The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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166 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ PACK PAST "That was the only game all year we had to play catch-up ball," said Combs, who earned All-America honors after the season for his play in the secondary and as a punt return specialist. "On that play, I was on the bench with my head in my hands, not watching. I was saying to myself this is everything or this is nothing." Onkotz met Barchuk at the goal-line, stopped him six inches from the end zone, and the Wolfpack's dreams of its first unde- feated season since 1907 came to an end. "You go through the whole gamut of emo- tions thinking about that season," Combs said. "You think about how exciting and thrilling it was to go through a season like that, with everything that was just there wait- ing for us. To not make it was devastating. Sept. 16, 1967: NC State 13, North Carolina 7 Consolidated University Day ■ Carter Stadium In the first and so far only double-header in ACC football history, NC State opened the 1967 season at home against North Carolina in the afternoon, beating the Tar Heels 13-7 thanks to a 55-yard pass from junior quarterback Jim Don- nan to Harry Martell with 8:48 on the clock. "I was sure glad to see that touchdown," head coach Earle Edwards said. "We hadn't had any since last year." It was the debut of the Wolfpack's famed White Shoes Defense, named in honor of linebacker Chuck Amato's successful effort to convince his teammates to paint their cleats white the night before the opener. It was a sweet victory for the Wolfpack's 17 seniors, who had lost to the Tar Heels as freshmen on junior varsity and suffered back- to-back 10-7 losses the two previous years. Later that night, neighbors Duke and Wake Forest played on the same field, with the Blue Devils winning 31-13. That game was played on a neutral site because of a scheduling snafu between the Demon Deacons and Blue Devils. Despite the prospect of foul weather from Hurricane Doria, a combined total of 64,700 spectators took in the two games, and traffic for both games was manageable. Sept. 23, 1967: NC State 24, Buffalo 6 Military Day ■ Carter Stadium Defensive tackle Dennis Byrd and cornerback Freddie Combs showed why they would eventually be named All-Americans at the end of the season, anchoring a de- fense that gave up a lot of yards to the Bulls but only a few points. Byrd spent much of the 24-6 victory in Buffalo's back- field, while Combs had one of the Wolfpack's four inter- ceptions on the day. Combs returned his 70 yards to set up the Pack's second touchdown. Donnan and Martell again added a big play on offense, a 47-yard touchdown pass for the game's first score. Sept. 30, 1967: NC State 20, Florida State 10 Doak Campbell Stadium; Tallahassee, Fla. Even after losing to Houston 33-13 and tying Alabama 37-37, Florida State had the nation's most productive of- fense and thought it might have a chance to put up some much-needed points against the Wolfpack, who had won the last meeting in the series with a 3-0 victory two years before in the final game ever played at Riddick Stadium. The Seminoles, a two-touchdown favorite, were sorely disappointed. State's defensive front held FSU to just 36 net yards rushing, thanks to 33 yards in losses, and kept the Seminole passing game in check with critical intercep - tions by Bill Morrow and Mike Hilka. Oct. 7, 1967: NC State 16, No. 2 Houston 6 Band Night ■ Astrodome; Houston In the biggest road victory in NC State football history, the Wolfpack defense totally dominated the second-ranked Cougars, the Southwest Conference's best offensive team. The defense gathered five turnovers, with three fumble recoveries and two interceptions against an offense that averaged 40 points in wins over Florida State (33-13), No. 3 Michigan State (37-7) and Wake Forest (50-6). Middle guard Terry Brookshire also blocked an extra point on Houston's only touchdown of the day, and Mark Capuano blocked a field goal just before halftime. Byrd created one of those fumbles and knocked Hous- ton's dangerous running back Warren McVea out of the game with a shoulder injury early in the second quarter. The Pack offense didn't need big plays this time around, relying on two short Bobby Hall touchdown runs and a 30-yard field goal by Gerald Warren for its 16 points. The victory vaulted the Wolfpack to No. 9 in the Associated Press rankings. Oct. 14, 1967: No. 9 NC State 31, Maryland 9 Byrd Stadium; College Park, Md. Trailing 3-0 at the half, the ninth-ranked Wolfpack got an earful Amato in the locker room, and then sailed to its fifth straight win of the season and its fifth consecutive victory over the Terps. Donnan and Martell again connected on a big play, a 33-yard touchdown pass early in the second half, to give the Pack its first lead of the day. The Wolfpack left College Park with a 5-0 record, the best start for a Wolfpack team since 1913. Oct. 21, 1967: NC State 24, Wake Forest 7 Carter Stadium In front of scouts from the Sugar Bowl, NC State rolled up 300 rushing yards, with senior tailback Tony Barchuk collecting 101 yards on 18 carries and Leon Mason totaling 83 yards on 14 runs. On special teams, Combs returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown and Warren, the national leader in points scored by a kicker, tied a pair of ACC records with three field goals in the game and 10 for the season. The win marked the first time since 1909 that State opened the season with a 6-0 record. Oct. 28, 1967: No. 5 NC State 28, Duke 7 Homecoming ■ Carter Stadium With 44,000 spectators — the most to see a game at NC State's two-year-old stadium to date — on hand for the final home game of the season, the Wolfpack got a pair of touchdown passes from Donnan and scoring runs from Barchuk and Mason. State's defense held Duke running back Frank Ryan, who entered the game as the ACC's top rusher, to just 21 yards on the ground. Ominously, however, Byrd suffered a knee injury late in the game on an after-the-whistle block. Scouts from the Orange, Gator and Sugar bowls were also impressed and clamoring for the favor of the unde- feated Wolfpack. The victory marked the first time since 1927 that NC State beat the other three members of the Big Four in the same season, and the first time in the program's history it started a season with a 7-0 record. Nov. 4, 1967: No. 4 NC State 30, Virginia 8 Scott Stadium; Charlottesville, Va. NC State had never lost to the Cavaliers since the for- mation of the ACC in 1953, and Virginia had virtually no chance of turning back the fourth-ranked Wolfpack in this contest, with Edwards' team winning for the eighth time in as many games. The Pack didn't win more games to begin a season until 2002 — when NC State opened the season 9-0 under the guidance of Amato, who was named the school's head coach in 2000. The Pack got another touchdown by punt returner Combs, who rambled 85 yards for his second special teams score of the year. Warren shattered the ACC record for the most field goals in a season, set the previous year by teammate Harold Deters. Afterwards, the Pack was elevated to No. 3 in the nation in both the Associated Press and United Press International polls, still the highest rankings in the program's history. Nov. 11, 1967: Penn State 14, No. 3 NC State 8 All-University Day Beaver Stadium; University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions had won all five of the previous meetings in the series and second-year head coach Joe Paterno was loathe to lose this one. Against a Wolfpack defense that had not given up a single first-quarter point, the Lions drove down the field on the opening drive for a quick 7-0 lead. Nittany Lions linebacker Dennis Onkotz intercepted a Donnan pass and returned it 67 yards for the second score of the day, and barely seven minutes into the game the Wolfpack trailed by its biggest margin of the season, 13-0. It could have been worse — Penn State missed two field goals and had a pass intercepted in the end zone. The Pack defense shut down the Lions for the rest of the day, looking to its offense to answer the call. War - ren, the nation's top scoring kicker, added two short field goals of 23 and 26 yards to close the gap. The 1967 NC State Football Season Defensive tackle Dennis Byrd was the first two-time All-American in program history af- ter he earned consensus first-team honors in 1967, including from Playboy (center, top row). PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS