Belichicks, QBs, ECU, Duke, D2 Lead DG’s “Fun Facts & Shout-Outs” (Week 11) – Ncsportsnetwork.com

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 11:

Belichicks, ECU, Duke, JC Smith, UNCP, QBs
Among DG’s ACC/NC “Fun Facts & Shout-Outs”
(Weekly Video = Posted At Bottom Soon)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(final up to date Nov. 10, 2025)

While the main target of our “This Week In College Football” present is forward-looking as typically as attainable, we at all times take a look again on the earlier weekend in school soccer, too, and generally we’ll supply some fast mentions to these making impactful headlines on the gridiron, particularly within the Atlantic Coast Conference and/or throughout North Carolina.

With that in thoughts, beneath are our Week 11 “Fun Facts and Shout-Outs,” delivered to you by our good pals at Jimmy’s bar and King Neptune restaurant in Wrightsville Beach.

Jimmy’s has a full bar, nightly drink specials and reside music one year a yr(!). (It’s an incredible place to look at a recreation, too.) Right subsequent door, King Neptune has change into among the best eating places in the whole higher Wilmington space.

Week 11 “Fun Fact #1″

Fun Fact: Here in mid-November, the state of North Carolina nonetheless has 4 groups that stay firmly within the operating for a convention championship.

The listing consists of Duke within the Atlantic Coast Conference, East Carolina within the American Conference, and a pair of Division Two squads which might be truly enjoying of their respective convention title video games this Saturday: Johnson C Smith (CIAA) and UNC Pembroke (Conference Carolinas). Each of these latter two contests this weekend additionally comes with an computerized bid to the Division Two playoffs on the road.

The different 28 NCAA soccer groups in our state both have been mathematically eradicated from their convention title image or would require a really extraordinary mixture of occasions to finish up with their league’s championship crown this season.

As a fast reminder of the rarefied air we’re exploring with this week’s Fun Fact, needless to say solely one of the Bold North State’s 32 NCAA soccer applications introduced residence a convention championship final yr.

At the Division Two degree, head coach Rashaan Jordan led Wingate to the South Atlantic Conference title in his first season main that program, after a few years because the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator. Wingate has had one other robust season this yr, at 8-2 heading into its regular-season finale, so the Division Two playoffs stay an excellent chance for the Bulldogs, however they have been unable to repeat as South Atlantic champs.

One extra sobering reminder on this matter is that this yr’s in-state contenders — once more, Duke, ECU, Johnson C Smith and UNC Pembroke — don’t precisely have historical past on their aspect.

The Blue Devils’ most up-to-date ACC title got here method again in 1989, underneath legendary coach Steve Spurrier. The Pirates’ most up-to-date championships occurred underneath coach Skip Holtz in back-to-back seasons, 2008 and 2009, after they have been nonetheless members of a lower-profile league, Conference USA. Johnson C Smith has been competing within the CIAA for 100 consecutive years however has just one soccer championship as a member of that league, again in 1969. Finally, UNC Pembroke has by no means gained a convention championship in soccer, in any league, though it needs to be famous that the Braves have competed as an unbiased for a big majority of the seasons they’ve performed since restarting their gridiron program again in 2007.

All of that mentioned, right here’s the underside line for all 4 of our state’s remaining contenders: Your recreation this Saturday is a must-win situation in each sense of that phrase. If Duke loses to Virginia, coach Manny Diaz and the Blue Devils will fall out of the ACC race. If the Pirates lose to Memphis, their hopes for a visit to the American Conference title recreation shall be extinguished.

The different two contenders, Johnson C Smith and UNC Pembroke, have an opportunity to truly increase a championship trophy this Saturday. Best needs to fourth-year JC Smith coach Maurice Flowers and the Golden Bulls, in addition to third-year UNCP coach Mark Hall and the Braves, as they attempt to make historical past this weekend.

