Wingate football beat a nationally ranked opponent on Saturday and joined the national rankings themselves on Monday.
The Bulldogs cracked both the AFCA coaches poll and D2Football.com media poll for the first time this season following their 21-7 domination of Delta State. Wingate was voted 24th by the coaches and 23rd by the media.
Delta State had been inside the top 15 in one poll heading into Saturday but fell into a tie with Wingate for 24th in the coaches poll and now sits one spot behind the Bulldogs in the D2Football poll at 24th.
Wingate stymied a normally potent Delta State offense in Saturday’s victory. The Statesmen had been averaging 51 points per game and more than 300 passing yards through two contests. Wingate held Delta State to one score, a mere 109 passing yards and 253 total yards.
For his efforts, Wingate senior linebacker Dontorian Best picked up South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors. Best wracked up 13 tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. The Bulldog defense finished with five sacks on the day.
Best (Columbia, S.C. | A.C. Flora HS) now has 19 tackles after two games, best on his team.
Wingate’s stopping unit has already recorded 21 tackles-for-loss and 8.5 sacks thus far.
The ‘Dogs will jump into conference play this weekend, visiting Carson-Newman on Saturday at 1 p.m. The next home game will be Sept. 28 against Mars Hill at 6 p.m.
AFCA D2 Coaches Poll: Sept. 16
| 1 | Harding (Ark.) (27) | 2-0 | 723 | 1 | D. Oklahoma Baptist, 59-7 | Sept. 19 at Arkansas-Monticello | |
| 2 | Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (1) | 2-0 | 694 | 3 | D. No. 22 Colorado St.-Pueblo, 24-21 | Sept. 21 vs. Wisconsin-La Crosse | |
| 3 | Valdosta St. (Ga.) | 3-0 | 638 | 6 | D. Fayetteville St. (N.C.), 34-0 | Sept. 21 at Erskine (S.C.) | |
| 4 | Colorado School of Mines | 2-0 | 634 | 5 | D. Washburn (Kan.), 31-28 | Sept. 21 at Chadron St. (Neb.) | |
| 5 | Ferris St. (Mich.) | 2-1 | 586 | 7 | D. Ashland (Ohio), 43-3 | Sept. 28 at American International (Mass.) | |
| 6 | Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) | 2-0 | 550 | 8 | D. Tiffin (Ohio), 38-17 | Sept. 21 at Mars Hill (N.C.) | |
| 7 | Kutztown (Pa.) | 2-0 | 477 | 9 | D. Edinboro (Pa.), 26-0 | Sept. 21 at Gannon (Pa.) | |
| 8 | Minnesota St. | 3-0 | 474 | 11 | D. Wayne St. (Neb.), 35-28 | Sept. 21 vs. Minot St. (N.D.) | |
| 9 | Slippery Rock (Pa.) (1) | 2-0 | 465 | 10 | D. Shepherd (W.Va.), 20-10 | Sept. 21 at Shippensburg (Pa.) | |
| 10 | Pittsburg St. (Kan.) | 2-1 | 462 | 4 | Lost to No. 21 Emporia St. (Kan.), 24-21 | Sept. 21 at Washburn (Kan.) | |
| 11 | Central Missouri | 1-1 | 412 | 2 | Lost to Central Oklahoma, 57-40 | Sept. 21 at Davenport (Mich.) | |
| 12 | West Florida | 1-0 | 393 | 12 | Idle | Sept. 21 vs. No. 23 West Alabama | |
| 13 | Emporia St. (Kan.) | 3-0 | 359 | 21 | D. No. 4 Pittsburg St. (Kan.), 24-21 | Sept. 21 vs. Missouri Western St. | |
| 14 | Central Washington | 1-1 | 345 | 13 | D. Colorado Mesa, 28-12 | Sept. 21 at West Texas A&M | |
| 15 | Western Colorado | 2-0 | 333 | 15 | D. West Texas A&M, 26-17 | Sept. 21 vs. Adams St. (Colo.) | |
| 16 | Indianapolis (Ind.) | 2-0 | 297 | 16 | D. Truman St. (Mo.), 41-34 | Sept. 21 at Wayne St. (Mich.) | |
| 17 | Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) | 2-0 | 278 | 18 | D. Northwestern Oklahoma, 56-2 | Sept. 21 at Southern Arkansas | |
| 18 | Augustana (S.D.) | 1-1 | 217 | 14 | Lost to South Dakota St., 24-3 | Sept. 21 vs. Northern St. (S.D.) | |
| 19 | Charleston (W.Va.) | 2-0 | 205 | 20 | Idle | Sept. 21 vs. North Carolina-Pembroke | |
| 20 | Henderson St. (Ark.) | 2-0 | 136 | 24 | D. Southeastern Oklahoma St., 34-17 | Sept. 21 vs. Arkansas Tech | |
| 21 | Virginia Union | 1-1 | 123 | 23 | Idle | Sept. 21 at Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) | |
| 22 | Colorado St.-Pueblo | 2-1 | 96 | 22 | Lost to No. 3 Grand Valley St. (Mich.), 24-21 | Sept. 21 vs. Colorado Mesa | |
| 23 | West Alabama | 3-0 | 89 | NR | D Limestone (S.C.), 33-14 | Sept. 21 at No. 12 West Florida | |
| 24t. | Delta St. (Miss.) | 2-1 | 71 | 17 | Lost to Wingate (N.C.), 21-7 | Sept. 21 vs. Fort Valley St. (Ga.) | |
| 24t. | Wingate (N.C.) | 2-0 | 71 | NR | D. No. 17 Delta St. (Miss.), 21-7 | Sept. 21 vs. Carson-Newman (Tenn.) |
D2Football.com Top 25 as of Monday, Sept. 16
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous Rank |
| 1 | Harding | 2-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Grand Valley State | 2-0 | 4 |
| 3 | Valdosta State | 3-0 | 5 |
| 4 | Minnesota State | 3-0 | 7 |
| 5 | Colorado Mines | 2-0 | 6 |
| 6 | Pittsburg State | 2-1 | 3 |
| 7 | Ferris State | 2-1 | 8 |
| 8 | Kutztown | 2-0 | 9 |
| 9 | Central Washington | 1-1 | 10 |
| 10 | Slippery Rock | 2-0 | 11 |
| 11 | Central Missouri | 1-1 | 2 |
| 12 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 2-0 | 13 |
| 13 | West Florida | 1-0 | 14 |
| 14 | Western Colorado | 2-0 | 16 |
| 15 | Indianapolis | 2-0 | 15 |
| 16 | Ouachita Baptist | 2-0 | 17 |
| 17 | Henderson State | 2-0 | 19 |
| 18 | Emporia State | 3-0 | NR |
| 19 | Augustana | 1-1 | 18 |
| 20 | Virginia Union | 1-1 | 22 |
| 21 | Bemidji State | 2-1 | 23 |
| 22 | Charleston | 2-0 | 24 |
| 23 | Wingate | 2-0 | NR |
| 24 | Delta State | 2-1 | 12 |
| 25 | Central Oklahoma | 2-0 | NR |
