NC State football countdown to kickoff: 20

The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 20 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 20 in Pack history.

NC State Football And The No. 20

• There are two prominent true freshmen from the state of Florida on the NC State football roster that wear No. 20. Each were among the more highly regarded and recruited players in the 2023 recruiting class.

On defense, On3 Industry four-star safety Daemon Fagan from American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale was the most highly rated NC State football recruit, checking in at No. 314 nationally and the No. 28 safety in the country. Fagan was also the No. 59 player in the talent-rich Sunshine State.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder had a who’s who offer list and ultimately picked the Wolfpack over scholarships from LSU, Miami and Ohio State. As a senior, Fagan had 78 tackles, a tri of interceptions and 11 pass breakups.

Running back Kendrick Raphael also wears No. 20. Unlike Fagan, Raphael enrolled in the spring after graduating early from Naples High. There was a time though it appeared unlikely that Raphael would make it to Raleigh. He made a verbal commitment to Iowa after also officially visiting NC State and BYU in the month of June.

Raphael (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) decommitted from the Hawkeyes in September and made the flip to join the NC State football recruiting class in November. He would then finish his senior season with 140 rushes for 1,735 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Raphael made a strong impression in the spring, but with experienced returnees in front of him on the running back depth chart, a redshirt may be a strong possibility.

• NC State football is 2-1 on the 20th day of the month under head coach Dave Doeren. The one loss though was one of the more anticipated games in the Doeren era. The Wolfpack was 5-0 in 2018 and ranked No. 15 when coming off the bye week. Up next was No. 3 Clemson in Death Valley.

The prior two meetings between the two teams had gone down to the final plays, but that was not to be the case in 2018. Clemson rolled to a 41-7 victory over the Wolfpack.

There are no games on the 20th on the NC State football schedule this season.

• In 1920, NC State went 7-3 under head coach Bill Fetzer. The year prior, the Pack was 7-2. Those would be Fetzer’s lone two seasons leading the program. His 14-5 overall record produced a .737 winning percentage. No coach since Fetzer has had a higher winning percentage. He also coached baseball in 1920 for NC State.

Fetzer left for North Carolina the following year and went 30-12-4 over five seasons with the Tar Heels while also coaching their baseball squads. His brother Bob Fetzer was the co-head coach and in 1923 became UNC’s director of athletics, the start of a nearly 30-year tenure at the position.

Interestingly, Bill Fetzer made the major leagues and received one at bat for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1906. That his lone appearance at the plate in MLB.