | North Carolina State | 2003 | 12.654 | 8-5 |
| 33 | North Carolina State | 2018 | 11.026 | 9-4 |
| 30 | North Carolina State | 2022 | 10.031 | 8-5 |
| 36 | North Carolina State | 2000 | 8.015 | 8-4 |
| 33 | North Carolina State | 2020 | 7.345 | 8-4 |
| 38 | North Carolina State | 2011 | 5.202 | 8-5 |
| 34 | North Carolina State | 1998 | 4.386 | 7-5 |
| 46 | North Carolina State | 2014 | 2.669 | 8-5 |
| 38 | North Carolina State | 1990 | 2.632 | 7-5 |
| 49 | North Carolina State | 2016 | 2.355 | 7-6 |
| 42 | North Carolina State | 2001 | 2.256 | 7-5 |
| 40 | North Carolina State | 1997 | 1.516 | 6-5 |
| 41 | North Carolina State | 2005 | 1.448 | 7-5 |
| 39 | North Carolina State | 1989 | 0.494 | 7-5 |
| 41 | North Carolina State | 1993 | -3.926 | 7-5 |
| 63 | North Carolina State | 2015 | -6.473 | 7-6 |
| 64 | North Carolina State | 2012 | -7.158 | 7-6 |
| 59 | North Carolina State | 2008 | -7.432 | 6-7 |
| 52 | North Carolina State | 2004 | -7.651 | 5-6 |
| 64 | North Carolina State | 1999 | -11.878 | 6-6 |
| 74 | North Carolina State | 2007 | -15.324 | 5-7 |
| 75 | North Carolina State | 2009 | -15.619 | 5-7 |
| 70 | North Carolina State | 1987 | -22.02 | 4-7 |
| 81 | North Carolina State | 1984 | -27.915 | 3-8 |
| 88 | North Carolina State | 2006 | -28.074 | 3-9 |
| 83 | North Carolina State | 1995 | -31.529 | 3-8 |
| 88 | North Carolina State | 1996 | -32.76 | 3-8 |
| 85 | North Carolina State | 1985 | -33.136 | 3-8 |
| 108 | North Carolina State | 2019 | -33.542 | 4-8 |
| 87 | North Carolina State | 1983 | -34.531 | 3-8 |
| 100 | North Carolina State | 2013 | -37.081 | 3-9 |
+------+----------------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 22377 (44th)263-220-3 record
0 conference titles
12-13 bowl record
6 consensus All-Americans
101 NFL players drafted
Their best season has 3 losses, and their worst season has 3 wins. NC State, similar to Texas Tech 2 spots before, is the personification of “consistently good, never great”. They’ve got a whopping 15 seasons of 8 or 9 wins, but just 1 with more than that; 2003 with 11 wins. As a result, they didn’t win a conference title, but made 25 bowl games, with 28 seasons of 6 or more wins, and were ranked 39th in the nation even in just their 23rd best season. 4 of their 6 consensus All-Americans have actually come in the last 6 years, so going in reverse chronological order, drum roll please…K Christopher Dunn (2022) who won the Groza Award hitting 28/29 FGs, OL Ikem “Icky” Ekwonu (2021) who was the 6th overall pick in the NFL Draft, C Garrett Bradbury (2018) who is the highest drafted center since 1999 at 18th overall, DE Bradley Chubb (2017) who’s NC State’s all-time sack leader, WR Torry Holt (1998) who should be an NFL Hall of Famer, and K Marc Primanti (1996) who won the Groza Award hitting 20/20 FGs. The most notable NFL players, without a doubt, have been QB Philip Rivers, QB Russell Wilson, WR Torry Holt, 1st overall pick DE Mario Williams, S Adrian Wilson, OG Joe Thuney, QB Jacoby Brissett, and K Stephen Hauschka.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2013 (3-9 overall, 0-8 ACC)
Dave Doeren was hired after leading Northern Illinois to a 23-4 record in 2011 and 2012, and is the still the head coach, but had a rough start in 2013. They added Colorado State transfer 6’5 QB Pete Thomas, who set CSU school records as a freshman, but somehow threw just 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions in NC State’s 3-1 start, and was eventually replaced by the original starter Brandon Mitchell, throwing just 4 TD 9 INT for the year. NC State lost all 8 ACC games that extended into a 12 game conference losing streak in 2014, putting up respectable performances for a new coaching staff, but ultimately played just one game that was decided by one possession. Good thing Virginia also finished 0-8 in the ACC in the other division to take some of the heat off the Wolfpack. Aside from Thomas, the rest of the QBs combined for 10 TD 6 INT, and the team was really devoid of talent, having just 1 player drafted over the next 2 NFL Drafts. Jacoby Brissett would arrive on campus in 2014 and lead NC State to 2 straight bowls in 2014-15.
