NC State’s 2-game win streak over FSU is the latest turn in an excellent series

If you grew up after Florida State’s run of dominance in the 1990s, maybe it’s not terribly strange to you that NC State has been competitive with the Seminoles more often than not over the last 15+ years.

But I still remember such outcomes as “Florida State 77, NC State 17” or “Florida State 63, NC State 3” from the Noles’ peak, which happened to be right as they were coming into the ACC. It took years for anybody to hand Florida State a conference loss—Virginia finally did that in 1995, which was FSU’s fourth year in the league.

The part of me that remembers those FSU teams still attaches something a little extra to any win over the Seminoles, whether they’re good or bad or somewhere in between. Even as those wins have become surprisingly regular.

The NC State-Florida State series developed into a really good one since the turn of the century. Tight games, compelling storylines, classic endings. Since 2000, the Seminoles hold an 11-8 edge, and 11 of those 19 games were decided by single digits.

NC State became the first ACC team to win a conference game in Tallahassee back in 2001.

NC State topped Florida State again in 2002, which gave the Pack its first 10-win season in program history. In 2003, the teams played the best game in series history, which alas was a Seminoles 51-44 win in double overtime. This was Philip Rivers at the peak of his powers—and also a perfect example of how the defense let him down that season.

After that, the game between the two in Raleigh became a staple of ESPN’s Thursday night football. They played on a Thursday in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. The 2006 game ended up Chuck Amato’s parting gift—it was his last win as NC State’s head coach, as the team proceeded to lose the final seven games of the season. (Dark, dark times, kids.)

The 2009 game was wildly entertaining, but like the 2003 edition, also heartbreaking.

I’m sure just about everybody remembers the 2010 game:

Or the 2012 game:

And we were having a pretty good time in 2014 for a while there.

NC State has beaten FSU twice straight on three different occasions since 2000, which includes the current win streak. Two games is also the longest win streak NC State has ever managed against Florida State. If the Pack wants to add a little more history to this matchup over the weekend, I’d be okay with that.