Saturday brings a full slate of North Carolina college football, with 26 games involving teams from across the state and several of the day’s biggest matchups packed into the opening hours.
The noon window features the marquee in-state matchup between App State and East Carolina, along with the 98th meeting between North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central. Duke and Wake Forest hit the road for a mini ACC-Big Ten challenge against Illinois and Purdue, while Elon gets its first major test of the season against defending CAA champion Rhode Island.
Weather also has reshaped part of Saturday’s schedule. The threat of afternoon and evening storms pushed Ferrum at Shaw, Johnson C. Smith at Winston-Salem State and Valdosta State at Fayetteville State to 11 a.m. kickoffs. The A&T-NCCU rivalry game was moved from 6 p.m. to noon.
From FBS through FCS, Division II, Division III and JUCO, here’s the complete North Carolina college football schedule for Saturday, Sept. 12, with kickoff times, TV and streaming information.
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🏈 North Carolina College Football Games Today | Saturday, Sept. 12
FBS Games Today
NC State cruised past Richmond 73-0 on Friday night, and the other six FBS teams from our state are in action today, headlined by Appalachian State at ECU, Duke at Illinois and Wake Forest at Purdue.
App State at East Carolina – 12 p.m., ESPNU
Records: App State 1-0 | East Carolina 0-1
Location: Greenville, NC
➡️ Game Center: View more details on this intense in-state rivalry, including series history, latest lines and what to know
Wake Forest at Purdue – 12 p.m., FS1
Records: Wake Forest 1-0 | Purdue 1-0
Location: West Lafayette, IN
ETSU at North Carolina – 12 p.m., ACC Network
Records: East Tennessee State 1-1 | North Carolina 1-0
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Duke at Illinois – 3:30 p.m., FS1
Records: Duke 1-0 | Illinois 1-0
Location: Champaign, IL
➡️ Game Center: Complete Duke at Illinois game information, stats, series history and more
Charlotte at Ole Miss – 7:45 p.m., ESPN2
Records: Charlotte 0-1 | Ole Miss 1-0
Location: Oxford, MS
FCS Games Today
Saturday’s FCS schedule includes the 98th edition of the NC A&T-North Carolina Central rivalry and Elon’s major CAA test at Rhode Island, while Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Western Carolina take on FBS opponents. Davidson goes for its first win in its third game in a row at home.
Dickinson at Davidson – 12 p.m., ESPN+
Records: Dickinson 1-0 | Davidson 0-2
Location: Davidson, NC
Elon at Rhode Island – 12 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Elon 2-0 | Rhode Island 1-1
Location: Kingston, RI
North Carolina A&T at North Carolina Central – 12 p.m., ESPN+
Records: NC A&T 0-2 | NC Central 1-1
Location: Durham, NC
➡️ Game Center: Complete NC A&T-NCCU game information, stats, series history and more
Campbell at Florida – 5:30 p.m., SEC Network+
Records: Campbell 2-0 | Florida 1-0
Location: Gainesville, FL
Gardner-Webb at Liberty – 6 p.m., ESPN+
Records: Gardner-Webb 0-2 | Liberty 0-1
Location: Lynchburg, VA
Western Carolina at Cincinnati – 7 p.m., ESPN+
Records: Western Carolina 1-1 | Cincinnati 1-0
Location: Cincinnati, OH
D2 Games Today
Ten games involving North Carolina Division II programs fill Saturday’s schedule, including conference matchups between Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State and Catawba and Mars Hill, while Lenoir-Rhyne visits defending SAC champion Newberry.
Note that Ferrum at Shaw, JCSU at WSSU and Valdosta State at Fayetteville State have earlier kickoffs due to the threat of inclement weather in the evening.
