Tim Peeler: Looking back at NC State's play on homecoming for 100th anniversary

NC State rounds out its ninth annual Red and White week against new Atlantic Coast Conference member Stanford on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium and continues its homecoming game tradition that dates back to 1916.

In fact, Saturday’s game is unofficially the 100th homecoming in school history, though the exact origins and designated homecoming contests are not chiseled in granite.

Although it’s true that the first time the Alumni Association asked that old grads return to Raleigh as part of their county or state alumni clubs for the 1916 Thanksgiving Day game against Washington & Lee, it wasn’t until 1923 that the term “homecoming” was used for a specific game on the schedule.

Since 1926, however, the only interruption in hosting such a game was in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled on-field homecoming festivities and forced most Red and White festivities to be virtual.

The Pack has won 52 of its homecoming games, lost 41 and tied six times.

The Wolfpack won a record eight consecutive homecoming games from 1960-67, finally losing to Clemson in 1968, though that loss did not prevent the Wolfpack from winning its fifth ACC championship under head coach Earle Edwards.

The Pack lost six in a row between the tenures of Tom O’Brien and Dave Doeren, with two of those losses coming against top-5 Clemson in double-duty homecoming/Textile Bowl games. The Pack was also winless from 1928 to ’35, losing three times to Duke, twice to North Carolina and once to Clemson while tying games against Wake Forest and Carolina.

Also among the homecoming games is the highest-scoring tie in NCAA football history, a 43-43 outcome against Duke in 1988.

In 1977, the Wolfpack ended Maryland’s 21-game ACC winning streak, which stood for more than two decades until powerful Florida State joined the league in the 1990s.

The last game in Riddick Stadium, a 3-0 victory over Florida State, and the first win in Carter Stadium, a 42-21 victory over Virginia, were both homecoming games.

State has never lost a homecoming contest to South Carolina, Florida State, Wake Forest or Virginia Tech.

Stanford’s Cardinal is the 25th unique homecoming opponent. State has played more homecoming games against Duke than any other foe, compiling a 9-8-1 record, followed by Virginia with an 8-5 record.

North Carolina was originally supposed to be State’s annual foe for homecomings at both schools when they were first recognized in the 1920s, but that quickly ended because of arguments between the two schools. The Pack’s only homecoming against the Tar Heels since World War II was in Doeren’s inaugural season of 2013, a 27-19 loss.

Among the 52 wins are some iconic games, such as the 37-13 upset of No. 7 Clemson in 2011, when quarterback Mike Glennon threw 3 touchdown passes, and a 24-10 win over Duke, when ACC career rushing leader Ted Brown’s No. 23 jersey was retired in pregame ceremonies.

Two of the most heart-wrenching losses in school history happened on homecoming: the 1979 loss to Penn State on a last-second field goal that bounced off the upright and through the goalpost for a 9-7 final and the 24-17 defeat against Georgia Tech in 2002 that ended State’s school-record 9-0 start to the season.

The Pack’s biggest win was a 56-0 victory over Appalachian State in 1990 and its biggest loss was a 75-0 humbling against No. 9 Duke in 1943, when the Wolfpack had only students rejected by the U.S. Army, which did not allow officer candidates to play varsity sports, and Duke had U.S. Navy cadets who could play varsity sports.

Clemson, which twice came to Carter-Finley for homecoming games ranked in the top 5, is not the best homecoming opponent in State’s history. That honor belongs to defending national champion Tennessee, who was selected as State’s 1939 homecoming opponent as part of the school’s 50th anniversary jubilee. The Volunteers were not the top-ranked team in the country only because the polls at the time were first released in midseason. The Volunteers won 13-0 and went on to win another national title.

Two of the most amazing individual performances in homecoming games include Pack defensive tackle Ron Banther’s interception of an option pitch against South Carolina in 1974 that he returned 82 yards for a touchdown and Miami receiver Devin Hester’s 105-yard return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown in 2004.

