Pack Past: Bowling edition

General11

A look back at the first time the Wolfpack went bowling. (Link)

On Dec. 6, 1946, NC State accepted an invitation to play in the second Gator Bowl, in Jacksonville, Florida, according to a history of NC State maintained by NCSU Libraries. The Wolfpack faced Oklahoma in a New Year’s Day game in front of 10,134 spectators.

Hopefully, the results will be better for this year’s team. The Wolfpack, led by Coach Beattie Feathers, lost the 1947 Gator Bowl.

Here’s an additional bit of trivia for all you ACC football fans: Wake Forest played in the first-ever Gator Bowl, defeating South Carolina.

Holtz leaves NC State to join Jets (Link)

With NC State’s recent acceptance of its Belk Bowl invitation, we’d thought it would be interesting to revisit some Wolfpack’s bowl memories. The Peach Bowl, now known as the Chick-fil-A Bowl, was a good place to start since NC State is tied with Clemson at seven for the most appearances by a school in that bowl.
NC State is 4-3 in that bowl, and one of NC State’s three losses stands out as more than a defeat. The Wolfpack lost the 1975 Peach Bowl to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 13-10, as Lou Holtz bid adieu to the program.

NC State defeated Bobby Bowden’s Mountaineers, 49-13, three years earlier in the same contest. But the 1975 Wolfpack team battled injuries and a scoreboard malfunction that caused the referees to keep time on the field and alert the coaches to the clock. As a result, NC State rushed a field goal before half to take a 10-0 lead. However, there was still just under a minute left on the clock, and West Virginia gained momentum by scoring a quick touchdown amid the confusion before halftime.

But the bigger story was that Holtz, who coached the Wolfpack from 1972-75, made his pilgrimage to the NFL after that game, leaving NC State with a record of 33-12-3 while at the helm.

His tenure as head coach of the New York Jets wouldn’t last a full season, and by 1977, he was back in the college ranks, coaching at Arkansas. He went on to coach at Minnesota, Notre Dame (where his team won the 1988 national championship) and South Carolina, his last coaching stop before he became an analyst for ESPN.

Tom Higgins ’76, a nose guard on that ‘75 team and now director of officiating for the Canadian Football League, says that Holtz influences him even today because of the coach’s ability to instill belief. “He was a master magician. He had the ability to make people believe. … He was king of the clichés, but clichés have a lot of truth to them,” Higgins says. “Holtz is in you. You can’t separate that out.”

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11 Responses to Pack Past: Bowling edition

  1. tobaccordshow 12/26/2011 at 9:14 AM #

    The greatest bowl win , In my opinion, was the gator bowl when over Notre Dame

  2. TheCOWDOG 12/26/2011 at 10:44 AM #

    “Holtz is in you. You can’t separate that out.” (Tommy Higgins)

    So now, just maybe, you understand how the young whippersnappers in this blog can so easily get under my skin when they go off on Granny.

    In our ’72 Peach Bowl game, WVU was as much as a 10 pt. favorite I think.

    Collectively we were a bit unhappy when we realized how far out of the city our accommodations were. There was WVU sittin’ high and mighty at the Peachtree downtown, and we were holed up at the Marriott out near the airport.

    Holtz kept us on a leash, while those Mountaineer boys tore up the town. Guess it showed as they had pretty much quit by the 4th quarter.

    I remember blocking a safety thru a play and hearing him say ” Hey, easy man, easy, play’s over.” Kinda pissed me off, as I’d never heard anyone say something like that before the whistle.

  3. Texpack 12/26/2011 at 2:30 PM #

    CowDog I’ll always be a Lou Holtz fan. I still remember how he would come over to Reynolds and speak to the Basketball Campers and do some of his magic act. I never get tired of seeing him on TV. Playing for him must have been a treat. The stretch while Holtz was coaching was phenomenal because the basketball team went 77-7 over the last three years of Holt’s tenure with a National Championship included. It was really fun to be a Wolfpack fan during that 4 year period.

  4. TheCOWDOG 12/26/2011 at 3:30 PM #

    Holtz was adept at transferring his mastery of magic into football skills.

    He preached quickness, as demonstrated by those quick drills you’d see during pre-game warm ups.

    He used to do this quarter-in-a-palm trick on Mondays and the last practice of game week.

    He’d challenge someone to keep that quarter before he could snatch it from the holder, lined up fingers to fingers, palms up. He always won that quarter,
    demonstrating that action was always faster than reaction.

    However, when roles were reversed, he always kept it…until.

    Until our boy Pat Kenney finally got him. I’m sure it was the week before the Peach Bowl, Kenney lined up with Lou and Pat managed to pop Lou’s hand from underneath, sending the quarter in the air where it was snatched away by Pat’s other hand.

    Holtz was momentarily speechless while the team fell out laughing.

    Holtz recovered, called Pat a cheater, and then proceeded to pull a second quarter out from behind Kenney’s ear ! Awesome stuff. Not the trick, the gamesmanship.

  5. logarithm 12/26/2011 at 6:16 PM #

    My dad, uncle and their buddies were finishing their undergrad when Holtz was around. They said they ran a lot of pitches, sweeps, draws, reverses and stuff in those days. It was really exciting, tricky football to watch but often gave up fumbles and turnovers so it was an even bigger emotional rollercoaster. To hear them talk about that compared to Dana Bible’s “Run, Run, Play Action Pass” offense is just makes me feel weird.

  6. 61Packer 12/26/2011 at 6:45 PM #

    Carolina’s getting the crap kicked out of them right now in Shreveport. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving team, coaches and program.

  7. BJD95 12/26/2011 at 7:36 PM #

    Indeed, I am getting quite a thrill out of “Shreveport Schadenfreude.”

    Everett Withers, we at SFN will sorely miss you. 🙂

  8. Wufpacker 12/26/2011 at 8:16 PM #

    Someone should let Carolina’s players know that trying to show up your opponent after a play by wagging your finger at them is classless in any case. But when you’re down by three scores, it’s classless and stupid.

    If the shoe fits, I guess.

  9. BJD95 12/26/2011 at 8:31 PM #

    In my personal heaven, UNC is coached by Doherty and Withers. Forever. They were both so perfect, from a vulpine perspective.

  10. Wufpacker 12/26/2011 at 8:38 PM #

    Well, between the 41-17 score and all the empty seats, the Heels should feel right at home. It’s no 41-10, but close enough.

  11. BJD95 12/26/2011 at 8:43 PM #

    Naturally, Withers doesn’t go for two, and possibly make it a two score game. Math is hard for a Wal-Mart fan turned coach!!

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