One Brick Back: Old North State Football Rivalry

Torry Holt gets loose in Chapel Hill.

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© Tim Peeler, 2025

Here’s a selection of NC State-UNC-Chapel Hill content ahead of Saturday’s 115th meeting between the two Old North State rivals, going all the way back to the 1899 tie that Wolfpack cadets regretted throughout the winter of 1900.

Why? Read “Burning Down the (Out)House” below.

Also, hit subscribe to the blog and podcast if you enjoy. And feel free to donate at the link above if reading about the history of this rivalry and stories about sports in my home state.

As a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame board of directors, a podcaster on the North Carolina Sports Network and the unofficial historian of NC State athletics, I’ve dedicated a career to telling these kinds of tales.

So, for better or worse, here’s a deep dive into the Wolfpack-Tar Heel rivalry.

Podcasts

This Was Then: A Controversial Onside Kick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jMiUMvpcDk&list=PLhNWG3ZFjvp0q4uikrLXysddMGx2Ehl-k&index=9&t=39s

One Brick Back (https://timpeeler.blogspot.com)

Lame Duck Coaches (2024)
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2024/11/mack-brown-isnt-first-lame-duck-coach.html

An NC State-UNC-CH Football Trophy? (2023)
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2023/11/an-nc-state-unc-trophy-idea.html

Mostly Mild Rivalry Pranks (2023)
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2023/11/innocent-fun-contemplated-nc-state-vs.html

A Football-Baseball Great Who Beat the Tar Heels (1906)
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2020/11/on-shoulders-of-giants.html

Burning Down the (Out)House (1899)
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2018/11/win-one-for-old-no-7.html

Tearing Down the Goal Posts: An Official Plan (1958)
https://timpeeler.blogspot.com/2025/11/political-pliability-and-wooden-goal.html

The Wolfpacker (On3.com)

A Runaway Mascot and a Big Win (1960)
https://www.on3.com/teams/nc-state-wolfpack/news/tim-peeler-remembering-a-lost-mascot-and-an-nc-state-win-over-the-tar-heels/

T.A. McLendon: In or Out? (2004)
https://www.on3.com/teams/nc-state-wolfpack/news/nc-state-football-t-a-mclendon/