5. 1988 (8-3-1 overall, 4-2-1 ACC)
The 1988 Wolfpack had an UNBELIEVABLE defense, giving up just 7.7 PPG in a 6-1 start, giving up just 6 point or less in 6 out of those 7 games. A 48-3 win over rival North Carolina is the biggest win in the history of the rivalry, one that came against Mack Brown in his first year with the Tar Heels. A 10-3 upset over #9 Clemson in a battle of 5-1 teams handed the Tigers their 3rd straight loss to NC State, all while being ranked in the top 16. Still unranked despite all that, NC State would fall to 6-3-1, going just 0-2-1 in their next 3, dropping games to #17 South Carolina and Virginia, the latter of which finished 2nd in the ACC. They had a quality win over 6-3 Pitt to finish the regular season 7-3-1, making the Peach Bowl against 6-3-3 Iowa (these records really used to be a trip), winning 28-23. NC State finished unranked, but I had them at #19 in 1988. The defense gave up 22 PPG down the stretch but still finished 6th in the nation with 13.8 PPG allowed for the season. Despite a so-so passing offense, WRs Danny Peebles and Naz Worthern were drafted in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, respectively, of the 1989 NFL Draft.
4. 2021 (9-3 overall, 6-2 ACC)
All of college football (minus Clemson and maybe North Carolina) was rooting for NC State on September 25th 2021, when the Wolfpack knocked off #9 Clemson to give them their 2nd loss and bump them from Playoff contention for the first time since 2014. QB Devin Leary would play great all year long, throwing for 4 TD 0 INT against Clemson including the game winning overtime TD pass. By afternoon October 23, Clemson would fall to 3-2 in the ACC, and NC State became one of the favorites at 5-1 (2-0 ACC). They’d drop a game to Miami (FL), but a few weeks later set up the game for first place in the ACC Atlantic, #16 NC State (7-2 overall, 4-1 ACC) vs #12 Wake Forest (8-1 overall, 5-0 ACC). The two battled, with NC State holding a 27-24 lead at one point, but Wake ultimately got the 45-42 win to eliminate NC State. They finished strong though, beating Syracuse, and then down 21-30 to North Carolina with just 1:40 left, threw a 64 yard TD pass to make it 28-30, recovered the onside kick, and threw another 24 yard TD pass, both to WR Emeka Emezie, to take the 34-30 lead and eventually win. After kicking the FG to go up 30-21 with 2 minutes left, UNC had a 99.6% win probability according to ESPN Analytics. NC State’s Holiday Bowl against UCLA was cancelled, but who needs a bowl when you can end the season on beating your rival after having a 0.4% chance to win?
NC State finished the year 9-3, 2nd in the ACC Atlantic, and #20 overall. Leary had a fantastic year, throwing for 3433 yards with 35 TD 5 INT. OT Ikem Ekwonu was one of the best linemen in the country, earning consensus All-American honors and went 6th overall to the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft. From NC State’s 14th ranked defense in the nation, 3 players made 1st Team All-ACC.
3. 2010 (9-4 overall, 5-3 ACC)
Before Russell Wilson was making memories with a “whole pack of Badgers” in Wisconsin, he was NC State’s starting QB for 3 years from 2008-10. NC State had a whole bunch of hard fought wins in 2010. They went 3-0 in the opening non-conference slate including 28-21 over Conference USA champions UCF and 30-19 over Cincinnati, who was coming off a 12-0 regular season in 2009. They kept trading wins and losses all year long en route to an 8-4 record, entering the Top 25 on three separate occassions but immediately losing every time. Wins included 45-28 over 6-7 Georgia Tech, 44-17 over 7-6 Boston College, 28-24 over #16 Florida State, 38-3 over Wake Forest, and maybe the most satisfying all, 29-25 over North Carolina. This was NC State’s 4th straight victory over the Tar Heels, and to make things even more sweet, North Carolina had a 19-10 lead toward the end of the 3rd quarter before being outscored 17-0 in the next 10 minutes. Russell Wilson, facing 4th and goal down 10-19, threw up a “2 yard hail mary” that was thrown from the 20 yard line to the back of the end zone, which was tipped from out of bounds back in bounds, and NC State caught it for the touchdown. Sorry, Tar Heels! The end to the year was still kind of disappointing, losing to Maryland when a win would’ve put NC State in the ACC title game. They shut down Geno Smith and #22 West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl though, winning 23-7 to finish #25 on the year.
