1978 Tangerine Bowl

1978 Tangerine Bowl
Pittsburgh Panthers NC State Wolfpack (8–3) (8–3) Independent ACC 17 30 Head coach:  Jackie Sherrill Head coach:  Bo Rein AP Coaches 16 13
1 2 3 4 Total Pittsburgh 0 0 3 14 17 NC State 7 10 3 10 30
Date	December 23, 1978
Season	1978
Stadium	Orlando Stadium
Location	Orlando, Florida
MVP	Ted Brown, NC State (overall) [1] Nathan Ritter, NC State (offensive) [2] John Stanton, NC State (defensive) [2]
Favorite	Pitt by 6 [1]
Attendance	31,356 [1] [3]
Tangerine Bowl  ← 1977   1979 →

The 1978 Tangerine Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on December 23, 1978 at Orlando Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The game matched the Pittsburgh Panthers against the NC State Wolfpack. It was the final contest of the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams. The game ended in a 30–17 victory for the Wolfpack.

Teams

The game matched the Pittsburgh Panthers against the NC State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Panthers had no affiliation to a conference, and the Wolfpack had a conference record of 4–2. The game was the first bowl game featuring the Panthers and the Wolfpack, and was their third overall meeting. Pittsburgh led the series 2–0 heading into the game, and the teams' previous meeting was in 1953, when the Panthers defeated the Wolfpack 40–6. ^[4]

Game summary

Statistics

Statistics [3]	PITT	NCSU
Plays–yards	82–378	69–310
Rushes–yards	34–110	60–207
Passing yards	268	103
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	32–48–4	6–9–0

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PITT NCSU 1 4:44 NCSU Ted Brown 1-yard touchdown run, Nathan Ritter kick good 0 7 2 11:54 4 0 NCSU 51-yard field goal by Nathan Ritter 0 10 2 8:35 3 NCSU Buster Ray 55-yard touchdown reception from John Isley, Nathan Ritter kick good 0 17 3 10:47 PITT 37-yard field goal by Mark Schubert 3 17 3 7:17 NCSU 29-yard field goal by Nathan Ritter 3 20 4 14:13 68 NCSU 23-yard field goal by Nathan Ritter 3 23 4 7:55 71 PITT Freddy Jacobs 1-yard touchdown run, Mark Schubert kick good 10 23 4 NCSU Interception returned 66 yards for touchdown by Mike Nall, Nathan Ritter kick good 10 30 4 1:35 PITT Russell Carter 1-yard touchdown run, Mark Schubert kick good 17 30 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 17 30

^{[1] [3]}

References

1. Greene, Jerry (December 24, 1978). "Wolfpack attack wrecks Pitt" . Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved March 18, 2017– via newspapers.com.
2. Buchalter, Bill (December 24, 1978). "N.C. State: Ritter's enthusiasm symbolic" . Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved March 18, 2017– via newspapers.com.
3. "1978 Tangerine Bowl Recap". NC State Wolfpack. December 23, 1978. Archived from the original on January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
4. "North Carolina State vs Pittsburgh, 1869-1978". Stassen.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014.