NC State football countdown to kickoff: 23
The NC State football season opener for 2022 is at East Carolina on Sept. 3 — or 23 days away from Thursday. The Wolfpacker continues its countdown for the season with notes about the number 23.
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23: Significant notes involving the number 23 in NC State football history
Records are meant to be broken, but the marks put up by former NC State football running back Ted Brown are holding up to the test of time.
A simple search of the NC State media guide shows that Brown’s name appears 177 times.
An examination of some of Brown’s remarkable school records in a NC State uniform:
• Most rushing yards in a game — 251 yards for the Pack vs. Penn State in 1977
• Most rushing yards in a season — 1,350 yards during the 1978 NC State football campaign (also has the second highest total with 1,251 yards in 1977)
• Most rushing yards in a career — 4,602 yards, an ACC record that lasted from 1978 to 2020 when Clemson’s Travis Etienne finally broke it.
• Most career total touchdowns — 51 for the Pack
• Most career rushing touchdowns — 49 of his 51 total TDs at NC State
• Most points scored by a non-kicker — 312
• Most 100-yard rushing games in a season — 9 in 1977
• Most 100-yard rushing games in a career — 27 for NC State
• Most 200-yard rushing games in a career — 2 (and missed a third by two yards when he ran for 198 yards for NC State against Syracuse in 1978)
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• Most 1,000 yard rushing seasons — 3 (1976, 1977 and 1978, each of which he also holds school records for most rushing yards by a player in his class year)
• Most career all-purpose yards — 5,565 (4,602 rushing, 760 receiving and 203 on kick returns)
• Highest career yards rushing per game — 107.0 in 43 games at NC State
• Most rushing attempts in a season — 302 in 1978
• Most rushing attempts in a career — 860 from 1975-78 for NC State
• Most rushing yards per carry in a game — 14.0 against Syracuse in 1977 (10 carries for 140 yards)
• Highest rushing yards per attempt in a season by a freshman — 6.4 in 1975
• Longest running play in NC State football history — A 95-yarder vs. Syracuse in 1977
In 1978, Brown was a consensus first-team All-American and the first player in ACC history to be a four-time first-team all-conference selection. He was also the league’s rookie of the year in 1975, becoming the first NC State player to receive that honor.
All that helps explains why Brown’s No. 23 was retired by NC State football during a pregame ceremony in 1978 before his final home game.
After college, Brown played eight seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him in the first round, rushing for 4,546 yards and totaling 53 touchdowns. His best season came in 1981 when he ran for 1,063 yards and six scores.
In 2013, Brown was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
