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NC State football countdown to 2023 kickoff: 50

MattCarterby:Matt Carter•07/12/23•

TheWolfpacker

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Former NC State center Grant Gibson (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)

The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 50 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 50 in Pack history.

NC State Football And The No. 50

• The 1950 NC State football team finished with a 5-4-1 record, but one particular game during that season stood out: Oct. 21 at Maryland.

The Terrapins were in their glory days. A year prior, Maryland had gone 9-1, losing only by a 14-7 score at No. 13 Michigan State and capping the year with a 20-7 win in the Gator Bowl over No. 20 Missouri. The Terps, who beat NC State 14-6 in Raleigh a week after that lone loss courtesy the Spartans, were ranked No. 14 in the final Associated Press (AP) poll.

Entering 1950, Maryland was ranked No. 15, and despite a season-opening loss at No. 15 Georgia in a hot, sweltering afternoon, a 3-1 Terrapins squad had risen to No. 8 in the AP poll largely thanks to demolishing No. 2 Michigan State on the road, 34-7.

That is when Wolfpack came to College Park in what would be the first-ever televised game in NC State football history. The game was also homecoming for Maryland.

Two touchdown runs from NC State’s Ed Mooney helped the Wolfpack jump out to a 16-0 lead before Maryland mounted a furious comeback. Two fourth quarter touchdown passes by the Terrapins cut the deficit to 16-13 with three minutes left. Maryland had one last chance, but a final pass attempt into the end zone was intercepted by NC State.

The Pack prevailed in what was the first-ever program win over a top-10 opponent. Over the next 22 games, spanning into the 1952 season, Maryland would go 21-0-1 and in 1951 claim the national title.

• One of the best players to ever wear No. 50 was former linebacker Stephen Tulloch. As part of the most heralded NC State football recruiting class signed, Tulloch would turn out to be one of the most accomplished stars of that 2003 group.

Tulloch was named first-team All-ACC in 2005 when he had 20.5 tackles for loss, which is tied for sixth most in a single season at NC State. He ranks seventh all-time in program history for career tackles for losses with 40. That despite only playing three seasons before turning pro early.

To cap his collegiate career, Tulloch was the MVP of the Meineke Car Care Bowl win over South Florida in Charlotte, during which he led a defensive effort that helped give USF its first shutout in school history.

A fourth round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans, Tulloch played 11 years in the NFL and tallied 949 career tackles.

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