The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/846301
JULY 2017 ■ 163 ■ PACK PAST wear canvas sneakers provided by the home team to play on the first artificial nylon play- ing surface. In that game, the defense had tacit ap- proval from both Edwards and NC State athletics director Roy Clogston to paint the borrowed shoes white — something neither approved earlier in the year. "We don't want your permission," Amato told his coach. "We are painting them white no matter what you say. They are as good as painted when we get there." The team was incensed from the moment it arrived in Houston, where it was greeted at the team hotel by notices that Houston alumni were hosting a victory party at the Pack's hotel after the game. NC State backed up its brash haberdash- ery by forcing three fumbles, two intercep- tions and two blocked kicks in the ground- shaking 16-6 victory against the undefeated Cougars. Then the brash Amato and several of his teammates crashed the Cougar 'victory' party wearing their bright red team blazers before they left town. It was a defense that did what it wanted, on the field and off, because of its cumula- tive talent. Byrd had been named an All-American as a junior and was back for one more season of camping in the backfield of State's op- ponents. He had Amato behind him, end Mark Capuano beside him, and a platoon of senior Trent Holland and sophomore Ron Carpenter — a future All-American and NFL player — at the other defensive tackle. They had Terry Brooksire, a diminutive fire hydrant, at nose guard. Pete Sokalsky, a 1965 All-ACC performer who missed all but one game in 1966 because of a knee injury, returned to the lineup at defensive end to rotate with Capuano and Benny Lemmons, a pair of juniors who had excelled in Sokalsky's absence the year be- fore. Edwards said his secondary — with cor- nerbacks Freddie Combs and Billy Morrow, and safeties Art McMahon and Greg Wil- liams — was the fastest and most talented he ever had at NC State. The Wolfpack recorded 17 interceptions on the year. The team had great experience and excep- tional maturity. Each of the team's 17 seniors was in the starting lineup, most of them were married and several had children. "We were a mature team," said All-ACC offensive guard Steve Warren, who became both president of the Wolfpack Club and served as a member of the NC State Board of Trustees. "We knew each other very well, and because of that we had great chemistry." Not once during the season did they allow more than 14 points in a game, producing what is still the second-stingiest Wolfpack defense of the Atlantic Coast Conference era. NC State led the ACC in total defense (253.3 yards allowed per game), rushing de- fense (132.1 yards surrendered a contest) and points allowed (8.7 per game). The only defensive squad that compares favorably in school history is the 1957 unit, which allowed just 6.7 points and 236.4 yards per game. The only thing the '67 team did not have was a single shutout all season long, while the '57 team recorded a school-record five opponent blankings. Offensively, the squad was less experi- enced, even with eight seniors. Quarterback Jim Donnan had started the final game of the 1966 season, but no other member of the backfield had started a game when the Wolfpack hosted North Carolina to open the '67 season. "I thought we had talent on offense," Don- nan said five decades later. "But it was a team that played around its defense. A lot of times, we didn't take a lot of chances on offense because we had a lot of confidence in our kicker [junior Gerald Warren], and we had such a good defense. "We knew we didn't need to score a lot of points." The Pack didn't score a lot in the 13-7 win over the Tar Heels, but Donnan made a big play in the fourth quarter when he hit Harry Martell with a 55-yard touchdown to over- come a 7-6 deficit. With relative ease, other than a slow start against Maryland, the Woflpack raced to an 8-0 record, the best start to any season until Amato's 2002 team reeled off nine straight wins to open its campaign. At halftime in College Park, both Byrd and Amato went into the offensive team meetings to light up their teammates. Byrd approached Steve Warren, who had been his teammate and friend since the two started playing midget league football in their hometown of Lincolnton, and threatened to punch him. The 17 seniors on the 1967 team, including eventual head coach Chuck Amato (No. 33), each started and opened the season with their first win over North Carolina during their time on campus. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS