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.
#NCState's Dave Doeren on officiating: "I wish it was better." Also, wants Clemson's use of laptop on sideline investigated. Illegal??#wralpic.twitter.com/HdOR8nqmFA
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.
“That was the ultimate troll, wasn’t it?" – Dabo Swinney on Clemson using a laptop play card against NC State 😂 pic.twitter.com/W7C7j74xxA
“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.
Prior to the announcement, NC State already had their non-conference slate booked for both of those seasons.
As a result of the addition of the Virginia series, a previously scheduled non-conference game from each season would need to be dropped. While it hasn’t been officially announced by the school, Joe Giglio and David Glenn seem to think that the series with Appalachian State is going to be dropped.
State swaps out a home-and-home with App State for one with Virginia
Given the ACC’s stance on road G5 games, that was going to happen
NC STATE BACKS OUT OF FOOTBALL SERIES WITH APPALACHIAN STATE…. David Glenn Weighs in on Required #NCPOL Scheduling Bill per UNC, NC STATE, ECU, CHARLOTTE AND APP https://t.co/5sfWzmRa93 via @YouTube
— NORTH CAROLINA SPORTS NETWORK (@TheNCSportsNet) May 16, 2024
It would make the most sense, considering the Mountaineers were the only opponent the Wolfpack was scheduled to play in both 2025 and 2026. It would also make sense, considering the fact that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips isn’t a fan of ACC teams playing Group of 5 schools on the road.
I will tell you this much. The Mountaineer faithful certainly believe NC State is dropping the series with App State, and it just takes a little scrolling on X (formerly Twitter) to get a read on their feelings on the situation.
CBS Sports released their Top-25 Power 4 Coaches in College Football, and NC State’s Dave Doeren came in at #16. Heading into last season, he went into the season ranked #25.
16) Dave Doeren: The NC State coach finally gets some overdue credit. He’s always hovered around the bottom of our top 25 or just outside it, and now he finds himself firmly entrenched in it thanks to all the changes at the top. Coaches who take mid-tier programs and overachieve never get enough credit, in my estimation, and the consistency Doeren has established at NC State — where he spent most of his time in a division with Clemson and Florida State — is one of the most impressive things any coach in the country has done. I’m glad to see Doeren getting closer to the top 15. 2023 rank: 25 (+9) (CBS Sports)
Numerous CBS Sports’ analysts voted in the poll, and Tom Fornelli actually ranked Doeren #8.
DraftKings released their way-too-early odds for the game, and Tennessee is currently a 5.5-point favorite.
Here’s the deal, as NC State fans, if we want to be a big time Football program, NC State fans need to gobble up tickets to this game. Let’s do our part and make sure that Bank of America Stadium is painted RED. Buy Tickets HERE.
NC State announced this morning that the Wolfpack and UVA will play in a home-and-home non-conference series, with the game in 2025 being in Raleigh, and the game in 2026 being in Charlottesville.
To reiterate, despite the fact that both teams are in the ACC, these games are considered non-conference games, and won’t count toward conference records. This is similar to what UNC and Wake Forest did a few years back.
Here’s what’s interesting about the addition of these games in 2025 and 2026. Prior to the announcement, NC State already had 4 non-conference games scheduled for both years.
It would be my assumption that one of the previously scheduled non-conference games for each season will not take place now.