COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 12:
ECU, Wake Forest, JC Smith, Wingate Coaches
Among DG’s ACC/NC “Fun Facts & Shout-Outs”
(Weekly Video = Posted At Bottom Soon)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Nov. 18, 2025)
While the focus of our “This Week In College Football” show is forward-looking as often as possible, we always take a glance back at the previous weekend in college football, too, and sometimes we’ll offer some quick mentions to those making impactful headlines on the gridiron, especially in the Atlantic Coast Conference and/or across North Carolina.
With that in mind, below are our Week 12 “Fun Facts and Shout-Outs,” brought to you by our good friends at Jimmy’s bar and King Neptune restaurant in Wrightsville Beach.
Jimmy’s has a full bar, nightly drink specials and live music 365 days a year(!). (It’s a great place to watch a game, too.) Right next door, King Neptune has become one of the best restaurants in the entire greater Wilmington area.
Week 12 “Fun Fact #1″
Fun Fact: Although the state of North Carolina is far more famous for national championships in college basketball and many other sports, it does occasionally produce national champions and other high-ranking contenders in college football.
While it’s still waiting for its first FBS-level national title on the gridiron, the Bold North State can claim three FCS national championships, thanks to the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Under legendary coach Jerry Moore, App State won back-to-back-to-back national crowns in 2005, 2006 and 2007. These days, of course, the Mountaineers are competing in the FBS ranks.
At the FBS level, the only in-state schools ever to come close to a national championship are Duke and North Carolina, and each of those examples came before the creation of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels both played in the Southern Conference at the time.
In 1938, #3 Duke was 9-0 under legendary coach Wallace Wade before losing 7-3 (on a late touchdown pass) to #7 Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. In 1941, #2 Duke was 9-0 under Wade before losing 20-16 to #12 Oregon State in the famous Rose Bowl that had to be played in Durham because of World War Two. In 1948, #3 UNC was 9-0-1 under coach Carl Snavely before losing 14-6 to #5 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
In Division Two, the closest anyone in our state has come to a national championship has been competing in the national title game. In 2012, Winston-Salem State went 14-0 under coach Connell Maynor before falling to Valdosta State in the title contest. In 2013, Lenoir-Rhyne went 13-1 under coach Mike Houston before falling to Northwest Missouri State in the final.
Lastly, our state does have a rich tradition when it comes to HBCU national championships on the gridiron. North Carolina A&T, NC Central, Winston-Salem State, Fayetteville State and Shaw University all claim one or more national title in that regard.
The most recent example was in 2022, when coach Trei Oliver led the NC Central Eagles to a victory over Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl, which has been considered the HBCU national championship game since its inception in 2015.
Moving on to this week’s Shout-Outs …
#1—Shout-out to first-year East Carolina head coach Blake Harrell and the Pirates.
Harrell is now a stellar 12-4 since taking the reins in Greenville midway through last season, and one of his best victories as a head coach came last Saturday, in the Pirates’ 31-27 win over Memphis at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
The Tigers were 8-2 heading into that game, they had a very dangerous quarterback in Brendon Lewis, and they led 17-10 at halftime.
Then the Pirates outscored Memphis 21-10 in the second half to claim the victory and remain in contention for an invitation to the American Conference championship game, something they have not yet achieved in their 12 years as a member of that league.
Quarterback Katin Houser, running back London Montgomery, wide receiver Brock Spalding, wide receiver Payton Mangrum, defensive tackle Zion Wilson, linebacker Samuel Dankah, safety Ja’Marley Riddle, all-purpose guy Mike Wright Jr. and kicker Nick Mazzie were among the Pirates’ standouts in their big win over the Tigers.
#2—Shout-out to first-year Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert, Wake defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton and the Demon Deacons.
In the Deacons’ 28-12 victory over UNC last Saturday, they limited the Tar Heels to a measly 257 total yards.
Wake is second in the ACC in scoring defense this season, behind only nationally ranked Miami, at 19 points per game. In the Deacons’ seven victories this year, they have limited their opponents to an average of only 12 points per game.
With a 7-3 record and regular-season games against only Delaware (an FCS opponent) and 5-5 Duke remaining, Dickert — during his first year in Winston-Salem — has put himself in position to make a run what what would be only the third season of 10 wins or more in Wake football history.
