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The ultimate Old North State football road trip: Most compelling NC vs. NC games each week

More than 60 games this season will feature intrastate showdowns

Published

August 6, 2023

Let’s say you’re a die-hard college football fan who loves North Carolina. This season, you want to watch as many games as possible in your beloved state featuring two North Carolina teams playing each other.

You’re in luck.

There are more than 60 such games on the calendar – at least one for every week.

Some weeks there are as many as seven or eight Saturday games featuring NC vs. NC match-ups. Other weeks we get Thursday AND Saturday games.

The big question then becomes which contests would be the most compelling to watch from the list?

You’re in luck again.

NC Football News has mapped out a hypothetical Ultimate Old North State Football Road Trip, starting with Week 1 in late August and taking you through to Thanksgiving weekend – and maybe beyond if the cards fall a certain way. There were some tough choices. And in a few cases we felt double-headers were in order.

Enough chatter, let’s hit the road:

Thursday, Aug. 31

Week one of the regular season launches on a Thursday night with three NC vs. NC match-ups. We’ll pick Elon at Wake Forest as our destination to kick things off.

The Phoenix have been solid the past few years under coach Tony Trisciani and look ready to contend for another FCS playoff berth. Wake Forest is breaking in a new quarterback (Mitch Griffis) after the departure of Sam Hartman to Notre Dame. Coach Dave Clawson’s Wake Forest group is usually underappreciated this time of year — until the end of the season when they’ve exceeded expectations.

This could be a closer match-up than prognosticators predict and a good early look at a couple of steady, competitive programs. Also, it will the “grand opening” of the Deacs’ newly named Allegacy Stadium.

Other games: Fayetteville State visits UNC Pembroke in the 10th Two Rivers Classic; Chowan at Barton

Saturday, Sept. 2

The first Saturday of the regular season will feature a bowl game: the annual Gate City Soup Bowl contest between rivals Greensboro College at Guilford.

Yes, there are “bigger” games on the docket in week one, but this one has a good cause to support. Greensboro College’s athletics Web site highlights why this season opener is so special in the GSO:

“Both colleges share a commitment to care for the homeless and less fortunate by donating canned and dry goods brought to the game in lieu of purchasing a game ticket. The home team selects the charity … The play on words as our ‘Souper Bowl’ is reinforced with a large metal bowl mounted to a plaque and engraved with the winner of the game each year. The ‘bowl’ remains a prized possession for each year and kept on display at an athletics facility on campus.”

Beautiful. Let’s hope this is the best year ever for the game and the charities it supports.

Other games: Gardner-Webb at Appalachian State; Winston-Salem State at NC Central (big rivalry game); Catawba at Elizabeth City State; St. Augustine’s at Lenoir-Rhyne

Thursday, Sept. 7

Another weeknight, another NC vs. NC game: Wingate at Mars Hill from Division II. Both teams played at the top of the South Atlantic Conference standings a year ago, with Mars Hill finishing 7-2 in the Mountain Division and Wingate with the same record in the Piedmont. Both are picked among the SAC favorites again this year – Wingate 2nd and Mars Hill 5th (first among Mountain teams).

Wingate advanced to the quarterfinals of the D2 playoffs and returns a strong roster. This will be a tough early season road test for the Bulldogs. Mars Hill doesn’t have a game the Saturday before so this will be the Lions’ season opener.

Saturday, Sept. 9

Choices, choices! It’s hard to pass up the Appalachian State at North Carolina rematch, especially after the teams combined for more than 120 points a year ago in Boone. But we’ll return to Greensboro for a second Saturday to take in one of the most storied, if under-appreciated, football rivalries in our state, NC Central vs. NC A&T – under the lights at Truist Stadium.

The Eagles and Aggies have gone their separate ways in terms of conference affiliation, but the rivalry lives on (thankfully, since conference realignment has interrupted a lot of other good games). Central is the reigning HBCU champ with an eye on a repeat. A&T is trying to make noise in the ultra-competitive CAA.

Other games (a busy slate): Barton at Davidson, Elon at Gardner-Webb, Livingstone at Catawba, Elizabeth City State vs. St. Augustine’s, Lenoir-Rhyne at Fayetteville State, Guilford at Methodist

Saturday, Sept. 16

Now, we’ll get to see Appalachian State in person, and in one of the most beautiful and iconic locales in all of college football. The Mountaineers host East Carolina in a mid-afternoon clash, 3:30 p.m. (in what NC Football News believes should be a yearly rivalry).

