Fourteenth-ranked Tennessee will face its first test of the 2024 season against No. 24 NC State Saturday night in Charlotte.
The match up will mark the renewal of a series that has only been played sparingly over the last 113-years, and even that number is disputed depending on which school you ask.
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Tennessee recognizes the first meeting in 1911–a 16-0 loss in Raleigh, while NC State has Nov. 8, 1893 listed as the first game between the two teams.
Before the Vols (1-0) and Wolfpack (1-0) face off for the third–or fourth–time in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium, here’s a look at the all-time series.
GAME INFORMATION
Who: No. 14 Tennessee (1-0) vs. No. 24 NC State (1-0)
When: Saturday, Sept. 7 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Bank of America Stadium | Charlotte, North Carolina
TV: ABC (Rece Davis, play-by-play; Kirk Herbstreit, analyst; Holly Rowe, reporter)
Series: Tennessee leads, 2-1 (2-2, per NC State)
LAST MEETINGÂ
Tennessee opened what was expected to be a promising 2012 season third-year head coach Derek Dooley against NC State in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
In an offensive showcase for the Vols, Tyler Bray passed for more than 330 yards and two touchdowns, including one to Cordarrelle Patterson, who finished with six receptions for 93 yards and a rushing score to pace the Vols to a 35-21 victory.
It was the first meeting between Tennessee and NC State since 1939 and the first at a neutral site with the previous two match ups taking place in Raleigh.
MEMORABLE MATCHUPSÂ
Nov. 8, 1893: Tennessee had played three games in four days leading up to its clash with then-North Carolina A&M in Raleigh. The Vols began that stretch with a 60-0 loss at North Carolina and were similarly routed by Trinity (Duke) and Wake Forest before capping their tour of the Tar Heel State against the "Aggies."
In the Vols' fourth game that week, Howard Ijams–the first quarterback in school history–scored Tennessee's first touchdown of the season, but it wasn't enough in a 12-6 loss. The Vols beat Maryville College and the Asheville Athletic Club a few weeks later to finish 2-5. Tennessee cut football following the season before starting up again in 1896.
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Sept. 29, 1939: Less than a month after the start of World War II, Tennessee began one of the most dominant seasons in college football history against NC State at Riddick Stadium in Raleigh.
Coming off of an unbeaten national championship run the year before, Robert Neyland's Vols picked up where they left off with a 13-0 win over the Wolkpack. Tennessee went on to outscore opponents 212-0 in the regular season–the last team to accomplish that feat. The Vols reached the Rose Bowl, but lost to Southern California.
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Aug. 31, 2012: Tennessee displayed how lethal the combination of Tyler Bray and Cordarrelle Patterson was for opposing defenses right out of the gate in 2012.
In what would end up being a record season for both players, the NC State defense had few answers for Bray, who racked up 333 passing yards and two touchdowns and Patterson, who scored on a 41-yard touchdown catch and 67-yard run to headline a 35-21 victory at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
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