Thoughts, musings and observations from week five of college football around North Carolina, delivered with a heavy heart for those across our state impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
Johnson C. Smith Waking Up Echoes Of 1969
Johnson C. Smith has a storied football history, dating back to the 1800s. The Golden Bulls have earned only one CIAA championship in its history, however, in 1969 under coach Eddie C. McGirt.
This year’s team, coached by Maurice Flowers, continues to hunt history that would make McGirt proud. The Golden Bulls mauled Bluefield State 42-3 on Saturday evening to improve to 5-0 overall, 2-0 in CIAA games that count in the standings (more on that below). The last time Johnson C. Smith owned a 5-0 record on the gridiron? 1969.
The hurricane’s impact on Bluefield, WV forced the contest to be moved to Salem, Va. Interestingly, Salem Stadium is where this year’s CIAA title game will be played in November, The Bulls certainly looked at home there this weekend.
A Win Is A Win, A Loss Doesn’t Count?
A peek at the CIAA standings after Saturday’s action may be confusing. Johnson C. Smith sits on top. Winston-Salem State, which beat Bowie State 28-14 on Saturday at home, is right there with them.
Both have 2-0 records, a half-game ahead of both Virginia State (1-0) and Virginia Union (1-0) which also won Saturday.
But wait, didn’t Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State take out VUU and VSU, respectively, last weekend? Why are those teams listed at 1-0 this week and not 1-1?
It’s a bit complicated.
When St. Augustine’s announced it would not field a team this season, the CIAA did away with divisional play for its 11 remaining football-playing schools. The Falcons’ absence left holes in many schedules. Some teams ended up with only seven CIAA opponents, while others had eight.
To solve the quandry of the unbalanced schedule, the CIAA decided over the summer only to count each school’s final seven conference games in the league standings. So last weekend, the wins counted in the CIAA ledger for Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State (who had played earlier contests against CIAA teams), while the losses did not count for Virginia Union and Virginia State (who each still had seven additional CIAA games left).
Confused yet?
This coming weekend could make things even more interesting. Johnson C. Smith entertains Virginia State, while Winston-Salem State will travel to Virginia Union. We’re not even going to attempt to try and figure out tiebreaking scenarios at this point.
The best remedy for Winston-Salem State and Johnson C. Smith. Just win, baby.
Home Away From Home
North Carolina Central played in the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis for the second year in a row. The Eagles dominated the Circle City Classic for the second year in a row.
NCCU took out Norfolk State 37-10 on Saturday afternoon in what was the MEAC opener for each school. Last season, Central beat Mississippi Valley State 45-3.
Walker Harris, who threw five touchdown passes in last year’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the NFL’s Colts), recorded four more TD passes this year, finishing with 245 passing yards in all.
Since 2000, North Carolina Central owns a 10-2 record in games played at NFL stadiums. The Eagles beat Alabama State in the season opener at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Dolphins.
What Happens In Vegas … Makes Buies Creek Proud
Campbell Camels football inadvertently made national news this week as the college football world wrestled over a complicated NIL issue.
When UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka walked away from his team earlier this week, claiming he hadn’t been paid what he was promised in NIL money, former Campbell signal caller Hajj-Malik Williams was thrust into starter’s duty.
Williams had balled out for the Camels for multiple seasons before leaving Buies Creek for Vegas and won the hearts of a nation on Saturday.
With Williams at the helm, UNLV blasted Fresno State 59-14. Williams completed 13-of-16 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for another 119 yards and a score. The Rebels improved to 4-0, still in the conversation for the Group of Five’s college football playoff spot.
“I’m only here for a year. I want to leave this place better than how I found it,” Williams said earlier this week. “This school is awesome. This community is awesome. We love y’all. We support y’all.”
Not to be outdone, Campbell used dueling quarterbacks to engineer its own excitement on Saturday. Chad Mascoe threw three touchdown passes, while Mike Chandler II added one more to help the Camels outduel Delaware State 44-41.
The lead changed hands five times in the fourth quarter before Sincere Brown caught his third TD pass of the day. Delaware State missed a 49-yard field goal in the final seconds. Campbell improved to 2-3 and snapped a two-game losing skid.
First wins!
Welcome to the win column, Chowan (D2) and Greensboro College (D3). For the Hawks, the thrill of victory has been a long time coming.
Chowan broke a 13-game losing streak that dated back to November 2022 with its 27-25 homecoming victory over Mississippi College. Maurice Smith and Jakobe Lane connected for two first-half touchdowns. The Hawks (1-2) held on as Mississippi College rallied from a 27-10 deficit.
This was Paul Johnson’s first victory since taking over the program before the 2023 season.
Greensboro College collected its first win in emphatic fashion. De’yon Cannon — a great name for a quarterback! — threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Pride beat Southern Virginia 42-23. Greensboro had lost its first three games this season, two by one score and the other 14-0.
First Loss … In Awhile
For the first time since 2022, Fayetteville State suffered a regular season conference defeat. The Broncos dropped a 35-18 decision at Virginia State. It was the first “L” in a regular-season CIAA contest since Virginia Union beat Richard Hayes‘ program 31-28 on Sept. 24, 2022.
Fayetteville State ripped off six straight league wins after that setback, then toppled Chowan in the ’22 CIAA championship game. FSU went 8-0 in regular season league play a year ago and defeated Elizabeth City State last week in its conference opener.
“I am very disappointed in our effort,” Hayes said after Saturday’s defeat, which left his squad 2-2 overall, 1-1 CIAA. “We are going to take it back to Fayetteville, regroup, and shuffle some things around. It is not over for us, and we understand that. We are going to have to make some changes in order to make this championship run.”
Unfortunately for the Broncos, this one does count in the CIAA standings.
What now, UNC?
A week after giving up 70 points to James Madison, North Carolina lost a 20-point lead at Duke and surrendered the Victory Bell for the first time since 2019.
To their credit, the Tar Heels showed grit and fight at the outset of Saturday’s game in Durham, building a 17-0 lead by halftime and a 20-0 advantage early in the third.
But as soon as Duke made adjustments and started punching back, the Heels crumbled. Star Thomas took over the role of dominant running back, and the Devils took the Bell back while improving to 5-0 for the first time since 1994.
If you are Carolina, where do you go from here? It’s not far-fetched to see the bottom dropping out in Chapel Hill at this point. UNC Twitter was on fire after the contest.
Ironically, UNC coach Mack Brown fired now-Duke head coach Manny Diaz from his staff at Texas two games into the 2013 season over poor defensive play.
UNC’s porous defense in the second half Saturday handed Diaz some long-awaited revenge.
Quick Hits
Don’t look know but Charlotte (21-20 over Rice) and East Carolina (30-20 over UTSA) will each take winning momentum into their meeting this coming Saturday. Let the trash talking between newly minted AAC rivals commence…
Liberty at Appalachian State, Brevard at Maryville and Mars Hill at Wingate games, canceled because of Hurricane Helene, will not be made up.
Davidson will host Presbyterian today (Sunday) at 5 p.m. in a game moved from Saturday … Lenoir-Rhyne will “host” Tusculum on Sunday at 3 p.m. in a game being played at Catawba College.
Be sure to check back with NCFootballNews.com over the next few days as we unpack all the ins and outs of Week 5 in college football.