Ferrum at Shaw – 11 a.m., CIAA Sports Network
Records: Ferrum 0-2 | Shaw 1-1
Location: Durham, NC
Johnson C. Smith at Winston-Salem State – 11 a.m., CIAA Sports Network
Records: Johnson C. Smith 1-1 | Winston-Salem State 0-2
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Valdosta State at Fayetteville State – 11 a.m., CIAA Sports Network
Records: Valdosta State 2-0 | Fayetteville State 2-0
Location: Fayetteville, NC
Catawba at Mars Hill – 1 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Catawba 1-1 | Mars Hill 1-0
Location: Mars Hill, NC
UNC Pembroke at Shorter – 1 p.m., Conference Carolinas Digital Network
Records: UNC Pembroke 1-1 | Shorter 1-1
Location: Rome, GA
Virginia Union at Chowan – 1 p.m., Conference Carolinas Digital Network
Records: Virginia Union 1-1 | Chowan 1-1
Location: Murfreesboro, NC
Wingate at Carson-Newman – 1 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Wingate 1-1 | Carson-Newman 2-0
Location: Jefferson City, TN
Bluefield College at Barton – 2 p.m., Conference Carolinas Digital Network
Records: Bluefield 0-2 | Barton 0-2
Location: Wilson, NC
Livingstone at Bluefield State – 6 p.m., CIAA Sports Network
Records: Livingstone 0-2 | Bluefield State 0-2
Location: Bluefield, WV
Lenoir-Rhyne at Newberry – 7 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne 1-1 | Newberry 1-0
Location: Newberry, SC
D3 Games Today
Brevard gets its 2026 season started with a home matchup, while Methodist-Guilford college for the first time ever on the gridiron.
Apprentice at North Carolina Wesleyan – 12 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Apprentice 1-1 | NC Wesleyan 1-0
Location: Rocky Mount, NC
Sewanee at Brevard – 1 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Sewanee 0-1 | Brevard 0-0
Location: Brevard, NC
Greensboro at Roanoke – 2 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Greensboro 1-0 | Roanoke 1-0
Location: Salem, VA
Methodist at Guilford – 7 p.m., FloCollege
Records: Methodist 0-1 | Guilford 0-1
Location: Greensboro, NC
NJCAA Game Today
Louisburg at Greensboro JV – 1 p.m., YouTube
Records: Louisburg 1-0 | Greensboro College JV
Location: Greensboro, NC
👀 What to Know
Weather pushes four games to earlier kickoffs
The threat of storms has already altered Saturday’s schedule. Three Division II games — Ferrum at Shaw, Johnson C. Smith at Winston-Salem State and Valdosta State at Fayetteville State — have been moved to 11 a.m.
The 98th meeting between North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central also received a significant change, moving from its originally scheduled 6 p.m. kickoff to noon at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
With App State-East Carolina also kicking off at noon, two of the state’s biggest rivalry games will get Saturday started early.
App State looks to continue recent success against ECU
App State-East Carolina headlines the in-state schedule, with the Mountaineers looking to continue their recent success against the Pirates.
App State has won the past three meetings in the series, but ECU enters Saturday as the favorite. The Mountaineers opened their season with a win over Maine, while the Pirates are looking to bounce back after opening with a loss at Alabama.
➡️ Game Center: Get series history, team statistics, latest lines and more for App State at East Carolina.
ACC teams hit the road for Big Ten tests
Duke and Wake Forest both opened the season with comfortable victories, the Devils taking down Tulane and the Deacs blitzing Akron. Saturday should provide a better measuring stick.
Wake Forest visits Purdue at noon before Duke travels to Illinois for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Both ACC teams will be facing Power Four competition on the road for the first time this season.
➡️ Game Center: Get stats, series history and more for Duke at Illinois.
Elon steps up in competition at Rhode Island
After handling Glenville State and Davidson to start 2-0, Elon gets its first marquee test of the season Saturday at Rhode Island.
The Rams are the defending CAA champions and enter the matchup ranked among the nation’s top FCS teams. Elon was picked third in the CAA preseason poll, making the noon matchup an early opportunity for the Phoenix to establish themselves as a conference contender.
