The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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back. Thus he takes well to coaching, and one of the lessons he absorbed when he showed up at NC State came from Kitchings, who is now a member of the Atlanta Falcons' staff. Kitchings had to tell Knight to slow down a bit. His initial reaction was, "Coach, I'm going at half speed, what do you mean I'm too fast?" In time, Knight saw what his position coach was preaching. "I was too fast in everything I did because of the wing T [in high school]. Everything is downhill, kind of attacking the ball, so I had to slow down my read keys," Knight noted. This year, Knight is hoping to show NFL scouts a new dimension: improved pass blocking. "It's something I have to focus on putting on film this year," he said. Doeren appreciates his star's self-eval- uation. "The NFL and the college ranks are simi- lar now," he explained. "Backs are not very often in the game the whole game at the pro level or the college level, there's a rotation now. I think backs need to show they can be an every-down back. You can be a guy who stays in there on third down and does all those things that they have to do. "For him, he's done a great job as a run- ner. He's done a good job as a pass-catcher, although I know he wants to be better there. The pass protection is the last area for him to be a complete player all the time, and it's not for a lack of wanting contact, he's very physical." With a complete game, it may not be long before even the pros are familiar with Bam. ■ 1. Ted Brown (1975-78) It's fair to ask whether anyone at NC State will ever approach Brown's career rushing record of 4,602 yards. It took 42 years before anyone in the ACC eclipsed that mark. Clemson's Travis Etienne finally did it last fall. Between 1975-78, Brown rewrote almost all the records for NC State's running backs, and amazingly, many of them still stand. Brown still holds the school rushing records for a game (251 yards vs. Penn State in 1977) and season (1,350 yards in 1978, when he was a consensus first-team All-American). For good measure, he also has the second-best one-year rush - ing mark, gaining 1,251 yards in 1977. Brown nearly reached the 1,000-yard plateau in all four seasons at NC State, missing it by 87 yards as a freshman before topping it each of the next three years. He also has the most career rushing touchdowns with 49 and is the only Wolfpack running back to go over 200 yards in a game multiple times. Brown still holds the school standard for the most 100-yard rushing games in a single season (nine in 1977) and career (27). Brown is clearly the best running back in school his - tory, by a wide margin. His No. 23 is retired at NC State, and following an eight-year NFL career he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. 2. Dick Christy (1955-57) Whereas Brown has the numbers to back him, the case for Christy is in the accolades. In 1957, he became the first from NC State to be named the ACC Player of the Year, and he was also the league's Athlete of the Year. Both the Associated Press and UPI named him a first-team All-American that season, during which he accounted for all 29 of NC State's points in a three-point victory over South Carolina that clinched the Pack's first ACC title. Christy's overall stats appear modest but are a product of the era when he played. He was on the freshman team in 1954 and then ran 348 times be - tween 1955-57 for 1,817 yards (5.2 yards per rush) and 20 touchdowns. His 7.1 yards-per-carry average in 1955 is still a school record for those with at least 50 rushes. He then played five years in the pros, excelling as a kick returner, and was selected to the AFL All-Star Game in 1962 while playing for the New York Titans. His No. 40 is retired at NC State, and Christy was named to the ACC's Silver Anniversary Team in 1978. 3. Joe McIntosh (1981-84) McIntosh was burdened with playing in some lean years for NC State football. Only once between 1981- 84 did the Wolfpack boast a winning record, and that was a 6-5 mark in 1982. Hence, McIntosh's greatness sometimes gets overshadowed by other running backs that were on more successful teams. McIntosh, however, is the only running back be - sides Brown to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons, rushing for 1,190 yards as a freshman when he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year and 1,081 yards as a junior. He still holds the record for the most rushing yards by a freshman at NC State. His final career rushing total of 3,642 yards is second in school history, and he was a two-time first- team All-ACC choice. 4. Tremayne Stephens (1994-97) Somewhat like McIntosh, Stephens' career was curtailed by a couple of tough campaigns. When he was a freshman in 1994, NC State went 9-3, beat Mis - sissippi State in the Peach Bowl and finished the year No. 17 in the polls. The next two seasons saw the Wolfpack go 3-8, ending a stretch of seven consecu - tive seasons with at least seven wins. The tough times were no fault of Stephens, who splashed onto the scene by rushing for 791 yards as a true freshman during the Peach Bowl season. After approaching 1,000 yards each of his first three sea - sons in Raleigh, Stephens finally got there as a senior when he carried 204 times for 1,142 yards (5.6 yards per rush) and scored 10 touchdowns, helping the Pack go 6-5 and earning first-team All-ACC honors. Stephens is third all time at NC State with 3,553 rushing yards. His 19 career 100-yard rushing games trail only Brown and McIntosh (20). 5. Willie Burden (1971-73) For all of Brown's success, the only NC State run - ning back to be named ACC Player of the Year besides Christy in 1957 was Burden in 1973. That is when he became the first running back in school history to eclipse 1,000 yards by rushing 150 times for 1,014 yards on a team that went 9-3 overall and 6-0 in the ACC for Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz. The Wolfpack finished 16th in the final Associated Press poll. Bur - den's 6.8 yards per rush that year are second to Chris- ty's 1955 mark for a single season in school history. Burden's numbers the previous season — 114 carries for 605 yards and six touchdowns — were impacted by the depth of a unit that was famously called the Four Stallions backfield. Stan Fritts ran 144 times for 684 yards, Charley Young added 114 carries for 611 yards and upstart runner Roland Hicks gained 235 yards on 48 rushes. Fritts (eighth), who makes a compelling case for this list, and Burden (10th) are both still in the Pack's all-time top 10 for rushing yards despite only playing three seasons each. Burden finished his career with 491 carries for 2,529 yards and, like Fritts, was a two- time first-team All-ACC choice. — Matt Carter 30 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Ted Brown's career total of 4,602 rushing yards stood as the ACC record for 42 years, until Clemson's Travis Etienne eclipsed it last year. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS NC State's Best Five Running Backs