1979 NC State Wolfpack football team

1979 NC State Wolfpack football
ACC champion
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	7–4 (5–1 ACC)
Head coach	Bo Rein (4th season)
Home stadium	Carter–Finley Stadium
Seasons ←  1978 1980  →

1979 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
NC State $	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Clemson	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Maryland	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Wake Forest	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 15 North Carolina	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Virginia	1	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Duke	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 NC State Wolfpack football team represented the North Carolina State Wolfpack during the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Bo Rein. NC State has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) since the league's inception in 1953. The Wolfpack played its home games in 1979 at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, which has been NC State football's home stadium since 1966. NC State won the 1979 ACC Championship with a record of 5–1 in conference play. At season's end the Wolfpack did not play in a bowl game, having declined an invitation to play in the Garden State Bowl. Unlike the Big Eight, Big Ten, Pacific-10, Southeastern and Southwest Conferences, the ACC did not have a contract to send its champion to a specific bowl, and would not until an agreement with the Citrus Bowl from 1987-91.

As of 2025, the 1979 NC State team is the last bowl-eligible champion from one of the Power conferences not to play in a bowl game.

Rein accepted the head coaching position at LSU on November 30, 1979. He never coached a game in Baton Rouge, perishing January 10, 1980 when the private aircraft he was traveling in flew well off course and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	East Carolina *		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)		W 34–20	53,400	[1]
September 15	Virginia	No. 19	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		W 31–27	45,800	[2]
September 22	at West Virginia *	No. 19	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV		W 38–14	26,298	[3]
September 29	Wake Forest	No. 16	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)		W 17–14	44,800	[4]
October 6	at Auburn *	No. 14	Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, AL		L 31–44	51,146	[5]
October 13	Maryland	No. 17	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		W 7–0	39,800	[6]
October 20	No. 19 North Carolina	No. 15	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	ABC	L 21–35	54,200	[7]
October 27	at Clemson		Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC (rivalry)		W 16–13	61,412	[8] [9]
November 3	at South Carolina *		Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		L 28–30	56,409	[10]
November 10	Penn State *		Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		L 7–9	51,200	[11]
November 17	at Duke		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (rivalry)		W 28–7	24,100	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[13]

Roster

1979 NC State Wolfpack football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 44 Rickey Adams Sr RB 48 Chris Brown Fr RB 36 Chuckie Canady So OT 62 Chris Carr So TE 80 Lin Dawson So OT 76 Chris Dieterich Sr WR 4 Eddie Jackson Fr G 66 Sam Jackson Fr QB 12 Darnell Johnson Fr G 65 Joe Jones So WR 25 Lee Jukes Jr RB 39 Andre Marks Fr RB 21 Wayne McClean So WR 22 Mike Quick So WR 6 Curtis Rein So C 51 Jim Ritcher Sr QB 11 Scott Smith Sr G 72 Chuck Stone Sr RB 46 Dwight Sullivan Jr RB 28 Billy Ray Vickers Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 53 Robert Abraham So DB 14 Jeff Culler Jr LB 32 Marion Gale Sr DT 91 Bubba Green Jr DT 90 Simon Gupton Sr LB 59 Joe Hannah Sr LB 96 David Horning Jr DB 26 Ronnie Lee Jr DB 42 Donnie LeGrande Jr LB 43 Dann Lute So DB 16 Mike Nell Sr DT 95 Brian O'Doherty Sr DT 93 Dennis Owens So DL 73 John Stanton Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 17 John Isley Sr	Head coach Bo Rein Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Wolfpack comeback topples ECU". The News and Observer. September 9, 1979. Retrieved March 4, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Cavaliers push State's Wolfpack". The Daily News Leader. September 16, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "QB Smith gets Pack past WVU". Durham Sunday Herald. September 23, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Wolfpack stops Deacons". Florence Morning News. September 30, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Auburn rolls by Wolfpack". The News and Observer. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 30, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
6. "'Wham-bam-oof,' State runs over Maryland 7–0". The Roanoke Times. October 14, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Tar Heels subdue Wolfpack". Winston-Salem Journal. October 21, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Clemson Football Media Guide - 1980". Clemson University. 1980. p. 2. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
9. "'Pack edges Tigers, 16–13". The Sun-News. October 28, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Rogers, USC outrun 'Pack". The Greenville News. November 4, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Menhardt's late field goal lifts Penn State by 'Pack". Daily Press. November 11, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Wolfpack pounds Duke, wins title". The Chapel Hill News. November 18, 1979. Retrieved January 27, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "1979 North Carolina State Wolfpack Schedule and Results | College Football at Sports-Reference.com". sports-reference.com. Retrieved October 9, 2017.