The 9-1 Golden Bulls, who’re making their first CIAA title recreation look since 1972, would be the underdog in opposition to 9-1 Virginia Union on Saturday afternoon at Durham County Stadium (3 p.m., HBCU Go).

The Panthers gained the league championship in each 2023 and 2024, and so they went an ideal 8-0 in convention play through the common season. When Johnson C Smith and Virginia Union met through the common season, in late September, the Panthers posted a 28-10 victory on their residence area in Richmond.

This rematch shall be performed at a impartial web site, in Durham, which is a couple of 150-mile journey for every group. If you head to Durham County Stadium for this one or catch it on the HBCU Go stream, the Golden Bulls to look at embody quarterback Kelvin Durham, operating again Bobby Smith, broad receivers Brian Lane and Deandre Proctor, return man Isaiah Perry, and linebacker Vincent Hill.

Last however not least, 8-2 UNC Pembroke shall be enjoying a real highway recreation when the Braves go to 6-4 North Greenville within the Conference Carolinas Bowl.

This is a rematch of an Oct. 18 recreation, when the Trailblazers handed UNCP its solely lack of the season in convention play. The remaining rating in that one was 20-7, and the North Greenville protection completely dominated that contest, posting 5 sacks, creating 4 turnovers and holding the Braves to simply 306 yards of complete offense.

UNC Pembroke’s prime gamers embody dual-threat quarterback Tre Robinson, operating again Joel Felder, broad receivers JaQuan Albright, Malik Brown and Que Kennedy, linebacker Jadin Baptist and defensive again Donovan Woods.

Moving on to this week’s Shout-Outs …

#1—Shout-outs to first-year UNC head coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, Bill’s son, who’ve helped resurrect the Tar Heels’ season by getting the group’s protection to play at a lofty degree not seen in Chapel Hill for the reason that latter years of the Butch Davis period, 15 years in the past.

Coming out of an essential October stretch by which Carolina had two open weeks in a three-week interval — which means most observe time with out video games — the Tar Heels’ protection has put collectively 4 consecutive excellent efforts, in opposition to Cal (shut loss), Virginia (additional time defeat), Syracuse (convincing win) and Stanford (slender victory).

In these 16 quarters of regulation soccer, the UNC protection held its opponents to simply 12 offensive factors per recreation. In their previous three video games mixed, together with one in opposition to a UVa squad that had been averaging an ACC-best 40 factors per recreation, the Heels yielded solely three complete touchdowns throughout regulation play.

Led by junior edge rusher Melkart Abou-Jaoude (a Delaware switch), sophomore linebacker Khmori House (a Washington switch), senior linebacker Andrew Simpson (a Boise State switch) and junior nickel again Kaleb Cost (a holdover from the Mack Brown period), UNC’s protection is permitting solely 4.77 yards per play this season, which ranks twentieth among the many 136 FBS groups.

Among the youthful UNC defenders who’ve improved considerably through the course of the season are sophomore edge rusher Tyler Thompson, sophomore cornerback Jaiden Patterson and redshirt freshman security Greg Smith.

The Tar Heels additionally at the moment are as much as fifth within the ACC in each scoring protection (21.3 factors per recreation) and complete protection (321 yards per recreation).

It shall be fascinating to see how UNC’s protection will fare later this month in rivalry video games in opposition to two of the ACC’s finest passers — Duke’s Darian Mensah and NC State’s CJ Bailey — however within the meantime Carolina followers lastly have a soccer story value celebrating.

#2—Shout-outs to 3 guys who deserve the majority of the Bold North State’s quarterback highlight this season, for various causes: Duke’s Darian Mensah, NC State’s CJ Bailey and Western Carolina’s Taron Dickens.

If you requested NFL scouts, proper now, to call the ten finest skilled quarterback prospects in all of school soccer, two of the ten could be proper right here within the Triangle, with Mensah in Durham and Bailey in Raleigh.

