NC State football countdown to 2023 kickoff: 87
The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 87 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 87 in Pack history.
NC State Football And No. 87
• Two members of the NC State football coaching staff graduated from college in 1987, both of whom arrived on head coach Dave Doeren’s staff for the 2020 season.
Defensive line coach Charley Wiles earned a communications degree at Murray State, where he played offensive line for legendary coach Frank Beamer. Wiles would go on to be one of Beamer’s most loyal assistant coaches, leading his defensive lines at Virginia Tech from 1996 through Beamer’s retirement.
Safeties coach Joe DeForest received a bachelor’s in marketing from Southwest Louisiana in 1987, where he was also a two-time all-conference linebacker. Although not to the degree of Wiles, DeForest has shown a penchant for extended stays at prior stops. He coached at Duke for seven seasons and at Oklahoma State for 11. He spent four seasons at West Virginia, where DeForest coached alongside current NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
• In 1987, NC State football fans were treated to what was then a rare air show. Quarterback Shane Montgomery threw for what was a school-record 468 passing yards against Duke. He also had 402 yards vs. Virginia.
The Wolfpack went 1-1 in those two games, the last two contests of a disappointing 4-7 year. NC State defeated Duke, 47-45, but lost to Virginia, 34-31.
Prior to that year, only three quarterbacks ever at NC State even had a 300-yard passing game — Dave Buckey in 1974, Johnny Evans in 1977 and Erik Kramer twice in 1985.
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The 1987 season was the only of College Football Hall of Fame coach Dick Sheridan’s seven with the Pack this his squad had a losing season, although even in that year the Wolfpack managed an impressive upset on the road of No. 7 Clemson, 30-28. Sheridan went 52-29-3 on the NC State sidelines.
• Torry Holt is the undisputed greatest wide receiver in the history of NC State football, but one school record he does not hold is average yards per game for a career. That belongs to Koren Robinson, who was Holt’s heir apparent as star receiver and averaged 87.0 yards a contest in his two seasons (1999-2000).
Robinson, like Holt, would be a top-10 NFL Draft pick. He was selected with the ninth choice by the Seattle Seahawks.
• The longest run since 2000 by a NC State player was an 87-yarder by Ray Robinson against Duke in 2001. That remains the third longest rush in Pack history. Robinson also owns the second-longest, an 88-yarder vs. Virginia in 1998.
