East Carolina–NC State rivalry

East Carolina–NC State rivalry

First contested	1970

ECU

NCSU

Locations in North Carolina

The East Carolina–NC State rivalry is a rivalry between East Carolina University and North Carolina State University. Both teams are located in North Carolina. The intensity of the rivalry is driven by the proximity (both are UNC system schools and are only 83 miles apart via U.S. Highway 264) and the size of the two schools (NC State is the largest university in the state and East Carolina is the fourth largest).

East Carolina was founded in 1907 as a normal school. It became a four-year institution in 1920 and was renamed East Carolina Teachers College. It then became East Carolina College in 1951 and East Carolina University in 1967. East Carolina joined the UNC System in 1972.

North Carolina State was founded in 1887 as a land-grant college. Its original name was North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In 1918, it changed its name to North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering. In 1931, the school moved to under the Consolidated University of North Carolina and was renamed North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina. It once again was renamed North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh in 1963 and received its current name in 1965.

Football

East Carolina–N.C. State rivalry

First contested	October 10, 1970 NC State 23, East Carolina 6
Number of meetings	30
Most recent meeting	December 1, 2018 NC State 58, East Carolina 3
Next meeting	August 31, 2019 in Raleigh
All-time series	NC State leads, 17–13 (.567)
Largest victory	NC State, 58–3 (2018)
Longest win streak	NC State, 5 (1978–1982)
Current streak	NC State, 1 (2018–present)

The most prominent sport in the rivalry is football. The two teams began competing against each other in 1970. The football series between the two teams was suspended in 1987. Jim Valvano terminated NC State’s scheduling of East Carolina after Pirate fans tore down goal posts and the playing surface at Carter–Finley in 1987. NC State’s athletics administration had publicly warned ECU and Pirate fans after two consecutive years of minor vandalisms to the stadium. The schools would not meet again until the 1992 Peach Bowl. In 1996, the two schools met in Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium rather than on either school's home field. In 1997, the North Carolina Legislature proposed a bill demanding that UNC–CH and N.C. State must play East Carolina on an annual basis. This would officially revive the series between East Carolina and N.C. State.

East Carolina and NC State have met on the football field 30 times, with 23 of those games played in Carter–Finley Stadium, 4 in Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium, and 3 in neutral venues. The highest profile game was played in the 1992 Peach Bowl, with 59,322 fans in attendance, this game would officially go on record as the largest attendance at the time for a game between two North Carolina college football teams.

NC State leads the all-time series, with 17 wins to East Carolina's 13 wins.

Victory Barrel

In 2007, the Student Government Associations of both North Carolina State University and East Carolina University in a cooperative agreement began awarding the ‘Victory Barrel’ to the game winner. The outer face of the barrel is affixed with engraved colored plates denoting the year, final score, and winner of each contest dating back to 1970.

Football game results

East Carolina victories

NC State victories

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	October 10, 1970	Raleigh, NC	NC State	23–6
2	October 23, 1971	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	31–15
3	October 21, 1972	Raleigh, NC	NC State	38–16
4	September 8, 1973	Raleigh, NC	#17 NC State	57–8
5	October 5, 1974	Raleigh, NC	#8 NC State	24–20
6	September 6, 1975	Raleigh, NC	NC State	26–3
7	September 18, 1976	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	23–14
8	September 3, 1977	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	28–23
9	September 9, 1978	Raleigh, NC	NC State	29–13
10	September 8, 1979	Raleigh, NC	NC State	34–20
11	November 11, 1980	Raleigh, NC	NC State	36–14
12	September 19, 1981	Raleigh, NC	NC State	31–10
13	September 11, 1982	Raleigh, NC	NC State	33–26
14	September 10, 1983	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	22–16
15	September 29, 1984	Raleigh, NC	NC State	31–22
16	September 7, 1985	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	33–14

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
17	September 6, 1986	Raleigh, NC	NC State	38–10
18	September 5, 1987	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	32–14
19	January 1, 1992	Atlanta, GA	#12 East Carolina	37–34
20	November 30, 1996	Charlotte, NC	East Carolina	50–29
21	November 22, 1997	Raleigh, NC	NC State	37–24
22	November 20, 1999	Greenville, NC	#23 East Carolina	23–6
23	November 27, 2004	Charlotte, NC	NC State	52–14
24	November 25, 2006	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	21–16
25	October 20, 2007	Greenville, NC	NC State	34–20
26	September 20, 2008	Raleigh, NC	NC State	30–24OT
27	October 16, 2010	Greenville, NC	East Carolina	33–27OT
28	November 23, 2013	Raleigh, NC	East Carolina	42–28
29	September 10, 2016	Greenville, NC	East Carolina	33–30
30	December 1, 2018	Raleigh, NC	NC State	58–3
Series: NC State leads 17–13

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games