Jim Grobe did it once. Dave Clawson did it once. If Dickert can lead his team to victories over Delaware, Duke and a bowl opponent, he would join those two legendary coaches in the history books.
Huge shout-outs to Hazelton, defensive tackle Mateen Ibirogba, defensive end Langston Hardy, linebacker Dylan Hazen, safety Nick Andersen, nickel back Davaughn Patterson and the rest of that fantastic Wake defense for an absolutely brilliant season.
#3—Shout-out to fourth-year Johnson C Smith head coach Maurice Flowers and the Golden Bulls.
A JCSU alum, Flowers has taken a long-downtrodden program — which had only one CIAA football championship in its first 99 years as a member of that league — to its greatest heights this season.
The Golden Bulls beat two-time defending champion Virginia Union 45-21 last Saturday in the CIAA championship game at Durham County Stadium. During the regular season, Virginia Union had gone 8-0 in league play, had won its conference games by an average score of 43-14, and had defeated JCSU 28-10 head-to-head in Richmond.
Now Flowers has the Bulls at 10-1 on the season (that’s the most victories in any single campaign in program history), they’re ranked #11 nationally (that’s the highest poll ranking in program history) and they’re headed to the Division Two playoffs (another all-time program first). That’s about as good as it gets, especially at a school that hadn’t won its own conference since 1969.
Flowers, who was a star quarterback at East Mecklenburg High School — right there in Charlotte — in the mid-1980s, went on to play QB for Johnson C Smith — also right there in Charlotte — in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He then spent about 25 years working his way up the high school and college coaching ranks, including assistant coaching stops at JCSU, Shaw, Campbell and Fayetteville State, before getting the Fort Valley State head coaching job prior to the 2020 season.
After an abbreviated COVID campaign, then a full year at Fort Valley State in 2021, Flowers took the top job at JC Smith. His records with the Golden Bulls have gone from 2-7 to 7-4 to 8-2 and now 10-1 this season, with the possibility of adding some playoff icing to that tasty cake.
The #11 Bulls are considered the favorite as they host #24 Frostburg State (Sat., 1 p.m., ESPN+) at the 4,500-seat Irwin Belk Complex on the JCSU campus in Charlotte, in the opening round of the D2 playoffs.
Frostburg State, champion of the Mountain East Conference, is 9-2 and has given up only 19 points per game this season. The Golden Bulls rank ninth nationally in scoring defense, at only 17 points per game.
Among the key players to watch for JCSU are the following first-team All-CIAA honorees: quarterback Kelvin Durham, running back Bobby Smith, wide receivers Brian Lane and Deandre Proctor, return specialist Isaiah Perry, CIAA Lineman of the Year Jamari Mason, defensive tackle Cadricus Stanley, linebacker Vincent Hill and defensive back Daryl Taybron.
Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Flowers is a CIAA champion, a D2 playoffs participant and the North Carolina Sports Network’s 2025 “Bold North State Coach of the Year.”
#4—Shout-out to second-year Wingate head coach Rashaan Jordan and the Bulldogs.
The only other Bold North state team that’s competing in a playoff bracket at any level of NCAA football this season, the Bulldogs earned their way into the 32-team Division Two competition for the second year in a row.
They won the South Atlantic Conference championship a year ago, to grab that league’s automatic playoff bid, and they earned an at-large invitation this time, thanks to their 9-2 record, which included quality wins over Catawba, Emory & Henry and UNC Pembroke.
Like Johnson C Smith, Wingate gets to host its first-round game on Saturday, as the unranked Bulldogs welcome #23 Benedict to Irwin Belk Stadium (1 p.m., ESPN+).
Benedict is 9-2 and ranks ninth in the nation in scoring defense, at 17 points per game. Wingate ranks 15th nationally in scoring offense, at around 38 points per game.
Among the standouts for the Bulldogs this season are dual-threat quarterback Elijah Holmes, running back Xavier Pugh, wide receiver Jaylen Himes, return specialist Jake Snapp, defensive tackle Mandjou Berte, defensive ends Eli Lipscomb and Guy Taylor, linebackers Jaquan Edwards and Ryan Green, and cornerback Brandon Perry.
