And then there were two.
Week five brought North Carolina’s list of unbeaten college football teams down to a pair.
Duke suffered a heartbreaking defeat at home to Notre Dame on Saturday night, while Mars Hill let Limestone get away on the road earlier in the afternoon. It was loss number one for those two squads, leaving the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (5-0) and the North Carolina Tar Heels (4-0) as the last from the Old North State to hold the moniker of undefeated.
Lenoir-Rhyne had no problems picking up its fifth win, blitzing UVA Wise 56-3. North Carolina had the week off, able to sight-see ESPN College GameDay in Durham – and the rival Blue Devils near upset-turned-nightmare unfold in the late-night TV window.
Lenoir-Rhyne also holds the longest active winning streak in the state at seven. The Bears won their final two games of 2022 and have been near unstoppable this year. They are outscoring foes 211-27.
The next longest win streak is held by two teams: North Carolina has won four straight since dropping four straight to end last year. Western Carolina has been a roll with four victories in a row since losing at Arkansas in week one.
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CURRENT STREAKS WINS Lenoir-Rhyne Bears D2 7 North Carolina Tar Heels FBS 4 Western Carolina Catamounts FCS 4 Davidson Wildcats FCS 3 Elon Phoenix FCS 3 Fayetteville State Broncos D2 3 Johnson C, Smith Golden Bulls D2 3 Louisburg College Hurricanes JUCO 3 Brevard Tornados D3 2 NC Central Eagles FCS 2 UNC Pembroke Braves D2 2 Wingate Bulldogs D2 2
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Zero no more
Two North Carolina teams picked up their first “W” on Saturday: Livingstone and North Carolina A&T.
Livingstone, from the Division II CIAA ranks, stunned Bowie State at home 31-18. It was the Vikings’ first win over Bowie State (3-2, 2-1 CIAA) since 2014.
The Vikings brought the defense on Saturday, creating four fumbles and intercepting a pass. Jaden Echols wracked up 12 tackles, earned a sack and forced a fumble. The offense proved solid as well. Quarterback Marcus Drish threw four TD passes. Davan Deloatch caught three of them.
NC A&T didn’t play a perfect game by any stretch in beating Norfolk State 28-26 in FCS action. But the Aggies got the first win of the Vince Brown coaching era in their pocket and saw the offense take major steps forward.
Freshman quarterback Kevin White scored on a long rushing TD on one of the first offensive snaps. While A&T gave up a safety shortly thereafter, the Aggies went on to score three more rushing touchdowns. The team only had one offensive TD coming into the contest.
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A win still elusive
We’re down to five winless teams in the state: Chowan and St. Augustine’s from the Division II ranks, North Carolina Wesleyan and Greensboro from Division III and St. Andrews from NAIA.
Count Chowan as a dangerous 0-5 team, though. The Hawks led visiting Valdosta State, ranked 22nd in the latest D2 coaches poll, at several points on Saturday before falling 51-36. Quarterback Rashad McKee had a big day for Chowan, which plays North Greenville at home this coming weekend. Chowan had only scored 41 points combined in its previous four games.
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Taming the Tribe
Give Elon the nod for biggest upset of the week. The Phoenix (3-2, 3-0 CAA) won a defensive struggle against No. 4/5 ranked William & Mary 14-6. Trailing 6-0 late in the third quarter, Jaidyn Denis intercepted a Tribe pass and returned it to the William & Mary 30. A few plays later, early in the fourth quarter, Matthew Downing hit Chandler Brayboy for a touchdown and a 7-6 edge.
The Phoenix started their next possession backed up at their own six. But Downing faked a handoff then hit a streaking Brayboy over the middle for a 76-yard gain. Three plays later, Jamarien Dalton caught an eight-yard pass from Downing to make it 14-6.
The defense held one last William & Mary foray into the Elon red zone. Cazeem Moore and Denis stopped the Tribe quarterback short of a first down on fourth-and-three from the 12. Elon now sits atop the CAA standings at 3-0 in league play.
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High scores
For the second week in a row, Davidson and Western Carolina put up video game offensive numbers. The Wildcats hit 55 points against San Diego (after reaching 82 the week before), while the Catamounts put up 49 in a breather at The Citadel. North Carolina Central also scored 49, rallying from a 21-point second-half deficit to trim Campbell by one point.
