CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1978 NC State

9–⁠3 (4–⁠2 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Bo Rein, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

NC State in 1978, game by game: won vs. East Carolina 29–13; won vs. Syracuse 27–19; won vs. West Virginia 29–15; won at Wake Forest 34–10; lost at No. 12 Maryland 7–31; won at North Carolina 34–7; lost vs. No. 20 Clemson 10–33; won vs. South Carolina 22–13; lost at No. 2 Penn State 10–19; won vs. Duke 24–10; won at Virginia 24–21; won vs. No. 16 Pittsburgh 30–17+27−24Won 29–13 vs. East Carolina+16East CarolinaWon 27–19 vs. Syracuse+8SyracuseWon 29–15 vs. West Virginia+14West VirginiaWon 34–10 at Wake Forest+24Wake ForestLost 7–31 at No. 12 Maryland-24No. 12 MarylandWon 34–7 at North Carolina+27North CarolinaLost 10–33 vs. No. 20 Clemson-23No. 20 ClemsonWon 22–13 vs. South Carolina+9South CarolinaLost 10–19 at No. 2 Penn State-9No. 2 Penn StateWon 24–10 vs. Duke+14DukeWon 24–21 at Virginia+3VirginiaWon 30–17 vs. No. 16 Pittsburgh+13No. 16 Pittsburgh
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsEast CarolinaW 29–⁠1352%
Sep 16vsSyracuseW 27–⁠1971%
Sep 23vsWest VirginiaW 29–⁠1572%
Sep 30atWake ForestW 34–⁠1074%
Oct 7at12MarylandL 7–⁠3136%
Oct 21atNorth CarolinaW 34–⁠744%
Oct 28vs20ClemsonL 10–⁠3361%
Nov 4vsSouth CarolinaW 22–⁠1369%
Nov 11at2Penn StateL 10–⁠1919%
Nov 18vsDukeW 24–⁠1077%
Nov 25atVirginiaW 24–⁠2181%
Dec 23Bowls & playoffvs16PittsburghTangerine BowlW 30–⁠1740%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Pittsburgh 30–⁠17 in the Tangerine Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 20
  2. Final: 18

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1978.

2 consensus All-AmericansJim Ritcher, C; Ted Brown, RB

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠2 3rd in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 18
Points
280–⁠208
Coach
Bo Rein
Elo
1643 +98 this season
SP+ rating
13.3 No. 29 of 133; offense No. 31, defense No. 31
SRS
9.8 No. 33 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1979

The 1979 draft
Rd 1Ted Brown RBMinnesota Vikings

All-ACC

6 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1978 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1978 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Clemson6–⁠011–⁠16
Maryland5–⁠19–⁠320
NC State4–⁠29–⁠318
North Carolina3–⁠35–⁠6
Duke2–⁠44–⁠7
Wake Forest1–⁠51–⁠10
Virginia0–⁠62–⁠9

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