Thoughts, musings and observations from week six of college football around North Carolina, where everything is golden in the Charlotte metro and glum for the Triangle’s ACC trio
Last Bull Standing
Congratulations to Johnson C. Smith, the last college football team from North Carolina standing on Mount Undefeated in 2024. The Golden Bulls improved to 6-0 with a 21-17 triumph over visiting Virginia State under the shadow of the Charlotte skyline.
The Old North State’s only other unbeatens heading into week six — Duke, Lenoir-Rhyne and Guilford — lost on Saturday. They don’t hand out championships in early October, of course, but it’s hard not to consider JCSU the gold standard in the CIAA — and our whole state — right now.
A Johnson C. Smith football team hasn’t won a conference title in football since 1969.
Wins For WNC
The western part of our state has had it rough over the past 10 days. Hurricane Helene left many communities decimated and in shock. Recovery will take months, maybe years.
We recognize that football drops way down the priority list in times like these, but we hope football wins by schools like Western Carolina (21-17 over Wofford), Mars Hill (34-9 over Newberry) and Brevard (55-21 over Southern Virginia) can provide a little relief and escape for these communities that were hit so hard.
WCU played without fans at Whitmire Stadium in deference to the state of emergency that still exists in that county.
Appalachian State suffered a defeat at Marshall, but the Thundering Herd provided a heart-warming moment when their band played the ASU fight song.
Ready And Abell
Davidson’s 42-19 win over Marist on Saturday afternoon put head coach Scott Abell in a class by himself. Abell earned his 45th victory as the Wildcats’ skipper, the most by any coach in school history.
William Younger had held the Davidson record for most wins (44) for more than 90 years. Younger coached the Wildcats from 1923-31. Abell is now 45-24 since taking over the Davidson program. The ‘Cats are now 4-1, winning four straight since falling at Georgetown in late August.
Charlotte Blasts East Carolina
It was a great day overall for Charlotte area teams. The Charlotte 49ers joined the victory party, unleashing their best performance of the Biff Poggi coaching era in a 55-24 blasting of East Carolina.
It was the second largest win against a conference foe in school history. It was also the second triumph in a row over the Pirates, giving the new kids on the football block another year of bragging rights against their much more established rival.
“Today was the first time I’ve thought, since I’ve been here, that we’ve played a complete 60 minutes,” Poggi said. “I don’t take any pride in it — I put the glory to the players and coaches.”
Charlotte rushed for 311 yards and held the ball for more than 40 minutes. Stone Handy put a bow on the blowout with a 53-yard interception return in the final period.
While ECU returned the kickoff 94 yards for a score, the Pirates are suddenly reeling again after supposedly finding their footing last week against UTSA.
“I apologize to our fans because that’s not what I expected us to do today, and it’s not the standard for us,” coach Mike Houston said afterward. “You can put it on me, you can put it on our coaching staff, whoever. But I’m the head football coach and I’m responsible for our performance, and that’s not what we want it to be.”
Triangle Football Blues
ACC basketball media days will take place later this week in Charlotte. This may be welcome news to fans of FBS football in Chapel Hill and Raleigh (and possibly Durham too). All three of the Triangle’s ACC football teams went down to ignominious defeats Saturday.
Wake Forest clipped NC State. Pitt surged past UNC (with former WCU standouts Desmond Reid and Censere Lee providing numerous highlights for the Panthers). Georgia Tech outlasted Duke. Blah. The first time all three Triangle schools have all lost on the same weekend in 2024.
Thankfully, all was not black and blue in the 919. North Carolina Central collected an impressive 45-14 triumph over Campbell, while Shaw turned away Bluefield State for its fourth victory.
Welcome Back, UNC Pembroke!
UNC Pembroke came into the season as a favorite in the Mountain East Conference and a contender for a Division II playoff berth. But the Braves opened with tough losses to Wingate and Fayetteville State, then dropped its first two MEC games to fall to 0-4.
Saturday’s game at Wheeling looked like more of the same, with UNCP sluggish and trailing 21-7 by the half. Credit the Braves for regrouping.
Quarterback Collin Johnson threw three touchdown passes after the break, and UNC Pembroke rallied for a 35-32 victory. Johnson finished with 324 yards and four TDs on the day — much more reminiscent of his and UNCP’s 2023 resume.
The Braves got on a roll to close last season. Maybe they have another similar run in them this year.
Good Reports For Grayson
One of the scariest moments of the season came early in NC State’s game against Wake Forest. Quarterback Grayson McCall got hit around the head and neck region by multiple Deacs players while scrambling, lost his helmet and crumpled to the turf.
Before the play even ended — Wake was taking a fumble back the other direction — trainers rushed the field to tend to McCall, who has had concussion issues in the past. McCall was taken to WakeMed hospital but was released later in the day with positive reports.
