The History of the NC State vs. ECU Football Rivalry

The NC State vs. East Carolina football rivalry has been a roller coaster ride ever since it began back in 1970. After the 2 schools met for the first time on October 10th in 1970, with the Wolfpack defeating the Pirates 23-6 in Carter-Finley Stadium, they would go on to play one another every year from 1970 to 1987, winning 12 of the 18 contests. All 18 of those games were held in Raleigh.

Things got dramatic in 1987, leading then NC State Athletics Director Jim Valvano to suspend the Wolfpack from scheduling future games against the Pirates.

What happened?

Well, after East Carolina defeated NC State 32-14 in Carter-Finley in ’87, Pirate fans proceeded to storm the field and tore down one of the goal posts.

But lo and behold, 5 years later, as fate would have it, the two teams were selected to face one another in the 1992 Peach Bowl. These two teams have faced one another 31 times since 1970, but the Peach Bowl was and is the only time the two teams have been ranked in the Top-25 when they faced each other. NC State was ranked 21st, and ECU was ranked 12th. Pirates Quarterback Jeff Blake had his way with the Wolfpack defense that day, throwing for 378 yards and 3 touchdowns, leading ECU to a 37-34 victory.

Things got political after that, with North Carolina Senators from the Eastern part of the state forcing the issue to overturn Jimmy V’s suspension of the rivalry, and they were successful.

The first step was to face one another on neutral territory, because there was a concern that neither Raleigh or Greenville might be able to handle the emotions of the reunion. The Carolina Panthers Stadium in Charlotte was selected as the neutral site to host the 1996 matchup, marking the first regular season game between the two schools since 1987. 66,347 fans turned out to see the Pirates defeat the Wolfpack 50-29, marking the 3rd straight loss for the boys in Red & White in the series.

In 1997, for the first time in a decade, the rivalry game was hosted at a non-neutral site, with NC State snapping ECU’s 3-game winning streak, defeating the Pirates 37-24 in Carter-Finley.

The Pirates’ flare for the dramatic and obsession with goal posts in Carter-Finley rose back to the surface in 1999. In that year, Greenville was devastated with flooding due to Hurricane Floyd, and NC State, as an act of goodwill, allowed ECU to host #9 Miami in Carter-Finley on September 25th. The Pirates shocked the world, defeating the Hurricanes 27-23, and wouldn’t you know it, the fans in Purple and Gold stormed the field, and this time they tore down both the goal posts in Carter-Finley Stadium.

To pour salt in the wound, ECU defeated NC State in Greenville in the final regular season game 23-6 of 1999.

Five years later, the two would play one another again in Charlotte, this time the Wolfpack would convincingly defeat the Pirates 52-14.

Since 2004, the two in-state rivals have played one another in Raleigh or Greenville a total of 8 times, with each team winning 4 a piece.

Beginning in 2007, the Student Government Associations of both schools began awarding the Victory Barrel to the winner of the game. The barrel has engraved colored plates of each game in the storied history of the rivalry. The winner gets to keep the barrel, and it has had a home in Raleigh since 2018, after the Wolfpack defeated the Pirates 58-3, following that up with another beat down in 2019, crushing the boys in Purple and Gold 34-6 in 2019.

NC State vs. East Carolina Series