NC State football countdown to kickoff: 40

The NC State football season opener for 2022 is at East Carolina on Sept. 3 — or 40 days away from Monday. The Wolfpacker continues its countdown for the season with a note about the number 40.

40: Significant moments involving the number 40 in NC State football history

• One of the earliest legends of NC State football was Dick Christy, who wore No. 40 for the Wolfpack. That jersey number has been retired.

From 1955-57, Christy rushed 348 times for 1,817 yards, an average of 5.221 yards per carry, which still ranks eighth best all-time for NC State. His 7.1 yards per rush (85 carries for 602 yards) in 1955 remains a school record. During that season, Christy became the first Wolfpack running back to register at least three 100-yard rushing games in a year.

In 1957, he once again rushed for at least 100 yards in a game three times while scoring 13 total touchdowns (seven rushing, four receiving and two kick returns). That is still tied for the ninth most scores in a single season at NC State. He famously ran for four touchdowns against South Carolina, a game in which Christy accounted for all 29 points scored, which is one off the school record for a single game. The Pack clinched the ACC title with a 29-26 win that day.

After the 1957 season, Christy was named the ACC Player of the Year and Athlete Of the Year as well as first-team All-American by the Associated Press and UPI. Christy was the first NC State football player to be chosen for both of those ACC awards.

Christy spent five seasons in the pros, playing in the 1962 AFL All-Star Game after leading the New York Titans in rushing, punt returns and kickoff returns. He led the AFL and NFL in punt returns in 1961 and kick returns a year later.

In 1965, Christy died in a car accident.

• Only one NC State running back has rushed for at least 40 carries in a single game, and that was Ray Robinson in 2000 against Maryland. Robinson ran exactly 40 times that day for 178 yards.

That is a NC State football record that may last a while. No running back under head coach Dave Doeren has carried at least 30 times in a game.

• From 2007-12, NC State football coach Tom O’Brien won 40 games patrolling the sidelines for the Pack against 36 losses. O’Brien is the sixth all-time winningest coach in NC State football history.

O’Brien is the fourth coach in an active string of five straight at NC State to have an above-.500 overall record in their tenure. His .526 winning percentage was the second lowest of that group, however, ahead of only Mike O’Cain’s .506 from 1993-99.