Let’s Be Honest…NC State and Clemson Don’t Like Each Other…and I’m Here For It

NC State has played Clemson more than any other team not named UNC or Wake Forest. There’s a name for the game between the two schools: The Textile Bowl. They’ve played each other every single year since 1971.

But despite the respect the two schools have always shared, they haven’t always liked each other.

In 1967, the NC State defense was known for their white shoes, when most college football players wore black shoes. The Wolfpack defense was good, and they liked to look good. NC State was ranked 10th, and was playing at Clemson in the final regular season game. The Tigers decided they would paint their shoes Orange, and they came out and beat the Wolfpack, ultimately ruining their chance of finishing the season ranked in the Top-10. If you want to read more on the bad blood in that game, read this.

In 1981, Clemson won the National Championship, but the celebration was short lived, because the NCAA brought down sanctions that gave the Tigers a 2-year postseason ban. What does this have to do with NC State? After #18 Clemson beat NC State in Carter-Finley Stadium, Tigers Head Coach Danny Ford was chewing out NC State Head Coach Monte Kiffin at midfield, accusing him of reporting his program to the NCAA.

This game has always meant something between the two schools, but the temperature has gone up since Dave Doeren became the head coach of the Wolfpack.

In Doeren’s first year, Clemson Offensive Lineman Isaiah Battle gave NC State Defensive Back Jarvis Byrd.

That was also the same that Bryan Underwood “stepped out of bounds.”

In 2015, when #3 Clemson beat NC State 56-41, NC State Assistant Coach Des Kitchings pushed Tigers Quarterback Deshaun Watson on the sidelines.

That was also the year that Wolfpack Safety Dravious Wright knocked Tigers Running Back Wayne Gallman out of the game with a helmet-to-helmet tackle.

Gallman was interviewed afterwards, and he said “I wanted someone to hurt him.”

NC State Head Coach caught flack for complementing his defense for “knocking their tailback out of the game.”

Doeren then clarified his comment:

“Well, first of all, we have a lot of respect for Wayne Gallman. He’s a really good football player,” Doeren said. “My comments came in response to a question about what we did well in the game and how physical we were, the fact that we had four takeaways and that we stopped the run. It had nothing to do with being excited about injuring another player. I feel like a lot of that was taken the wrong way. That’s not something that we prioritize ever is injuring somebody, but we are a physical football team that take pride in playing the game in a physical way, and the play was not ruled a penalty. I’d like to remind people of that. They did review the play. They had an opportunity upstairs to buzz it, and they didn’t do that.” (Link)

In 2017, things got spicy again, when the #6 Tigers came to Raleigh to play the #20 Wolfpack. NC State Defensive End memorably stole Clemson Quarterback Kelly Bryant’s towel three times.

After the game, Doeren infamously wanted an investigation to be done on why Clemson had a laptop on their sideline.

When Dabo Swinney was asked in his press conference if he received a call from Doeren after the game, he had this to say:

In the video above, Swinney referenced an NC State coach trying to take a swipe at K’Von Wallace at the end of regulation to knock the ball out of his hands.

Doeren didn’t regret his comments on the laptop when asked later that week.

“Look, I’m not a politically correct guy,” Doeren said on the ACC coaches call. “I coach with a lot of passion. Our kids play with it. He does the same thing. At the end of the game, when you lose a game that has conference championship game implications on it, sometimes things are going to be said. I don’t think it’s a big deal. I’m going to move and I’m sure he will, too. He’s got a big game this week.” (ESPN)

In 2018, Clemson added their own spice, trolling NC State with a laptop sign on the sidelines, when the #16 Wolfpack lost 7-41 to the #3 Tigers.

Swinney thought it was the “ultimate troll.”

“That was the ultimate troll, wasn’t it?… I was hoping y’all might notice that,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, before revealing that assistant coaches approached him with the idea.

“They wanted to have a little fun with that,” Swinney added, “and I said, ‘Well, hey, if you earn it, put it up there.’ I don’t think you saw it until the fourth quarter, but that was a troll.” (Link)

Then last year, when Doeren finally got the monkey off of his back, with his unranked Wolfpack beating the 9th ranked Tigers, he caught up with the ACC Network crew afterwards, while he was in the parking lot in front of the Murphy Center, with a cigar in his mouth, and a red solo cup in his hand.

These two teams haven’t had much lover for each other historically, and especially over the past decade, and I’m here for it.