College football week 2: UNC, NC State clinch wins in second game of season; Duke falls to Illinois

Triangle teams are gearing up for their second games of the season.

Sunday, September 7, 2025

'The Starting Line' ABC11 College Football Special: Full Episode

College football season has kicked off with a bang, and all three Triangle teams -- North Carolina, NC State, and Duke took to the field on Saturday.

NC State Wolfpack

CJ Bailey rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as North Carolina State defeated visiting Virginia 35-31 on Saturday in a non-league clash between two Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

Bailey, the sophomore quarterback for the Wolfpack (2-0), completed 16-of-22 passes for 200 yards and rushed for 44 yards on six carries. N.C. State's offense was also bolstered by Hollywood Smothers, who rumbled ahead for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Virginia (1-1) was powered by J'Mari Taylor's 150 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. Chandler Morris completed 30-of-43 passes for 257 yards and a score.

After falling behind by 10 points, N.C. State's offense sprang to life in the second half, outscoring Virginia 21-7 in the third quarter thanks to two rushing touchdowns from Smothers and one by Bailey. The Wolfpack held the Cavaliers scoreless in the final frame, and got a crucial stop on fourth-and-1 on the 8-yard line with 6:39 to play, paving the way for N.C. State to drain more than four minutes off the clock.

The win was sealed when N.C. State's Cian Slone intercepted a desperate throw by Morris in the end zone.

The Wolfpack (1-0) had a strong start before holding on late to beat East Carolina (0-1) 24-17 on Thursday, Aug. 28.

Bailey passed for 318 yards on 24-of-34 attempts (70.6%) with one touchdown and one interception. He also carried the ball seven times for 21 yards and one rushing touchdown. Smothers carried the ball 22 times for 76 yards and scored one touchdown, adding four receptions for 30 yards. Grimes put up 121 yards on four catches with one touchdown.

Virginia defeated Coastal Carolina 48-7 on Saturday, Aug. 30. Morris led Virginia with 264 yards on 19-of-27 passing (70.4%) for two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also carried the ball five times for 50 yards. Noah Vaughn carried the ball 10 times for 45 yards. Ross recorded 124 yards on seven catches with one touchdown.

Next game

NC State plays at Wake Forest on Sept. 11.

Duke Blue Devils

Luke Altmyer threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns and No. 11 Illinois capitalized on a series of mistakes by Duke to beat the Blue Devils 45-19 on Saturday for a road win against a power-conference opponent.

Kaden Feagin, Hank Beatty and Ca'Lil Valentine ran for scores, while Beatty also had a huge receiving day with eight catches for 128 yards for the Fighting Illini (2-0). Illinois led by just one at halftime but asserted itself from there and outscored Duke 31-6 in what turned into a dominating finish.

The key, though was Illinois' opportunism in pouncing on every Duke mistake when the game was close - and boy, there were plenty.

Duke (1-1) committed five turnovers, notably a muffed punt deep in its own end to set up a short field on Illinois' first touchdown and Darian Mensah losing a red-zone fumble in the first half.

The miscues also included a penalty for having two players in the game wearing a No. 8 jersey as Illinois punted on a three-and-out to open the second half. That led to a first down on a drive the Illini would ultimately take to the end zone, with Altmyer's 4-yard scoring throw to Justin Bowick for a 21-13 lead that ultimately proved to be merely the start of Illinois' surge.

Mensah threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns for Duke. Both went to Andrel Anthony, including a spectacular grab in the back of the end zone with Anthony getting his right toe down barely inbounds 8 seconds before halftime to make it 14-13.

The Blue Devils (1-0) prevailed against Elon on Thursday, Aug. 28, pulling away to win 45-17.

Mensah threw for 389 yards on 27-of-34 attempts (79.4%) with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Castle had 69 rushing yards on three carries, adding two receptions for eight yards. Barkate had five receptions for 117 yards.

Illinois won 52-3 over Western Illinois on Friday, Aug. 29. Altmyer led Illinois with 217 yards on 17-of-21 passing (81.0%) for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Laughery had 101 rushing yards on nine carries and two touchdowns, adding two receptions for 22 yards. Beatty had five receptions for 108 yards.

Next game

Duke plays at Tulane on Sept. 13.

North Carolina Tar Heels

Gio Lopez threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Chris Culliver on the first possession, Davion Gause ran for a 12-yard score and Bill Belichick got his first win as a college head coach as North Carolina defeated Charlotte 20-3 on a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon.

Lopez completed 17 of 25 passes for 155 yards for the Tar Heels (1-1).

North Carolina's defense held Charlotte (0-2) to 271 yards and forced two turnovers.

North Carolina lured Belichick to Chapel Hill with a five-year, $50 million million contract to boost its athletic profile, but his debut in front of a national audience on Monday night was a disaster as the Tar Heels got blown out 48-14 at home by TCU. It was the most points ever allowed by a UNC team in a season opener.

It raised some early questions about whether the 73-year-old Belichick was capable of winning at this level, but his Tar Heels responded with a solid overall performance.

North Carolina started fast with Lopez completing two short passes before firing a deep ball along the left sideline to Culliver, who beat his man by 5 yards for the easy touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead.

But like Week 1, when the Tar Heels scored on their first possession before going into an offensive funk, the early fireworks faded fast.

The Heels offense floundered for much of the first half until Gause broke free off left tackle and scampered 12 yards for the touchdown and a 17-3 lead with 19 seconds left before halftime.

Charlotte had a chance to make it interesting early in the third quarter, but wide receiver E. Jai Mason dropped a catchable pass in the end zone on fourth-and-6 after quarterback Conner Harrell used his athleticism to escape the pocket.

After the play, Harrell put both hands on top of his helmet in disbelief, lamenting the magnitude of the missed opportunity.

Harrell finished 17 of 29 for 140 yards.