NC State vs. Duke: A Historical Perspective

NC State and Duke will play one another in a football game for the 85th time today. The Blue Devils hold the edge in the overall series, with a 42-37-5 record against the Wolfpack in the series.

The series between NC State and Duke dates all the way back to 1924, with today’s game marking the 100 year anniversary of the series. From 1924-1943, the two teams played each other annually, and after not playing one another in 1944, the Wolfpack and the Blue Devils played each other every year from 1945-2003. After the ACC went through expansion, the cross town rivals have only played one another 5 times in the past 20 years.

There’s no reason that these two teams shouldn’t play one another every single year, which thankfully they will now for the foreseeable future.

In October of 2023, the ACC revealed their future scheduling model for 2024-2030, and NC State will play UNC, Duke and Wake Forest every year over that period of time. This is the way things should be. The 4 teams that make up the Tobacco Road rivalry should play each other every year.

Despite the fact that Duke holds the overall edge in the series, NC State holds a 15-4 edge since 1990, and 6-3 since the turn of the century. The Wolfpack has played the Blue Devils 3 times under Dave Doeren, carrying a 1-2 record into today’s game.