The NC State football <a href="https://www.on3.com/teams/nc-state-wolfpack/news/nc-state-football-kickoff-times-notre-dame-virginia-louisville/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31</a> — or 73 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 73 in Pack history.



<h2 id="h-nc-state-football-and-no-73">NC State Football And No. 73</h2>



• Wearing No. 73 for NC State football this fall will be freshman offensive lineman <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/darion-rivers-150422/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Darion Rivers</a>. The West Charlotte High product enrolled early in January and participated in the spring practices.



Upside is the word most often used to describe Rivers. He was spotted recently helping work at a NC State football camp, and within months of arriving in Raleigh, Rivers has noticeably bulked up considerably into an impressive 6-foot-6, 300-pounder.



Rivers was rated four stars by On3 and listed as the No. 239 prospect in the country. On3 also rated him the No. 17 offensive tackle nationally and the No. 7 player in the state of North Carolina.



Given that Rivers is a relative newcomer to football and likely still raw from a developmental standpoint, odds favor that he will redshirt this fall for NC State.



• The <a href="https://www.onlineathens.com/story/sports/college/bulldogs-extra/2021/09/29/georgia-football-schedules-home-and-home-series-acc-school/5922339001/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Athens Banner-Herald reported</a> that NC State football will play a home-and-home with Georgia in 2033 and 2034, first going to Athens and then returning to Raleigh. If that series, which was never formally announced by the school, goes off as reported, that would be the first time the two teams would have played each other since 1973, when Georgia hosted NC State and prevailed 31-12.



• That was one of the few losses in a memorable 1973 season for NC State football, coached by legendary Lou Holtz. After losing to No. 2 Nebraska and Georgia in back-to-back road games to slip to 2-2, the Pack won 6 of 7 to close the regular season, only falling 35-29 at No. 6 Penn State in the process.



NC State finished the year with an undefeated 6-0 ACC record to claim the league title and concluded the campaign with a No. 16 final Associated Press poll ranking after knocking off No. 19 Kansas, 31-18, in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.



In four seasons at NC State, Holtz went 16-5-2 in ACC games, but the 1973 team was the only squad to claim a league title.



That 1973 team also remains the only NC State football team to go through league play with an unblemished record. The 1957 squad also went undefeated, but did have a tie among the six league contests to finish 5-0-1.

Photo by Ken Martin

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NC State football countdown to 2023 kickoff: 73

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