Keep in thoughts that every one three ACC faculties within the Triangle have a quarterback beginning within the NFL proper now: UNC’s Drake Maye with the New England Patriots, Duke’s Daniel Jones with the Indianapolis Colts, and NC State’s Jacoby Brissett with the Arizona Cardinals. All three faculties have no less than one backup QB in The League proper now, too.

Now Mensah is #2 nationally for the Blue Devils, with 310 passing yards per recreation, and his 24 landing passes rank fourth nationally and are simply two behind Heisman Trophy frontrunner Fernando Mendoza, who’s performed in yet one more recreation for Indiana this season than Mensah has for the Devils. Mensah, who’s regarded by some professional scouts because the finest pure passer in school soccer, ranks fifth nationally in passing effectivity thus far this yr.

NC State’s Bailey, in the meantime, is sixteenth nationally, with 268 passing yards per recreation for the Wolfpack. He joins Mensah on the professional scouts’ best-passers listing, which additionally contains Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, Southern Cal’s Jayden Maiava, Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, amongst others.

Last, however not least, is Western Carolina’s Dickens. You’d want Charles Dickens to give you a greater story than the one this man has been writing with the Catamounts this season.

A 5-foot-11, 180-pound, dual-threat QB that Western head coach Kerwin Bell signed out of Miami’s Northwestern High School three years in the past, Dickens is a redshirt sophomore who — right here in his first full season because the Catamounts’ starter — has led one of the prolific offenses in all of school soccer, with some numbers that rank #1 nationally no matter division.

Despite enjoying in solely seven video games this season — he missed Western’s first three contests, all losses, due to eligibility points — Dickens leads the whole thing of Division One soccer with 33 passing touchdowns, which means a mean of virtually 5 TD tosses per recreation, with solely two interceptions.

In Dickens’ seven begins this season, the Catamounts are averaging a shocking 42 factors per recreation. Meanwhile, though he nonetheless hasn’t but performed in sufficient video games to qualify among the many official nationwide leaders, Dickens has thrown for 393 passing yards per recreation this season, which is by far the best common for any quarterback in any division of main school soccer this season.

Were it not for a missed chip-shot area objective final week, when the Catamounts fell 49-47 to Mercer in Cullowhee, Dickens’ wonderful story additionally possible would have included Western Carolina’s first-ever Southern Conference soccer championship.

Dickens led his group again from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit in opposition to an impressive Mercer protection and set his group up for the game-winning area objective in opposition to the Bears with one remaining, 64-yard drive on the finish of regulation. It actually wasn’t his fault that the Catamounts didn’t convert that remaining three-pointer, from simply 33 yards out, because the clock expired.

The backside line: While North Carolina might not have a whole lot of championship-caliber school soccer groups this season, the Bold North State does have a handful of actually wonderful quarterbacks, and people three greatest names — Mensah, Bailey and Dickens — all have two extra years of school eligibility remaining, in 2026 and 2027.

#3—Finally, shout-outs to a handful of different in-state quarterbacks who’ve performed particular issues this season.

East Carolina’s Katin Houser, a redshirt junior we’ve talked about all season on this present, is #13 nationally within the FBS ranks, with 274 passing yards per recreation. He’s an enormous a part of why the Pirates nonetheless have an opportunity at a particular season.

NC Central’s Walker Harris, a redshirt senior, is #5 nationally on the FCS degree, with 273 passing yards per recreation. A extremely productive left-hander, Harris was a prep star at Heritage High School, proper right here in Wake Forest, N.C., however he was largely a backup for his first 4 seasons at NCCU. Now his 21 passing touchdowns for the Eagles thus far this season rank ninth in the whole FCS ranks.

Lastly, within the Division Two ranks, Catawba senior Preston Brown, Johnson C Smith senior Kelvin Durham, Mars Hill senior JR Martin, Winston-Salem State junior Daylin Lee, Wingate sophomore Elijah Holmes and UNC Pembroke sophomore Tre Robinson even have had very robust seasons at an important place on the sector.