What it was, was football: Week 8

A weekly look at North Carolina college football

October 25, 2024 Shawn Krest Article, College Football, Sports
Charlotte running back Henry Rutledge (21) is tackled by Navy wide receiver Turner Stepp (32) during a kickoff in the first half of the 49ers loss on Saturday. (Nick Wass / AP Photo)

North Carolina teams had another losing week, although Duke became the first FBS team in the state to reach bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, St. Andrews may have dropped its best chance of getting a win this season with a blowout loss at home to Point.

Western Carolina’s Cole Gonzalez also deserves a special mention after the quarterback threw for an other-worldly 620 yards in a win at Furman.

Advertisements

North Carolina’s record: 12-16 (102-120 overall)

Last week’s winners (ranked in order of impressiveness of the victory—a combination of opponent and performance):

  1. Western Carolina: 52-20 at Furman
  2. Lenoir-Rhyne: 20-0 at Barton
  3. Wingate: 38-12 at Limestone
  4. Elon: 30-14 at Albany
  5. Winston-Salem State: 31-17 at Livingstone
  6. NC State: 24-23 at Cal
  7. Mars Hill: 30-0 over Tusculum
  8. Wake Forest: 23-20 at UConn
  9. Davidson: 70-48 over Stetson
  1. Duke: 23-16 over Florida State
  2. Johnson C. Smith: 21-14 over Shaw
  3. Gardner-Webb: 42-35 over Lindenwood

Last week’s losers (ranked in order of impressiveness, despite the result):

  1. Campbell: 35-28 at William & Mary
  2. Shaw: 21-14 at Johnson C. Smith
  3. UNC Pembroke: 37-28 at Fairmont State
  4. East Carolina: 45-28 at Army
  5. Charlotte: 51-17 at Navy
  6. Catawba: 27-21 to Newberry
  7. NC A&T: 59-17 at Hampton
  8. Methodist: 21-17 to Southern Virginia
  9. Brevard: 26-21 to LaGrange
  1. Greensboro: 30-20 to Belhaven
  2. Livingstone: 31-17 to Winston-Salem State
  3. Guilford: 40-23 to Washington and Lee
  4. Barton: 20-0 to Lenoir-Rhyne
  5. Chowan: 35-6 to West Florida
  6. Elizabeth City State: 36-7 to Virginia State
  7. St. Andrews: 40-12 to Point

 

Off: UNC, NC Central, App State, Fayetteville State, NC Wesleyan

 

Remaining unbeatens (1 remaining):

Johnson C. Smith: 7-0

 

Winning records (9, down from 10 last week):

Duke, Lenoir-Rhyne: 6-1

Wingate: 5-1

Winston-Salem State: 6-2

NC Central, Davidson: 5-2

Livingstone: 5-3

Brevard: 3-2

Western Carolina: 4-3

 

At .500 (4, same as last week)

NC State, Shaw: 4-4

Fayetteville State, Guilford: 3-3

 

Losing records (18, up one from last week):

Mars Hill: 2-3

ECU, Wake Forest, UNC, Charlotte: 3-4

Campbell, App State, Chowan: 2-4

UNC Pembroke, Barton, Elizabeth City State, Catawba, Elon, Gardner-Webb: 2-5

NC Wesleyan, Greensboro: 1-5

NC A&T, Methodist: 1-6

Still winless (1 remaining):

St. Andrews: 0-5

 

State title standings:

Livingstone was knocked out of the tie at the top after losing to Winston-Salem State. JC Smith won its first in-state matchup of the season.

2-0         Duke, Guilford, Wake Forest, Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne

1-0                 NC Wesleyan, App State, Davidson, Brevard, Johnson C. Smith

2-1         UNC, Charlotte, Fayetteville State, Livingstone, Winston-Salem State

2-2         NC Central

1-1         NC State, Campbell, Catawba

1-2         Barton, Methodist, NC A&T, Elon, Western Carolina

1-3         Elizabeth City State, Shaw

0-1         Gardner-Webb, Mars Hill

0-2         ECU, Chowan, UNC Pembroke

0-3         Greensboro

 

State title games this week:

NC A&T at Campbell

Catawba at Wingate

Shaw at Fayetteville State

Johnson C. Smith at Winston-Salem State

 

Out of state battles for Week Nine:

SMU at Duke, Wake Forest at Stanford, UNC at Virginia, Charlotte at Memphis, Morgan State at NC Central, Gardner-Webb at Southeast Missouri, Temple at East Carolina, Georgia State at App State, Elon at Hampton, Butler at Davidson, Western Carolina at Mercer, Limestone at Lenoir-Rhyne, Barton at Newberry, Chowan at West Alabama, Lincoln, Pa at Elizabeth City State, Mars Hill at Virginia-Wise, West Virginia State at UNC Pembroke, Brevard at Huntingdon, Greensboro at LaGrange, Guilford at Shenandoah, Methodist at Maryville, NC Wesleyan at Southern Virginia, St. Andrews at Reinhardt, Ga.

Off: NC State, Livingstone

Bad neighbors: Virginia schools went 5-0 against North Carolina last weekend and are now 26-10 against N.C. schools. North Carolina posted its first wins of the year against Florida, California and Missouri, however.

All-state performances for Week Eight:

Quarterback: Cole Gonzalez, Western Carolina, 35-of-55 passing, 620 yards, 5 touchdowns.

Running backs: Quasean Holmes, Gardner-Webb, 26 carries for 156 yards, 1 TD, JT Thomas, Elon, 19 rushes, 138 yards, 1 TD.

Receiver: Chase Sowell, East Carolina, 7 catches, 138 yards, 1 TD, Isaiah Johnson, Western Carolina, 6 catches for 117 yards, 2 TDs.

Defensive line: Wesley Williams, Duke, 5 tackles, 3 solo, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, blocked field goal attempt. Devin Vann, NC State, 3 tackles, 2 solo, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble.

Linebacker: Ozzie Nicholas, Duke, 9 tackles, 3 solo, forced turnovers on back-to-back FSU offensive snaps (forced fumble and interception) leading to 10 Duke points. Jalen Brooks, Campbell, 19 tackles, 9 solo stops, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Defensive back: Anthony Hightower, Lenoir-Rhyne, 1 tackle, 1 solo, 64-yard interception return, 2 pass breakups, Juice Martin, Catawba, 7 tackles, 4 solos, 2 interceptions for 117 return yards, 89-yard pick six,

Special teams: Chandler Brayboy, Elon, returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, a 94-yarder and a 93-yarder, becoming the first player in school history to get two in a game.

 

Related Articles