1979 Pack remains close

Thirty years ago, David Horning was a ferocious starting linebacker who added speed, toughness and character to a special N.C. State defense.

Since then, Horning has meant so much more to the players from the team that won the Wolfpack's last ACC championship in 1979.

Horning has kept his teammates connected to their alma mater for 30 years. An N.C. State employee, he has risen from graduate assistant strength coach to senior associate athletic director.

When his former teammates need tickets, they call Horning.

While in college at Ohio Northern, offensive guard Chuck Stone's son Chris did an internship at N.C. State, with "Uncle Dave" teaching him about NCAA rules compliance.

After offensive guard Chris Dieterich was laid off a year and a half ago, Horning immediately tried to line up another job for him.

"He's always been more of a brother to me than a friend," said Jim Ritcher, the 1979 Outland Trophy winner who was Horning's roommate for four years.

But over the past four months, it has been Horning's teammates' turn to help him, and they have come through in a big way. In July, Horning suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly claimed his life.

The staff at Duke Raleigh Hospital was amazed by the outpouring of support for Horning. He estimates that he received more than 250 get-well cards. Bill Cowher, Dick Sheridan, Erik Kramer, former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth, Roman Gabriel, Mike Quick and Dennis Byrd were among the famous Wolfpack football alumni who contacted him as he has made a remarkable recovery.

Shortly after Horning's surgery, Stone, Dieterich and Ritcher met him at his in-laws' house. They spun tales of three-a-day preseason workouts in the late summer heat that were so miserable that they joked about buying Harley-Davidsons and roaring off to the West Coast.

" 'You know what Horn?' " Horning said Dieterich told him at the in-laws' house, "If you're tough enough to get through all the [stuff] they put us through and the three-a-days, you're going to whip this brain surgery stuff. You're going to be OK."

ACC favorites

An unforgettable season brought them together.

Ted Brown, who is still the ACC's career rushing leader, was gone from the Wolfpack team that defeated Pittsburgh in the 1978 Tangerine Bowl to finish 9-3.

Nonetheless, N.C. State was considered a favorite in 1979 to win its first ACC title in six years. The Wolfpack had a tough offensive line anchored by center Ritcher and guards Stone and Dieterich. The defense was led by tackle Simon Gupton and safety Woodrow Wilson, who each had earned All-ACC honors in 1978.

Horning, an outside linebacker from Kent, Ohio, had run the 100-yard dash in 10.2 seconds, made a shot put of 55 feet and thrown the discus 190 feet in high school.

"He had great straight speed; his change of direction skills were excellent; he was strong, a very powerful young man; and he was very smart," said Bishop Harris, Horning's position coach. "He loved the game."

Coach Bo Rein was popular despite the intensity of his practices. Harris said the staff appreciated Rein because he treated the assistants as peers rather than employees.

Sports Illustrated ranked the team No. 12 in the preseason, but a schedule that included games outside the ACC against Auburn, South Carolina and Penn State would challenge the Wolfpack.

"There were no Furmans or Catawbas or whatever else they play nowadays on that schedule," defensive tackle Brian O'Doherty said. "No easy games."

Defense stands

On Oct. 27, 1979, N.C. State was 3-1 in the ACC, and the other contenders each had at least one conference loss when the Wolfpack went to Clemson for one of the most memorable games in school history.

Down 16-13 late in the fourth quarter, the Tigers drove to the N.C. State 4-yard line for a first-and-goal. After Tracy Perry plowed forward on fourth-and-goal from the 2, a cannon fired, signaling what many at Death Valley thought was a touchdown.

But there was a delay as officials discussed whether the ball had crossed the goal line.

"The officials said no," Horning said. "No score. And you could hear a pin drop in the stadium. Because they thought they were going to score."

Clemson got the ball back again, but a Mike Nall interception with 58 seconds remaining clinched the win. N.C. State would need only a win over lowly Duke to take the ACC title but still had work to do in two nonconference games to earn a bowl bid.

South Carolina and George Rogers hammered the Wolfpack defense in a 30-28 win in Columbia. Penn State trailed 7-6 in Raleigh, but Dayle Tate completed a 36-yard pass on fourth-and-26 in the final minute.

Herb Menhardt glanced a 54-yard field goal off the right upright and through the goal posts on the final play to give Penn State a 9-7 win. Gator Bowl officials had been at the game but invited North Carolina instead.

The Wolfpack never did go to a bowl that year. The Pack received overtures from the Garden State Bowl in New Jersey but decided it wouldn't be able to go because the game was scheduled during final exams.

Still, the Pack knew it would win the ACC title if it could defeat Duke in the season finale. The Blue Devils turned it over seven times, and quarterback Scott Smith ran for two touchdowns in an anti-climactic, 28-7 win.

N.C. State finished 7-4 overall, 5-1 in the ACC, one game ahead of Clemson, Maryland and Wake Forest.

"That was frustrating not to go to the bowl, but you know what? I've got that ring," Stone said. "I've got that ACC championship ring. They've won a lot of bowl games since then, but they have not won another ACC championship."

Against the odds

On July 11, Horning, 51, fainted while moving furniture.

Horning's wife, Geri, called N.C. State sports medicine director Charlie Rozanski, who had been getting ready to leave for Lake Gaston.

Rozanski called the team neurologist, Dr. Tim Garner. He had been about to go to the beach on vacation but stayed to diagnose Horning. He needed surgery immediately.

Duke neurosurgeon Ali Zomorodi had been scheduled to leave the country but agreed to operate on Horning.

"I am just very, very fortunate," Horning said. "I don't take any of it for granted. A lot of people had to be in the right place at the right time."

The odds were stacked against Horning. He said half the patients in his condition don't make it to the operating table alive. Half of those patients don't survive the surgery. In all, just 5 percent recover with no handicaps, the way Horning has.

His former teammates say Horning's excellent physical condition and attitude helped him survive. Horning credits his wife, doctors and the medical staff at Duke.

"I thank God every day that I'm still living," he said. "I made a promise that I would try to help as many people as I could after going through this experience."

Players and coaches from the 1979 team will be honored during a TV timeout in the third quarter of today's game against Clemson at Carter-Finley Stadium.

They're certain to share memories of grueling practices and the remarkable goal-line stand at Clemson.

They also will be grateful for the company of the guy who has kept them close to State.

"I couldn't imagine N.C. State," O'Doherty said, "without David being there."

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  Audio Slide Show: Horning reminisces about the last time N.C. State won a conference football title.