What it was, was football: Week 1

A weekly look at North Carolina college football

November 14, 2025 Shawn Krest Article, College Football, Sports
NC State linebacker Caden Fordham (1) lays a hit on ECU running back Marlon Gunn Jr. (Stan Gilliliand for North State Journal)

In the first full-schedule week of college football for Division I and II, North Carolina teams went 9-16. We have one fewer team in the state with the closing of St. Andrews.

North Carolina’s record: 9-17 (10-17 overall)

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

  1. Johnson C. Smith: 45-9 over Morehouse in the Essence HBCU Classic

  2. NC State: 24-17 over ECU

  3. App State: 34-11 at Charlotte in the Duke’s Mayo Classic

  4. Gardner Webb: 52-45 at Western Carolina

  5. Catawba: 45-13 over Ferrum

  6. Wingate: 30-21 over UNC Pembroke

  7. Chowan, 28-14 over Elizabeth City State

  8. Duke: 45-17 over Elon

  9. Wake Forest: 10-9 over Kennesaw State

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

  1. ECU: 24-17 at NC State

  2. NC A&T: 24-21 at Tennessee State

  3. Winston-Salem State: 20-17 to Tuskegee in the Red Tails Classic

  4. Western Carolina: 52-45 to Gardner-Webb

  5. UNC Pembroke: 30-21 at Wingate

  6. Campbell: 31-20 at Rhode Island

  7. NC Central: 27-10 to New Hampshire

  8. Fayetteville State: 10-0 to Benedict in the Labor Day Classic

  9. Elizabeth City State: 28-14 at Chowan

10.   Lenoir-Rhyne: 48-21 at West Florida

11.   Elon: 45-17 at Duke

12.   Livingstone: 39-10 at Charleston

13.   Charlotte: 34-11 to App State

14.   Barton: 35-7 to Virginia State

15.   Davidson: 51-14 to Georgetown

16.   Shaw: 51-7 to Albany State

  1. UNC: 48-14 to TCU

Yet to play: NC Wesleyan, Mars Hill, Brevard, Greensboro, Guilford, Methodist

Winning records (9):

NC State, App State, Gardner Webb, Duke, Wake Forest, Catawba, Chowan, Wingate, JC Smith all 1-0

At .500 (6)

NC Central: 1-1

NC Wesleyan, Brevard, Greensboro, Guilford, Mars Hill, Methodist: 0-0

Losing records (16):

UNC, ECU, NC A&T, Western Carolina, Campbell, Elon, Charlotte, Barton, Davidson, Elizabeth City, Fayetteville State, UNC Pembroke, Lenoir-Rhyne, Livingstone, Winston-Salem State, Shaw, all 0-1

State title standings: Duke, NC State, App, Chowan, Wingate and G-W all got in-state wins

1-0         Duke, App State, Gardner-Webb, NC State, Chowan, Wingate

0-1         Elon, Charlotte, ECU, Western Carolina, Elizabeth City, UNC Pembroke

State title games this week:

Greensboro at Guilford in the Soup Bowl

Western Carolina at Wake Forest,

UNC at Charlotte,

Campbell at ECU,

Davidson at Elon

Fayetteville State at UNC Pembroke

Winston-Salem State at Mars Hill

Home openers: NC teams went 6-5 in home openers this week.

Winners: NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, Catawba, Chowan, Wingate

Losers: Western Carolina, Davidson, NC Central, Barton, UNC

Home openers scheduled for this week:

App State (Lindenwood), Charlotte (UNC), ECU (Campbell), Elon (Davidson), UNC Pembroke (Fayetteville State), JC Smith (Valdosta State), Mars Hill (W-S State), Brevard (Kentucky Christian), Guilford (Greensboro), NC Wesleyan (Averett on Thursday)

Other Week 2 games (ranked by difficulty level: most to least)

Gardner-Webb travels to Georgia Tech

NC A&T travels to UCF

Duke hosts Illinois

NC State hosts UVA in the first non-conference game between the ACC rivals since Nov. 6, 1948

Lenoir-Rhyne travels to Tusculum

NC Central travels to Old Dominion

Elizabeth City travels to Hampton

Shaw travels to Ferrum

Catawba travels to Emory and Henry

Barton travels to West Virginia State

Methodist travels to Shenandoah

Livingstone travels to Allen

Wingate hosts Bluefield State

Chowan hosts West Alabama

All-state performances for Week 1:

Quarterback: Darian Mensah, Duke, 27-for-34 for 389 yards, 3 TD

Running backs: Chris Mosley, NC Central, 106 yards for his second 100-yard game of the season, Nate Hampton, G-W, 132 yards, 4 touchdowns

Receiver: Cooper Barkate, Duke, 5 catches for 117 yards, Jaden Barnes, App State, 6 catches for 134 yards, 1 TD.

Defensive line: Thomas Johnson, NC Central, 6 tackles, 3 solo, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 TFL, 1 QB hit, Vincent Anthony, Duke, 6 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 pass breakup

Linebacker: Dameon Wilson, ECU, 8 tackles, 4 solos, 2.5 TFL, Caden Fordham, NC State, 11 tackles, 5 solos, 1 sack, 2 TFL

Defensive back: D.J. Estes, NC Central , 7 tackles, 4 solo, 1 sack, 2.5 TFL, 1 pass breakup, Evan Simons, Catawba, 9 tackles, 5 solo, 1 sack, 4 TFL, 1 forced fumble

Special teams:  Que’Sean Brown, Duke, 78-yard punt-return touchdown to go with 93 receiving yards

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