NC State’s year-by-year results on homecoming

Date Opponent Result

11/2/24 Stanford —
10/28/23 Clemson W, 24-17
11/5/22 No. 20 Wake Forest W, 30-21
10/30/21 Louisville W, 28-13
11/9/19 No. 5 Clemson L, 55-10
11/3/18 Florida State W, 47-28
11/4/17 No. 3 Clemson L, 38-31
10/29/16 Boston College L, 21-14
10/31/15 No. 3 Clemson L, 56-41
11/8/14 Georgia Tech L, 56-23
11/2/13 UNC-CH L, 27-19
11/3/12 Virginia L, 33-6
11/19/11 No. 7 Clemson W, 37-13
11/13/10 Wake Forest W, 38-3
11/7/09 Maryland W, 38-31
10/4/08 Boston College W, 38-31
10/7/07 No. 18 Virginia W, 29-24
11/4/06 No. 20 Georgia Tech L, 31-24
10/29/05 Southern Miss W, 21-17
10/23/04 No. 3 Miami L, 45-31
9/20/03 Texas Tech W, 49-21
11/2/02 Georgia Tech L, 24-17
11/17/01 No. 10 Maryland L, 23-19
11/11/00 Duke W, 35-31
11/6/99 Maryland W, 30-17
11/7/98 Wake Forest W, 38-27
11/5/97 Maryland W, 45-28
11/9/96 Duke W, 44-22
11/4/95 Maryland L, 30-13
11/12/94 Duke W, 24-23
10/30/93 No. 16 Virginia W, 34-29
11/21/92 No. 25 Wake Forest W, 42-14
11/9/91 No. 21 Virginia L, 42-10
10/6/90 Appalachian State W, 56-0
11/4/89 No. 24 Virginia L, 20-9
11/12/88 Duke T, 43-43
11/7/87 East Tennessee State L, 29-14
11/15/86 Duke W, 29-15
11/9/85 Virginia W, 23-22
11/17/84 Duke L, 16-13
11/5/83 Appalachian State W, 33-7
11/13/82 Duke W, 21-16
10/3/81 Virginia W, 30-24
11/15/80 Duke W, 38-21
11/10/79 Penn State L, 9-7
11/18/78 Duke W, 24-10
10/1/77 Maryland W, 24-20
11/13/76 Duke L, 28-14
11/1/75 South Carolina W, 28-21
11/2/74 South Carolina W, 42-27
11/13/73 Maryland W, 24-22
11/28/72 South Carolina W, 42-24
10/30/71 Virginia L, 14-10
11/7/70 Virginia W, 21-16
11/15/69 No.18 Houston L, 34-13
11/2/68 Clemson L, 24-19
11/28/67 Duke W, 28-7
10/29/66 Virginia W, 42-21
11/14/65 Florida State W, 3-0
10/31/64 South Carolina W, 17-14
11/9/63 Virginia Tech W, 13-7
11/17/62 Virginia W, 24-12
11/18/61 South Carolina W, 33-14
10/1/60 Virginia W, 26-7
10/31/59 Wyoming L, 26-0
11/1/58 Virginia Tech T, 14-14
11/9/57 William & Mary L, 7-6
11/10/56 South Carolina W, 14-7
11/19/55 William & Mary W, 28-21
11/12/54 Richmond W, 14-6
10/31/53 William & Mary L, 7-6
10/25/52 Florida State W, 13-7
10/20/51 William & Mary L, 35-28
10/14/50 Duke L, 7-0
10/22/49 Maryland L, 14-6
11/6/48 Virginia L, 21-14
11/15/47 Wake Forest W, 20-0
11/16/46 Virginia W, 27-7
11/3/45 Virginia Tech W, 6-0
11/18/44 Richmond W, 39-0
11/6/43 No. 9 Duke L, 75-0
10/31/1942 UNC-CH W, 21-14
11/22/41 No. 3 Duke L, 55-6
10/19/1940 UNC-CH L, 13-7
10//39 Tennessee L, 13-0
10/22/38 Furman T, 7-7
10/2/37 UNC-CH L, 20-0
10/24/36 Virginia Tech W, 13-0
11/23/35 Duke L, 7-0
11/3/34 Clemson L, 12-6
11/4/33 UNC-CH L, 6-0
10/15/32 Wake Forest T, 0-0
10/31/31 UNC-CH L, 18-15
11/15/30 Duke L, 16-0
11/16/29 Duke L, 19-12
11/3/28 UNC-CH T, 6-6
10/29/27 UNC-CH W, 19-6
11/13/26 Duke W, 26-19
10/18/23 UNC-CH L, 10-0