Five memorable Dick Sheridan wins at NC State

Perhaps the two most remembered victories for former NC State football head coach Dick Sheridan during his seven seasons in Raleigh were the Hail Mary win in 1986 vs. South Carolina and the 56-yard field goal as time expired against archrival North Carolina in 1990. However, Sheridan’s tenure was filled with other notable triumphs.

Sheridan passed away August 6 at the age of 81.

Here are five more in addition to the two wins mentioned above.

1986 vs. No. 18 UNC – 35-34

Prior to Dick Sheridan’s arrival at NC State, North Carolina had dominated the rivalry, winning seven straight in the series.

Sheridan helped change the tide of the rivalry, and he told TheWolfpacker.com in 2021 that win No. 1 against UNC, which came in his first year at NC State, was one of his most memorable victories in Raleigh.

“I remember the way the fans and players reacted because we weren’t favored, of course,” Sheridan recalled. “North Carolina always out-recruited us. They always out recruited everybody. They were always ranked first in the ACC. We were down in the bottom.”

The game ended when UNC went for two rather than play for the tie after scoring a touchdown with nine seconds left. North Carolina quarterback Mark Maye, father of current Heels starter Drake Maye, rolled right and did a throw-back toss to a wide-open tight end Dave Truitt for what could have been an easy two points and the lead.

However, pressure got to Maye just as he fired the pass, and the throw lacked enough air. Truitt, while reaching down to make the reception, put his knee on the ground yards shy of the goal line.

A week later, a Wolfpack team that had been 3-8 for three straight years was ranked No. 20. Ensuing wins over a ranked Clemson squad and South Carolina, the latter on a Hail Mary, left NC State with a 6-1-1 record and ranked No. 15.

Sheridan would go 6-1 all-time against UNC.

1988 vs. No. 9 Clemson – 10-3

Year one under Sheridan saw NC State go 8-3-1 and reach the Peach Bowl, where the Pack lost a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech

Year two saw the Pack slip to 4-7 overall, although NC State did finish with a 4-3 ACC record.

Year three proved that the first impression of Sheridan was the accurate version.

NC State started the season 5-1, including a 48-3 walloping of North Carolina on the road. No. 9 Clemson arrived to NC State on Oct. 22. Sheridan’s team had upset the seventh-ranked Tigers 30-28 the year before and 27-3 in 1986.

This game was not pretty, but a 5-yard touchdown run by Chris Williams in the fourth quarter secured a 10-3 win for NC State. That was the first time legendary former Clemson head coach Danny Ford ever lost three straight games to the same team while leading the Tigers.

NC State finished the year 8-3-1 after beating Iowa, 28-23, in the Peach Bowl.

1991 vs. No. 23 UNC – 24-7

In 1991, the rivalry between UNC and NC State was believed to be at a crossroads. During his first run as the head coach of the Tar Heels, Mack Brown had gone 1-10 in 1988 and 1989, but in 1990 UNC broke through with a 6-4-1 mark. The season was highlighted by that tie, which was the lone blemish in co-national champion Georgia Tech’s undefeated season.

One of North Carolina’s losses that year came when NC State kicker Damon Hartman made his famous 56-yard field goal to secure a 12-9 win. That marked a third straight Wolfpack win in the rivalry for Sheridan but was a much tighter outcome than the previous two, which had come by combined margins of 88-9.

With perceived momentum building off a 2-0 start that included a lopsided home win over Cincinnati and a road win at Army, UNC found itself ranked No. 23 when the Heels traveled to Carter-Finley Stadium in 1991 to face 3-0 NC State, who was unranked after beating Virginia Tech, Kent State and Wake Forest by a combined 84-3 score.

Despite losing starting quarterback Terry Jordan to a broken wrist during the game, backup quarterback Geoff Bender was able to keep the Wolfpack offense moving, and perhaps more importantly, the stout NC State defense kept UNC out of the end zone.

One major reason for that: cornerback Sebastian Savage. He would have five interceptions in 1991, and two of them came in the red zone that afternoon against North Carolina. The latter of the two practically ended the game.

With NC State leading 17-7, UNC had a third and goal from the NC State 6-yard line with 20 seconds left. North Carolina quarterback Chuckie Burnette was intercepted by Savage at the 1-yard line off a tipped pass, and the cornerback sprinted away from the Heels 99 yards for a touchdown, crossing the goal line with four seconds to go for the final 24-7 margin.

1991 vs. No. 21 Georgia Tech – 28-21

A week after the UNC win, Bender made his first career start and struggled with three interceptions. However, he managed to score on a 2-yard run with 2:43 left to overcome a 21-20 Yellow Jackets lead.

That improved NC State’s record to 5-0. A win a week later over Marshall had the Pack 6-0, the best start under Sheridan during his tenure.

That 1991 squad suffered losses to ranked Clemson and Virginia squads, and ended the season with a 9-2 record. A devastating loss to No. 12 East Carolina in the Peach Bowl, when the Pack blew a 34-17 fourth quarter lead, prevented arguably Sheridan’s best team from reaching 10 wins. NC State ended the season ranked No. 24.

1992 vs. No. 16 Iowa – 24-14

The unranked Wolfpack faced No. 16 Iowa in a national spotlight for the Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The game was tied 14-14 at halftime, but the Wolfpack defense pitched a second half shutout and helped NC State prevail 24-14.

NC State would be ranked for every other week during the season, reaching as high as No. 12 going into the Gator Bowl against No. 14 Florida, which the Pack lost, 27-10. Sheridan’s final team at NC State went 9-3-1.