Western Carolina and Davidson blew the lights out of the scoreboard. Meanwhile, East Carolina and Winston-Salem State refused to surrender a single point.
Here are some of the team superlatives from Week 4 of the college football season involving North Carolina schools:
Most Points Scored
North Carolina teams that recorded at least 24 points this week were 15-1. The lone team not to notch a victory with that total: Campbell, which rallied but fell short against Elon 28-24.
Davidson led the way with 84 points, scored on 12 touchdowns and 12 extra points. Credit Wildcat kickers Adam Zouagui (7-7) and Blake Craig (5-5) for being perfect on PATs. Each got a lot of work.
Western Carolina kept kicker Richard McCollum busy as well, notching 11 touchdowns in a huge win over the same Charleston Southern team that tested Clemson for a half. McCollum never missed.
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MOST POINTS SCORED DIVISION POINTS OPPONENT RESULT Davidson FCS 84 St. Andrews W, 84-6 Western Carolina FCS 77 Charleston Southern W, 77-21 NC Central FCS 45 Mississippi Valley State W, 45-3 East Carolina FBS 44 Gardner-Webb W, 44-0 Duke FBS 41 Connecticut W, 41-7 North Carolina FBS 41 Pittsburgh W, 41-24 Brevard D3 37 Maryville W, 37-35 UNC Pembroke D2 37 West Liberty W, 37-19 Wingate D2 31 Emory & Henry W, 31-10 Winston-Salem State D2 30 Bluefield State W, 30-0 Elon FCS 28 Campbell W, 28-24 Johnson C. Smith D2 27 Lincoln (Pa.) W, 27-20 Methodist D3 27 Southern Virginia W, 27-21 Lenoir-Rhyne D2 24 Carson-Newman W, 24-7 NC State FBS 24 Virginia W, 24-21 Campbell FCS 24 Elon L, 24-28
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WIDEST MARGINS OF VICTORY DIVISION MARGIN OPPONENT FINAL Davidson FCS 78 St. Andrews W, 84-6 Western Carolina FCS 56 Charleston Southern W, 77-21 East Carolina FBS 44 Gardner-Webb W, 44-0 NC Central FCS 42 Mississippi Valley State W, 45-3 Duke FBS 38 Connecticut W, 41-7 Winston-Salem State D2 30 Bluefield State W, 30-0 Wingate D2 21 Emory & Henry W, 31-10
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Fewest Points Allowed
On the flip side, East Carolina and Winston-Salem State held opponents to zeroes on the scoreboard. The Pirates got their first win in impressive fashion, 44-0 over Gardner-Webb. The Rams improved to 2-0 in the CIAA by blanking Bluefield State 30-zip.
North Carolina Central was the other in-state team not to allow a touchdown this week, cruising past Mississippi Valley State in the Circle City Classic 45-3.
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FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED DIVISION POINTS OPPONENT RESULT East Carolina FBS 0 Gardner-Webb W, 44-0 Winston-Salem State D2 0 Bluefield State W, 30-0 NC Central FCS 3 Mississippi Valley State W, 45-3 Davidson FCS 6 St. Andrews W, 84-6 Duke FBS 7 Connecticut W, 41-7 Fayetteville State D2 7 Virginia Union W, 10-7 Lenoir-Rhyne D2 7 Carson-Newman L, 7-24 St. Augustine’s D2 10 Bowie State L, 7-10 Wingate D2 10 Emory & Henry W, 31-10 Mars Hill D2 14 Barton W, 16-14 Barton D2 16 Mars Hill L, 14-16 UNC Pembroke D2 19 West Liberty W, 37-19 Johnson C. Smith D2 20 Lincoln (Pa.) W, 27-20 Methodist D3 21 Southern Virginia W, 27-21 NC State FBS 21 Virginia W, 24-21 Western Carolina FCS 21 Charleston Southern W, 77-21
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Close Calls: Narrowest Wins
We had eight games this weekend decided by a touchdown or less.
Barton lost by two, when Lon Teachey kicked his third field goal of the day for Mars Hill in the fourth quarter.
Appalachian State suffered a heartbreaker, lining up to go for a field goal (their fifth of the game) that would have put them up by eight late in the game. Instead, Wyoming blocked the kick and returned it for a touchdown with 1:52 remaining. The Cowboys intercepted App State at the six-yard line with 12 ticks to go and stole a 22-19 victory.
