NC State football bowl games in Charlotte memories: 2011
In 2002, Charlotte hosted for the first time a bowl game. At that point, the sponsor was Continental Tire Bowl, and Virginia defeated No. 15 West Virginia handedly, 48-22, in front of a crowd of almost 74,000 fans. NC State football would make their debut in the bowl in 2005, the first time the game was called the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
That was the first of three trips to Charlotte for NC State football.
The second was in 2011, when the game was now called the Belk Bowl.
Here is the second recap of the three bowl games in the Queen City for the Wolfpack.
NC State Football in 2011 Belk Bowl
Weeks after 2011 Belk Bowl, a victorious NC State football coach Tom O’Brien was chatting with a group of boosters for a National Signing Day event and discussing how much fun they had in Charlotte to cap off the season
There was a point where O’Brien was maybe not sure he was going to even be in Charlotte, or Raleigh for that matter.
After an uninspiring 14-10 loss at Boston College, the Wolfpack was 5-5. In his fifth season at NC State and with a relatively new boss in director of athletics Debbie Yow, whose approach to recruiting clashed with O’Brien’s low-key style on the trail, O’Brien was getting on thin ice.
Then came Nov. 19 when No. 8 Clemson traveled to Raleigh. The Pack not only stunned the Tigers under upstart head coach Dabo Swinney, NC State crushed them, 37-13.
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The first half vs. Maryland the following week surrendered the goodwill from that game. NC State would eventually fall behind 41-14 in the third quarter before uncorking one of the great comebacks in college football history, scoring six unanswered touchdowns to win 56-41 and seal the bowl bid.
Awaiting in Charlotte was Louisville, not yet a member of the ACC. The 7-5 Cardinals were led by future NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. After starting the season 2-4, Louisville won 5 of 6, including a victory at No. 24 West Virginia.
On this evening in Charlotte, another future NFL quarterback got the better of the matchup with Bridgewater. NC State’s Mike Glennon threw a trio of touchdowns in the first half, two of them to receiver T.J. Graham. A 65-yard interception return from David Amerson to cap off a magical season for the All-American cornerback gave the Pack a 31-10 lead with 6:39 left in the third quarter.
NC State had to sweat out the win, however. Bridgewater threw a pair of scoring tosses, the second of which closed the gap to 31-24 with 3:55 to go. NC State though would prevail by that score, and Glennon was named the game MVP
