NC State football countdown to kickoff: 78
The NC State football season opener for 2022 is at East Carolina on Sept. 3 — or 78 days away from Friday. The Wolfpacker continues its countdown for the season with a note about the number 78.
78: Significant moments involving the number 78 in NC State football history
• In 1978, NC State football all-time great running back Ted Brown had arguably the best rushing season in school history.
Brown ran 302 times for 1,350 yards in 11 games, both of which remain school records, and added 11 scoring rushes. That season included Brown running for 198 yards against Syracuse and 189 yards vs. UNC. Those were two of Brown’s seven 100-yard rushing performances during that season.
The only running back to come within 100 yards of Brown’s season total in NC State history is Brown himself. He rushed for 1,251 yards in 1977.
Otherwise, the next closest running back to Brown’s 1,350 yards was Anthony Barbour’s 1,204 yards in 1992.
Brown, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013, led NC State football to a 9-3 record in 1978, with two of the three defeats coming to No. 12 Maryland and No. 2 Penn State, each of those games on the road.
The Pack would conclude the year with a 30-17 win over No. 17 Pittsburgh in the Tangerine Bowl and earn a final rating of No. 18 in the Associated Press poll. Brown still holds the school record with his 33 carries in that bowl win, which went for 126 yards. That game’s stats however are not included in Brown’s season tally since bowl numbers were added to yearly totals at that point. (Thus Brown’s adjusted tally would have been 1,476 yards.)
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Brown, a consensus first-team All-American that season, would tie for sixth in the final Heisman Trophy voting. That is, to date, the best finish by a former NC State football player for the prestigious award. Oklahoma running back Billy Sims won the Heisman despite Penn State quarterback Chuck Fusina garnering more first place votes.
Brown is still NC State’s all-time leader in rushing yards at 4,602 and running touchdowns with 51. The former held up as an ACC record until Clemson’s Travis Etienne broke the mark in 2020. Brown’s No. 23 is retired by NC State football.
• The jersey No. 78 at NC State under head coach Dave Doeren has not been a lucky one. In 2013, Doeren’s first season in Raleigh, starting left tackle Rob Crisp, missed most of the season with a concussion.
The next scholarship player to wear No. 78, Aaron Wiltz received a medical hardship after promising early reviews. Then came Gabriel Gonzalez, who like Wiltz would be sidelined for medical reasons without ever playing a snap for NC State.
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