NC State football countdown to 2023 kickoff: 53
The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 53 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 53 in Pack history.
NC State Football And No. 53
• An important member of the NC State football team upfront on the offensive line is super senior offensive lineman Derrick Eason, and he wears No. 53.
The 6-foot-4, 315-pounder from Norfolk, Va., was recruited to play defensive line and did not sign until after an eventful recruitment. Eason was a summer-time commitment to NC State, but he surprised even the Wolfpack when he chose not to sign during the early December signing period.
That happened to be the first time that the NCAA allowed the prospects to ink in December rather than February, and Eason quickly discovered what others realized, too: available players after the early signing period would be in high demand.
Notre Dame and Miami both made aggressive pushes on Eason, with the Fighting Irish in particular emerging as a threat to NC State. Eason took an official visit to South Bend, and a late switch in his pledge appeared imminent, but Eason surprised once again when he decided to come full circle and sign with NC State.
After redshirting, Eason made a transition to the offensive line during preseason camp in 2019. In 2021, Eason emerged as one of the top reserves and filled in as a starter for the final six games after Chandler Zavala went down with an injury.
Zavala’s return after winning an appeal for a sixth season impacted Eason’s chances of being back in the starting lineup, but Eason was one of the top seven offensive linemen on the NC State roster. He started the last three games at right guard after center Grant Gibson went down with an injury, and guard Dylan McMahon slid inside to replace Gibson.
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Gibson has graduated, and McMahon will replace him at center. That opens the door for Eason to be a starter this fall.
• One of the best tacklers in school history wore No. 53.
There is an exclusive list of players who have piled up at least 400 tackles at NC State, and Robert Abraham (1978-81) was one of them. Abraham’s 183 tackles as a senior remains the second-best single-season total in NC State football history, and his 407 career tackles are fourth all-time.
After college, Abraham was drafted in the third round by the Houston Oilers and would play six seasons in the NFL, starting for four of those years.
• In 1953, the ACC debuted as a conference, and in its first season , NC State football went winless in the league, losing all three ACC games while going 1-9 overall. That would be the last of two seasons as head coach for Horace Hendrickson.