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NARROWEST MARGIN OF VICTORY DIVISION MARGIN OPPONENT FINAL Brevard D3 2 Maryville W, 37-35 Mars Hill D2 2 Barton W, 16-14 Fayetteville State D2 3 Virginia Union W, 10-7 NC State FBS 3 Virginia W, 24-21 Shaw D2 3 Elizabeth City State W, 20-17 Elon FCS 4 Campbell W, 28-24 Methodist D3 6 Southern Virginia W, 27-21 Johnson C. Smith D2 7 Lincoln (Pa.) W, 27-20
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Most Prolific Offenses
We used the 400-yard mark as our cutoff this week. Interesting that North Carolina, which scored 41 at Pittsburgh on Saturday night, didn’t reach that plateau. Appalachian State, which scored just 19 at Wyoming, did.
Once more, Davidson and Western Carolina led the way, covering almost 14 football fields worth of yardage between them.
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MOST PROLIFIC OFFENSES DIVISION YARDS OPPONENT RESULT Davidson FCS 716 St. Andrews W, 84-6 Western Carolina FCS 683 Charleston Southern W, 77-21 Mars Hill D2 476 Barton W, 16-14 Appalachian State FBS 417 Wyoming L, 19-22 NC Central FCS 416 Mississippi Valley State W, 45-3 Lenoir-Rhyne D2 412 Carson-Newman W, 24-7 Campbell FCS 402 Elon L, 24-28
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Stingiest Defenses
Rain and wind from Tropical Storm Ophelia wreaked havoc in some games around the state. But overall this was a solid weekend for lockdown ‘D’.
Six teams held opponents under 200 total yards, led by East Carolina, which allowed just 107 yards to Gardner-Webb.
Johnson C. Smith, Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate continue to have solid stopping units in the Division II ranks. All three bowed up against foes this weekend.
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STINGIEST DEFENSES DIVISION YDS ALLOWED OPPONENT RESULT East Carolina FBS 107 Gardner-Webb W, 44-0 Davidson FCS 115 St. Andrews W, 84-6 Wingate D2 174 Emory & Henry W, 31-10 Fayetteville State D2 184 Virginia Union W, 10-7 Johnson C. Smith D2 187 Lincoln (Pa.) W, 27-20 St. Augustine’s D2 193 Bowie State L, 7-10 Duke FBS 203 Connecticut W, 41-7 Appalachian State FBS 208 Wyoming L, 19-22 Lenoir-Rhyne D2 211 Carson-Newman W, 24-7 NC Central FCS 216 Mississippi Valley State W, 45-3 Western Carolina FCS 223 Charleston Southern W, 77-21
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Other Week 4 Notables
Fayetteville State beat Virginia Union despite only earning 92 yards of total offense. The Broncos had a tough time getting things going in the sloppy, tropical conditions. But field goal kicker Jacob Meneses certainly didn’t get knocked off course, booting his second game-winning field goal of the season in as many weeks.
The North Carolina Tar Heels allowed the longest play of the weekend, giving up a 100-yard kick return to Pittsburgh in the second half of its 41-24 victory. Thankfully for the Heels, that didn’t ignite a Panthers’ rally, and UNC improved to 4-0 for the first time since Mack Brown 1.0 in 1997.
Shaw earned its first victory of the season, beating Elizabeth City State 20-17 in a Sunday CIAA clash. The Bears jumped out to a 20-0 lead at halftime and weathered a Vikings rally after the break. ECSU scored its final touchdown with 53 seconds to play. The Bears recovered the onsides kick and kneeled down the final few plays to seal the road triumph.
Methodist and Brevard from the D3 ranks joined ECU and Shaw as first-time winners. Methodist got a nine-yard rushing touchdown from Sajari Love in OT to beat Southern Virginia 27-21. Brevard’s Ethan Beamish threw a 2-point conversion pass to Adam Dougas to help the Tornados slip past Maryville 37-35 in triple OT. While both squads started the year 0-3, each sits atop the USA South Conference standings after one week of league play.
Duke (4-0) and Lenoir-Rhyne (4-0) carry the longest active winning streaks in the state. Each has won six in a row, dating back to last season. UNC has a four-game win streak going since dropping its bowl game to Oregon. Mars Hill and Western Carolina have now won three in a row.
