Bryn Renner couldn’t believe it.
The UNC quarterback’s gear was red. In fact, the entire locker room, the inner sanctum of the football program, was red. That could mean only one thing: it was NC State week.
“Party City balloons, streamers. In our lockers, stuffed in our helmets,” Renner told Chapelboro. “They painted my cleats red. Everybody was ticked off. It set the precedent for the entire week of practice to move on from the loss the week before and to go into NC State week with a little bit of an edge.”
Renner and the Tar Heels used that edge to beat the Wolfpack that weekend in 2012 and snap a five-game losing streak against them. Tomorrow, UNC will look to avoid extending another losing streak to five when it visits Carter-Finley Stadium.
The UNC-NC State rivalry is filled with such banter on both sides, both subtle and less so.
Assistant coaches tackling each other on the field? Check.
Hot mics catching an expletive-filled locker room speech?
Check. Flag plantings? You already know.
And yet, this fiery rivalry doesn’t carry much weight nationally. It isn’t Michigan-Ohio State or the Iron Bowl. It may not even be the legendary ACC rivalry of Cal-Stanford. That has something to do with neither program ever being good enough to move the needle for the average college football fan. And indeed, 6-5 NC State and 4-7 UNC aren’t exactly the cream of the crop this year. But Joe Ovies, co-host of the Ovies & Giglio podcast and an NC State alumnus, says that is exactly what makes this series work.
“This is our rivalry, so to speak,” Ovies told Chapelboro. “It really shows you the difference between a national person and a local person, in how they view NC State and North Carolina in football. It’s the reason why I chuckled when Bill Belichick took the job and at his introductory press conference talked about the Duke game. ‘Little Billy’s first words were Beat Duke.’ And I thought to myself, ‘Man, that ain’t the line.’”
Carolina fans of a certain age will tell you that for many years, it was NC State, not Duke, which was the top rival for the Tar Heels. Chapelboro’s very own Art Chansky is one of those fans, and he recalled the hostility even spilling over into the student newspapers.
“It’s always been an off-the-field rivalry as well,” Chansky remembered. “Our buddy Curry Kirkpatrick put a headline in The Daily Tar Heel, he called it ‘Culture vs. Agriculture.’”
Since then, however, younger UNC fans have shifted their rivalry hatred to Duke. Some even mock NC State with chants of “Not our rivals.” But over in Raleigh, there has been no such change. Hatred of UNC is baked into the bricks which line the campus pathways.
In fact, one could argue NC State head coach Dave Doeren, now in his 13th season in Raleigh, has lasted so long because of his success against the Tar Heels. Doeren is 8-4 against UNC, including wins in each of the last four meetings. It was his expletive-filled speech which got caught on a hot mic two years ago. NC State fans loved it. Former UNC head coach Mack Brown was so offended he made a point of calling Doeren out (though he didn’t use Doeren’s actual name) months after the fact.
Chansky said Doeren’s passion for the rivalry has made him a natural fit with the Wolfpack.
“He’s doing it with very little, not class, but very little subtlety,” Chansky said. “It’s the way he reacts to it. He’s not a funny guy. I think the players like him. He’s an intense guy. You can tell: when they’re ready to play, they’re ready to play.”
NC State has been ready to play each of the last four seasons. UNC? Not nearly as often. And for his part, Ovies is skeptical the Tar Heels will be ready to meet the moment tomorrow night.
“It sounds very, very basic and not very Xs and Os. But there is an element of, ‘Who wants this?’,” Ovies said. “I never doubt that with NC State. I am gonna question that with North Carolina Saturday.”
Whatever does end up happening in Raleigh, it won’t be the top story on ESPN. True, Belichick always draws eyes, but it’s because of him, and not because of college football in the Triangle. This region seems cursed into never producing a type of team which could win the whole darn thing. But that isn’t the point.
Despite what others might tell you, college football is not about who can win on a neutral field in January. It’s about being petty. It’s about getting the better of that annoying guy next to you. It’s about having 364 days of bragging rights so sweet you wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s about red streamers, punny headlines and generational hatred.
That is why UNC and NC State play every year. And that is why we love it.
Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Eli Melet
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