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1974 NC State

9–⁠2–⁠1 (4–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Lou Holtz, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

NC State in 1974, game by game: won at Wake Forest 33–15; won vs. Duke 35–21; won vs. Clemson 31–10; won at Syracuse 28–22; won vs. East Carolina 24–20; won at Virginia 22–21; lost at North Carolina 14–33; lost at No. 15 Maryland 10–20; won vs. South Carolina 42–27; won vs. No. 7 Penn State 12–7; won at Arizona State 35–14; tied vs. Houston 31–31+21−19Won 33–15 at Wake Forest+18Wake ForestWon 35–21 vs. Duke+14DukeWon 31–10 vs. Clemson+21ClemsonWon 28–22 at Syracuse+6SyracuseWon 24–20 vs. East Carolina+4East CarolinaWon 22–21 at Virginia+1VirginiaLost 14–33 at North Carolina-19North CarolinaLost 10–20 at No. 15 Maryland-10No. 15 MarylandWon 42–27 vs. South Carolina+15South CarolinaWon 12–7 vs. No. 7 Penn State+5No. 7 Penn StateWon 35–14 at Arizona State+21Arizona StateTied 31–31 vs. Houston0Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atWake ForestW 33–⁠1578%
Sep 14vsDukeW 35–⁠2180%
Sep 21vsClemsonW 31–⁠1082%
Sep 28atSyracuseW 28–⁠2275%
Oct 5vsEast CarolinaW 24–⁠2066%
Oct 12atVirginiaW 22–⁠2179%
Oct 19atNorth CarolinaL 14–⁠3363%
Oct 26at15MarylandL 10–⁠2045%
Nov 2vsSouth CarolinaW 42–⁠2777%
Nov 9vs7Penn StateW 12–⁠739%
Nov 16atArizona StateW 35–⁠1442%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvsHoustonAstro-Bluebonnet BowlT 31–⁠3153%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied Houston 31–⁠31 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 8
  6. Wk 6: 11
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 17
  9. Wk 11: 16
  10. Wk 12: 13
  11. Wk 13: 13
  12. Wk 14: 13
  13. Final: 11
Record
9–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 8
Points
317–⁠241
Coach
Lou Holtz
Elo
1673 +64 this season
SP+ rating
15.2 No. 24 of 124; offense No. 11, defense No. 57
SRS
11.6 No. 26 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Brian Burke

Drafted in 1975

The 1975 draft
Rd 4Stan Fritts RBCincinnati Bengals

All-ACC

4 first team

First team

  • Bob BlanchardOG
  • Justus EverettC
  • Stan FrittsB
  • Mike DevineDB

From Wikipedia’s 1974 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1974 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland6–⁠08–⁠413
NC State4–⁠29–⁠2–⁠111
Clemson4–⁠27–⁠4
North Carolina4–⁠27–⁠5
Duke2–⁠46–⁠5
Virginia1–⁠54–⁠7
Wake Forest0–⁠61–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.