Here are two schools with similar high levels of fan passion, just on opposite ends of the state. The Mountains vs. the Coastal Plain. Black & gold vs. purple & gold. Maybe ESPN College Game Day will return to Boone for this one?

Other games: NC A&T at Elon, Mars Hill at Catawba, Elizabeth City State at Winston-Salem State

Saturday, Sept. 23

Buies Creek here we come for Elon at Campbell. If we told you that the Fighting Camels had the best FCS football recruiting class two years running, would you believe it? It is a fact, and this season is when the fruit of coach Mike Minter’s labors should start to pay off.

The Camels move up a notch into to the CAA along with A&T. Facing the Phoenix (our second time seeing them) will be a good gauge of where this program with big dreams currently stands.

Other games: Gardner-Webb at East Carolina, St. Andrews at Davidson, Barton at Mars Hill, Shaw at Elizabeth City State

Saturday, Sept. 30

CIAA football is one of the hidden gems of our state. Seven programs from North Carolina compete in the 12-school Division II league. This week, we’ll head to the far northeastern section of the state to check out a couple squads looking to move up in the CIAA standings: Johnson C. Smith at Elizabeth City State.

Johnson C. Smith is noted for playing in the first official football game between black colleges (1892). The Golden Bulls have fallen on tough times in recent years but could be ready to ascend. The school is all-in on getting better.

“The plan is to fund football — fund athletics even more than what it has been,” coach Maurice Flowers said during CIAA media day (as reported by HBCU Gameday). “Very, very proud to say, Johnson C. Smith University — we have 36 scholarships for the first time in school history and very proud to say we’ll be at nine full-time coaches for the first time in school history. The university has definitely put an emphasis on athletics and how it can help build the school.”

Other games: Campbell at NC Central (a tough one to pass up), Brevard at Greensboro

Saturday, Oct. 7

We’ll stay in the CIAA for another week, this time to watch the reigning champions (Fayetteville State) travel to St. Augustine’s. FSU has dominated the Southern Division the past five years, winning the division each year and the overall league title a year ago against Chowan with a last-second field goal.

New St. Aug’s coach, Howard Feggins, knows FSU well. He served as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator a year ago. Even though the Falcons were 4-23 the past three seasons before his arrival, Feggins isn’t preaching patience and a slow climb upward. He’s ready to dash up the mountain right away.

“My mindset is that we have to win now,” Feggins told HBCU Gameday. “I know coaches sometimes want to build a program. I’m not here to build. I’m here to win.” This meeting against the defending champs will show just where Feggins’ program stands at mid-season.

Other games: NC Central at Elon, Wingate at Catawba, Johnson C. Smith at Shaw, Livingstone at Winston-Salem State.

Saturday, Oct. 14

This is one of our busiest weeks of intrastate games – seven in all. While the CIAA slate is always appealing, there is one game that truly stands out – only because we haven’t seen much of it over the past few decades: NC State at Duke.

How on earth the ACC ever thought it was good idea to have these two rivals play just twice since 2009 is mind-boggling. Thankfully, the league’s new scheduling format has rectified that. The Pack and Devils will play every year for the foreseeable future, this year in Durham.

Other than renewing acquaintances, the game could have huge conference implications. NC State has been picked fourth in the ACC and Duke sixth. Two stellar quarterbacks (NC State’s Brennan Armstrong and Duke’s Riley Leonard) should be on display against two coaches known for salty defenses. Welcome back, Pack vs. Devils! ‘Bout time.

If somehow this game gets the late billing on ESPN/ACC Network (7:30/8 p.m. start), we’d try to make the day a CIAA-ACC doubleheader. Winston-Salem State visits Shaw (which plays home games at Durham County Memorial Stadium) at 1 p.m. Plenty of time to travel across town between contests. Twice the tailgating? Twice the live football? Let’s do it!

Other games: Barton at Lenoir-Rhyne, Livingstone at Fayetteville State, St. Augustine’s at Johnson C. Smith, Brevard at Methodist, Greensboro at NC Wesleyan.

Saturday, Oct. 21

A rivalry was born earlier this summer when Charlotte joined East Carolina in the American Athletic Conference. Fans of the 49ers immediately began jawing with their eastern neighbors, which should make for a raucous environment when the 49ers and Pirates meet for the first time on the gridiron in Greenville.