MOST POINTS SCORED DIVISION POINTS OPPONENT RESULT Lenoir-Rhyne D2 56 UVA Wise W, 56-3 Davidson FCS 55 San Diego W, 55-33 North Carolina Central FCS 49 Campbell W, 49-48 Western Carolina FCS 49 The Citadel W, 49-14 Campbell FCS 48 North Carolina Central L, 48-49 Wingate D2 45 Erskine W, 45-0 Louisburg JUCO 43 Central International W, 43-7 Appalachian State FBS 41 UL Monroe W, 41-40 UNC Pembroke D2 41 Wheeling W, 40-21 Chowan D2 36 Valdosta State L, 36-51 Livingstone D2 31 Bowie State W, 31-18 Fayetteville State D2 28 Bluefield State W, 28-18 North Carolina A&T FCS 28 Norfolk State W, 28-26
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Offensive firepower
Western Carolina had the most prolific offense for the week, piling up 569 yards against The Citadel. Lenoir-Rhyne recorded 563 in its win. Davidson rushed for 449 yards and finished with 557 total yards against a San Diego squad that has been in the Pioneer Football League title hunt each year for most of the last decade.
Appalachian State and UNC Pembroke also crossed the 500-yard plateau in total offense.
MOST PROLIFIC OFFENSES DIVISION YARDS OPPONENT RESULT Western Carolina FCS 569 The Citadel W, 49-14 Lenoir-Rhyne D2 563 UVA Wise W, 56-3 Davidson FCS 557 San Diego W, 55-33 Appalachian State FBS 536 UL Monroe W, 41-40 UNC Pembroke D2 503 Wheeling W, 40-21 Wingate D2 475 Erskine W, 45-0 Chowan D2 456 Valdosta State L, 36-51 North Carolina Central FCS 447 Campbell W, 49-48 Catawba D2 422 Emory & Henry W, 30-13 Campbell FCS 410 North Carolina Central L, 48-49
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Access denied: Top defenses
Wingate had the best defensive effort of the day, holding Erskine to 49 total yards and no points. The Flying Fleet have been struggling mightily this season, but even the weakest of teams rip off some big gains now and again against backup players. But Wingate wasn’t having any of that on Saturday in a 45-0 win.
Elizabeth City State held Johnson C. Smith to just 214 yards but lost by a PAT, 21-20. East Carolina also put up good defensive numbers, holding Rice to 277 yards, but didn’t win where it mattered most, on the scoreboard.
STINGIEST DEFENSES DIVISION YDS ALLOWED OPPONENT RESULT Wingate D2 49 Erskine W, 45-0 Lenoir-Rhyne D2 203 UVA Wise W, 56-3 Elizabeth City State D2 214 Johnson C. Smith L, 20-21 Catawba D2 226 Emory & Henry W, 30-13 Western Carolina FCS 226 The Citadel W, 49-14 Johnson C. Smith D2 267 Elizabeth City State W, 21-20 East Carolina FBS 277 Rice L, 17-24 NC State FBS 306 Louisville L, 10-13 Barton D2 308 Tusculum W, 17-14 Fayetteville State D2 310 Bluefield State W, 28-18 Mars Hill D2 322 Limestone L, 23-27
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Nailbiters
Three teams from the Old North State won games by one point — Appalachian State, Johnson C. Smith and North Carolina Central. Two lost by the same margin — Campbell and Elizabeth City State. NC State and Winston-Salem State found themselves on the wrong sides of 3-point defeats.
NARROWEST MARGIN OF VICTORY DIVISION MARGIN OPPONENT FINAL Appalachian State FBS 1 UL Monroe W, 41-40 Johnson C. Smith D2 1 Elizabeth City State W, 21-20 North Carolina Central FCS 1 Campbell W, 49-48 NC A&T FCS 2 Norfolk State W, 28-26 Barton D2 3 Tusculum W, 17-14
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NARROWEST MARGIN OF DEFEAT DIVISION MARGIN OPPONENT FINAL Campbell FCS 1 North Carolina Central L, 48-49 Elizabeth City State D2 1 Johnson C. Smith L, 20-21 NC State FBS 3 Louisville L, 10-13 Winston-Salem State D2 3 Lincoln (Pa.) L, 27-30 Mars Hill D2 4 Limestone L, 23-27
Looking ahead
Two of the top FCS teams in the state will square off on Saturday when North Carolina Central visits Elon. As for our two remaining unbeaten teams, North Carolina hosts Syracuse (4-1) and Lenoir-Rhyne visits South Atlantic Piedmont Division rival Limestone. Both are 3-0 in league play thus far.
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Statewide Standings after Week 5
