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NC State football countdown to 2023 kickoff: 54

MattCarterby:Matt Carter•07/08/23•

TheWolfpacker

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NC State offensive lineman Dylan McMahon (Photo courtesy NC State)

The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 54 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 54 in Pack history.

NC State Football And The No. 54

• The current No. 54 for NC State football is a mainstay on the Pack’s offensive line. Fifth-year redshirt junior guard/center Dylan McMahon has started 32 straight games for NC State, including the last three last season at center, where McMahon is expected to play this year.

Recently, Reese’s Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy proclaimed that McMahon “is the most athletic senior center prospect we’ve seen in 2024 draft class.” Nagy compared McMahon favorably to former NC State center and NFL first-round draft pick Garrett Bradbury.

• Two of the most legendary figures in NC State football history both while playing in Raleigh and also in the NFL ranks wore No. 54 for the Wolfpack.

The first was linebacker Bill Cowher. He is more famous for being an NFL Hall of Fame coach. Patrolling the sidelines for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cowher coached in two Super Bowls, including winning Super Bowl XL. In 15 seasons at Pittsburgh, Cowher went 149-90-1 and made 10 playoff appearances.

However, Cowher also left his mark on NC State football history. His 24 tackles against South Carolina in 1977 and then again vs. Clemson a year later are still tied for second for most tackles in a game by a Wolfpack defender. Also during 1978, Cowher had 19 tackles playing Duke, which is tied for 16th most at NC State.

Cowher finished with a school-record 195 tackles in 1978 and 176 the year before. Those rank as the first and third most single-season tackle records in NC State history. His career 371 tackles are seventh-most by a Pack player.

NC State’s Linebacker of the Year Award was established in 2007 and named the “Bill Cowher Award.”

Cowher played six seasons in the NFL after his days at NC State.

• The other famous former NC State football player to wear No. 54 was offensive lineman Joe Thuney. From 2012-15, Thuney started 32 games for the Wolfpack and as a senior was named first-team All-American by USA Today and third-team by the Associated Press.

During his days with the Wolfpack, Thuney started at every position but center.

Drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round in 2016, Thuney became an instant NFL success. He has started all 97 games he has played in the NFL and won a pair of Super Bowls with the Patriots. He was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2019, and in 2021 signed a five-year, $80-million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs that made him the highest-paid offensive guard in the NFL. He added another Super Bowl title this past year with the Chiefs.

• The 1954 season was the first for Earle Edwards as the NC State football coach. Edwards coached for 17 seasons and still holds the school record for most wins overall and in the ACC, going 77-88-8 overall and 55-45-5 in the conference.

After seven losing seasons in his first nine years (although the 1957 team did win the ACC and finish ranked No. 15 in the AP poll), Edwards turned the corner in 1963. Over the next six seasons, NC State football at least tied for first in the ACC four times and was second the other two years. The Pack’s league record in that span was 31-10.

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