NC State football countdown to 2023 kickoff: 76

The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 76 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 76 in Pack history.

NC State Football And No. 76

• Wearing No. 76 for NC State football is fourth-year redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Patrick Matan.

The Chevy Chase, Md., native has seen limited action over the past two seasons, playing in lopsided wins twice as a rookie in 2021 and then three more times last fall. He also was a regular contributor on special teams in 2022.

However, the 6-foot-4, 304-pounder has been a constant feature on the depth charts at both tackle and guard, and he has a chance to emerge as a top backup option this fall at tackle.

Matan, who played on an offensive line at Gonzaga Prep with three other Power Five prospects, picked NC State over offers from Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse.

• They first ever NC State football player to participate in a Super Bowl was Charley Young, who suited up for the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl X in 1976. Young was a local product from Enloe High who was part of the Wolfpack’s famous “Four Stallions” backfield under head coach Lou Holtz.

Each one of Young, Willie Burden, Stan Fritts and Roland Hooks would play in the NFL and were considered one of the best running backs group in the NFL. Young was chosen in the first round in 1974 by the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas lost 21-17 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That would be the last of Young’s career in the NFL. He suffered a knee injury the following training camp and placed on injured reserve. A year later he was released.

Young finished his NFL career with 1,029 all-purpose yards, including 638 on the ground, and four touchdowns.

• The 1976 season was the first for Bo Rein as head coach of NC state football. The Pack went 3-7-1 that year, the only losing campaign of Rein’s four-year tenure. Rein went 27-18-1 from 1976-79 and led the Pack to an ACC title before accepting a job as head coach at LSU.

Tragically, Rein died before ever coaching on the Tigers’ sideline. While on a recruiting trip his plane diverted off path and eventually crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after running out of fuel.

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