Will Charlotte, picked last in the AAC by the league’s media, still have that giant chip on its shoulder by October or will they be proving doubters wrong? ECU is breaking in a lot of new players in purple and gold, but coach Mike Houston has steadied the Pirate ship after some rough years at sea.

Other games: Wingate at Barton, Johnson C. Smith at Fayetteville State, Shaw at Livingstone, St. Augustine’s at Winston-Salem State

Saturday, Oct. 28

The race for the D2 South Atlantic Conference Piedmont Division title could be at stake when Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Wingate.

The Bears and Bulldogs played a barn-burner last season, with Wingate winning on a late touchdown to snap a five-game losing streak to the Bears.

Lenoir-Rhyne brings back a very experienced roster. Wingate had one of the stingiest defenses in all of Division II last season and returns several of those pieces. Something has to give.

Other games: Barton at Catawba, Fayetteville State at Shaw, Winston-Salem State at Johnson C. Smith, St. Augustine’s at Livingstone, NC Wesleyan at Methodist

Thursday, Nov. 2

Thursday night ACC football gives us another chance to catch two games in a week. This time we’re treated to another potential ACC dandy, Wake Forest at Duke. Will either or both of these teams still be in the hunt for the conference crown at this point in the season?

This rivalry, thankfully, that has outlasted all the realignment absurdity and will continue on yearly. Whew!

Saturday, Nov. 4

Here’s what we’re hoping for: The ACC Network or The CW puts the Campbell at North Carolina non-conference game in the night slot (right now that kick time is still TBA). If that’s the case, we can do another in-state double-header.

We’d spend the early afternoon watching a couple of Capital City rivals go at it, Shaw at St. Augustine’s (1 p.m. kick). Then we’d head over to Kenan Stadium to watch the first-ever Camels vs. Tar Heels showdown.

If Campbell-UNC starts earlier, we’d have to stick with Falcons-Bears, which is usually the last game of the regular season for both teams. Shaw won 30-27 a year ago in double-overtime. Another big in-state rivalry game to check off the bucket list.

Other games: Catawba at Lenoir-Rhyne, Livingstone at Johnson C. Smith, Winston-Salem State at Fayetteville State

Saturday, Nov. 11

As mentioned above, it’s nice to have the state’s “Big Four” ACC teams playing each other more regularly thanks to the new scheduling format. This particular Saturday will feature a Big Four double-header, Duke at North Carolina and NC State at Wake Forest. Just like old times!

Can we catch them both live? Only if the TV networks cooperate and put one game on at noon and the other at night (please!). If those stars don’t line up, we’d pick the game based on which has the most at stake.

What to do if they both have a lot at stake? Flip a coin? Clone ourselves?

Other game: Methodist at Greensboro.

Saturday, Nov. 18

There is only NC vs. NC game on the final Saturday of the FCS regular season and it’s a good one – what could be a new, intense rivalry: Campbell at NC A&T. The two teams are the new-comers in the Colonial … err Coastal Athletic Association this season.

Neither received much of a welcome into the league – Campbell was picked 12th and A&T 10^th out of 15 teams. While playoffs may be a reach for the Camels and Aggies this year – who knows, maybe not? – the winner on this Saturday will for sure finish the year on a positive note. That will build momentum into the off-season.

Saturday, Nov. 25

The best for last? Quite possibly. North Carolina at NC State renews what is becoming a Thanksgiving weekend tradition. Bring your leftovers to the tailgate because this could be one of the most important games of the season for our state – and most rowdy.

How much will be at stake? The Tar Heels are picked third and the Wolfpack fourth in preseason ACC balloting. Will either or both teams live up to that hype? Will New Year’s Six bowl games be on the line? Will UNC quarterback Drake Maye still be in the Heisman hunt? Will the State continue its recent mastery over the Heels (Pack is 11-5 since 2007)? How loud will Carter-Finley Stadium be (especially with that new sound system)?

It should be a fitting end to our NC vs. NC road trip.

Unless…

Saturday, Dec. 2

Yes, it’s a long, long shot. But it’s the preseason and we can dream, right?

Charlotte is home to the ACC Football Championship game. If somehow Clemson and Florida State should falter, could a pair of North Carolina teams be ready to pick up the mantle?

UNC vs. Duke in the basketball Final Four proved epic a few years back. How would a State-Carolina or Carolina-Duke rematch in the ACC football title game rate in our state’s sports history? It would have to be top 10 at least.

A die-hard fan of college football in the Old North State couldn’t ask for anything more.