Wilson earned 2nd Team All-ACC, throwing for 3563 yards with 28 TD 14 INT while also rushing for 435 yards and 9 TD. TE George Bryan was the team’s only 1st Team All-ACC selection. Wilson would report to spring training with the Colorado Rockies in the offseason, so NC State coach Tom O’Brien moved on to future NFL QB Mike Glennon, and Wilson transferred to Wisconsin.
2. 1992 (9-3-1 overall, 6-2 ACC)
NC State had to play a murderer’s row, facing 6 Top 25 teams in their 13 games. NC State jumped out to a 3-0 start with a win over #16 Iowa, but after losing 13-34 to #3 Florida State, didn’t have much of a shot at the ACC crown for the rest of the year. They still finished 2nd in the ACC at 6-2, beating #18 Clemson 20-6 and #25 Wake Forest 42-14. Rival North Carolina, who finished the year at #19, stood no chance, getting duped, bamboozled, and smeckledorfed by the Wolfpack in a 27-20 win for NCSU. After a 9-2-1 regular season, NC State played #14 Florida in the Gator Bowl (biased much, Florida?), losing to finish the year #17. The team had more All-Americans than the other 4 seasons in the top 5 combined, with DB Mike Reid making 2nd Team All-American, and OG Mike Gee and DL Ricky Logo making 3rd Team All-American. DB Dewayne Washington was also a 1st round selection in the 1994 NFL Draft. Beloved coach Dick Sheridan coached his 7th and final season with the Wolfpack, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020 for his 121-52-5 record with Furman and NC State from 1978-92.
1. 2002 (11-3 overall, 5-3 ACC)
The best team in school history, winning 11 games when the next highest is just 9. Despite being unranked to start the year, NC State just wouldn’t…stop…winning…they opened by blowing out their 3 Group of 5/FCS non-conference opponents, moving up to #19. After dispatching Wake Forest, Philip Rivers narrowly outdueled Texas Tech and QB Kliff Kingsbury in a 51-48 OT win in Lubbock. Getting to 6-0, NC State was now #14 with 7 regular season games remaining. Rival North Carolina had a slow start at just 2-3, and NC State took advantage, winning 34-17, moving to 7-0. At #12, now 8-0, visiting Clemson was the Wolfpack’s first true “test” on the year, but passed with flying colors, winning 38-6. After the win, the clock struck midnight and Philip Rivers turned into a werewolf to respresent the Wolfpack, eating 3 Clemson fans by the time he turned back into an NFL prospect QB. Just kidding, that never happened, I just wonder how many people read these bios. But now—NC State was 9-0, and finally entered the top 10 for the first time all year at #10. They had a brutal schedule ahead against 3 of the top 4 ACC teams (the 4th being NC State). NC State dropped close game after close game, losing 3 straight to Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Maryland by an average score of 16-21. Because of their soft schedule, NC State fell all the way out of the Top 25, but on the final day, became the first ACC team to ever beat Florida State in back-to-back seasons, upsetting the #14 ACC champion Seminoles 17-7. FSU QB Adrian McPherson was held to just 8/20 passing for 80 yards and 7 carries for 2 yards. It turned out to be a pretty fun end to the season for NC State, who beat #11 Notre Dame 28-6 in the Gator Bowl to finish the season #12, moving all the way from unranked to #12 in their last 2 games.
NC State averaged 33 PPG while giving up just 17 PPG, a top 10 defense in the nation. Rivers was 2nd Team All-ACC, throwing for 3353 yards 20 TD 10 INT with 10 rushing TD. Freshman RB T.A. McClendon was 1st Team All-ACC, gaining 1455 yards and 18 TD from scrimmage. Future NFL veteran and 1st Team All-ACC WR Jerricho Cotchery had 67 catches for 1192 yards and 7 TD. 9 players total made 1st/2nd Team All-ACC, and the defense’s 48 sacks was a school record.
5th Quarter
Should NC State have been above North Carolina? Was 2002 the best season on the list, and is Rivers the best NC State player of all time? Why does NC State produce so many NFL starting QBs like Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Mike Glennon, Ryan Finley, and going back even further, Roman Gabriel? Would NC State fans have preferred Russell Wilson to come back and start his senior year in 2011, or was it time to move on and Mike Glennon was the right choice? Should Torry Holt, Philip Rivers, and Russell Wilson be in the NFL Hall of Fame by the time they’re all retired?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
