If you had to guess which ACC schools held the longest running rivalry, what would you say? North Carolina and Duke? Miami and Florida State? Virginia and Virginia Tech? Cal and Stanford?
If you guessed any of those matchups, you’d be off the mark. The answer is actually the matchup between the NC State Wolfpack and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who first met on October 19, 1895 and have played each other every year since 1910!
On Saturday, October 5th, the 118th meeting between the two schools will take place in Raleigh, North Carolina.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Series History: North Carolina State leads the series 69-42-6
Series Began: 1895 in Raleigh, a 4-4 tie
Recent History: The last seven meetings have been nearly even, with Wake Forest holding a 4-3 advantage
Winningest Coach in the Series: Earl Edwards won nine games between 1954 and 1970
Largest Victory: The Wolfpack own the largest win, a 76-0 thrashing in 1908
Rivalry Trophy: This is the only rivalry in the top 10 longest running college football rivalries without a name or trophy, but may I suggest a ‘Deac ‘n dog’ trophy? Maybe a solid wood base with a bronze Deacon and wolf on the top? Just an idea.
Wake Forest and North Carolina State used to be very close in terms of location, as Wake Forest was originally in Wake Forest, N.C. The university called that town home for 122 years before picking up and moving to Winston-Salem in 1956.
While the two universities wouldn’t be close physically anymore, they would remain close rivals in football and basketball.
While the football rivalry doesn’t necessarily register on the national scale this year, it will be a nice distraction from the devastation in western North Carolina due to Hurricane Helene. NC State head coach Dave Doeren has children playing college football at Appalachian State and East Tennessee State who were affected and has set up a charitable drive to help the families.
RELENTING BAPTISTS
You may notice how the first matchup in the series took place in 1895, but the teams didn’t start playing annually until 1910. That’s due to a football ban at Wake Forest.
In fact, the 1895 game was the only one played at Wake Forest that year before the administration shut down the program. It’s shocking that they were even able to play that game since players were required to provide written permission from their parents in order to play.
Despite student support for a football team, Wake Forest held up the ban until 1908 when they finally relented. During that time, North Carolina State became a formidable program, beating Wake Forest in their first ten contests. That domination has more or less continued but has evened out recently.
NOTABLE GAMES
As I said before, this matchup doesn’t necessarily move the needle on a national level and the fact that there is no official name or trophy makes the rivalry more obscure. However, there have been big games including the 2021 matchup.
The 2021 contest saw both teams enter ranked for one of the few times in the history of the rivalry. It also determined who would win the ACC Atlantic Division and play for the ACC title. The Demon Deacons would prevail, 45-42, before losing to Pitt in the title game.
2024 MATCHUP
Date: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024
Site: Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, N.C.
Time: Noon ET
TV: The CW Network
While this matchup doesn’t hold as much excitement as Bedlam or some other long standing rivalries, it does have a history that has survived two World Wars, two pandemics, a Great Depression, and now a hurricane. In an ever changing college football world, that is something to be really proud of.
FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
Very interesting courtesy of Syracuse Fan.
Sorry, but isn’t North Carolina Vs Virginia (aka “The South’s Oldest Rivalry”) the oldest and longest running ACC rivalry? They started in 1892 and have 128 meetings.
Longest running, i.e. continuous. NC State-Wake dates back the furthest without interruption.
I agree this is confusing. Although UVA/NC is the South Oldest Rivalry, it may not be the ACC oldest. UVA joined one season after the ACC formed. So since WF and NC State are original members…..I guess they’re correct.
Sad part is that if I recall correctly, the ACC did not want to initially include this in their list of protected rivalries.