North Carolina Central beats North Carolina A&T 30-22

Team pages: North Carolina A&T · North Carolina Central

North Carolina A&T0-322
North Carolina Central2-130Final
Sat, Sep 12 · O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium, Durham, N.C. · Crowd 11,632ESPN+

North Carolina Central beat North Carolina A&T 30-22.

We had North Carolina Central favored. It won.

Next: North Carolina A&T lost to Campbell 42-14, Sat Sep 19

Next: North Carolina Central lost to Gardner-Webb 44-20, Sat Sep 19

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave North Carolina Central an 88% chance, and the closing betting line (North Carolina Central was a 24.5-point favorite) put it at 98%.

North Carolina Central led by 10 after the first quarter and by 9 at the half.

Q1Q2Q3Q40+16+8

Favored the whole way: North Carolina Central never fell below 95%.

North Carolina A&T never had better than a 5% chance.

FinalNorth Carolina Central 30-22 North Carolina A&TNorth Carolina Central wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.
50%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q496% at halfWon30-22Scores
50%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q496% at halfWon30-22Scores
50%10%25%Q1Q2Q3Q44% at halfLowest 0%Lost22-30Scores
50%10%25%Q1Q2Q3Q44% at halfLowest 0%Lost22-30Scores

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

North Carolina Central’s chance to win after every play.
How to read this chartStarts from the pregame line (North Carolina Central -24.5), at 97% for North Carolina Central (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores.

Every drive

North Carolina Central scored on 5 of its 13 drives; North Carolina A&T on 3 of its 13.

North Carolina Central’s drives are teal, North Carolina A&T’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

own goalgoal lineQ1North Carolina Central: Touchdown, from 75 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina A&T: Punt, from 82 yards out to 92PuntNorth Carolina Central: Field goal, from 58 yards out to 20Field goalNorth Carolina A&T: Punt, from 75 yards out to 39PuntNorth Carolina Central: Punt, from 92 yards out to 50PuntQ2North Carolina A&T: Fumble, from 85 yards out to 70FumbleNorth Carolina Central: Touchdown, from 30 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina A&T: Touchdown, from 68 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina Central: Punt, from 79 yards out to 76PuntNorth Carolina A&T: Punt, from 65 yards out to 54PuntNorth Carolina Central: Touchdown, from 97 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina A&T: Touchdown, from 65 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina Central: End of half, from 67 yards out to 68End of halfQ3North Carolina A&T: Fumble, from 75 yards out to 55FumbleNorth Carolina Central: Touchdown, from 45 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina A&T: Interception, from 67 yards out to 53InterceptionNorth Carolina Central: Punt, from 57 yards out to 49PuntNorth Carolina A&T: Punt, from 71 yards out to 73PuntNorth Carolina Central: Punt, from 75 yards out to 66PuntNorth Carolina A&T: Punt, from 80 yards out to 90PuntNorth Carolina Central: Turned over on downs, from 60 yards out to 36DownsQ4North Carolina A&T: Punt, from 64 yards out to 47PuntNorth Carolina Central: Punt, from 80 yards out to 87PuntNorth Carolina A&T: Touchdown, from 35 yards out to 0TouchdownNorth Carolina Central: Punt, from 75 yards out to 69PuntNorth Carolina A&T: Interception, from 70 yards out to 18Interception

Box score

North Carolina Central 30, North Carolina A&T 22

North Carolina A&T covered +24.5 by 16.5. The total, 52, stayed under 55.5.

North Carolina A&T leaders

  • Passing Kevin White 21 of 44, 259 yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
  • Rushing Kevin White 13 for 42 yds; J.T. Smith Jr. 11 for 33 yds
  • Receiving Elijah Kennedy 7 for 112 yds, 2 TD; Jayvonne Dillard 3 for 47 yds

North Carolina Central leaders

  • Passing Nelson Layne 13 of 19, 146 yds, 1 TD
  • Rushing Plez Lawrence 22 for 210 yds, 3 TD; Zion Dobson 7 for 14 yds
  • Receiving Mehki Wall 2 for 31 yds, 1 TD; Nasim Cosby 1 for 29 yds

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last two games

North Carolina A&T · 0-2

Rated 263rd in our preseason ratings, 264th now.

Two straight losses.

L 10-59 @ Georgia State #154 of 668

lost by 49 as a 28.5-point underdog

North Carolina A&T lost 10-59 at Georgia State. Chance to win started at 3%, low under 1%, high 4%.

L 7-17 vs Morgan State #223 of 668

lost by 10 as a 7-point underdog

North Carolina A&T lost 7-17 vs Morgan State. Chance to win started at 39%, low under 1%, high 73%.

Last two games

North Carolina Central · 1-1

Rated 146th in our preseason ratings, 167th now.

1-1 in its last two — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

W 27-6 vs Elizabeth City State #341 of 668

L 30-42 @ Texas Southern #205 of 668

lost by 12 as a 10.5-point favorite

North Carolina Central lost 30-42 at Texas Southern. Chance to win started at 70%, low under 1%, high 97%.

Week by week

North Carolina Central

Wk 1: L 30-42 at Texas Southern▼12Texas SouthernWk 1: W 27-6 vs Elizabeth City State▲21Elizabeth City State
  • Wk 1Lat Texas Southern30-42
  • Wk 1Wvs Elizabeth City State27-6

North Carolina A&T

Wk 1: L 7-17 vs Morgan State▼10Morgan StateWk 1: L 10-59 at Georgia State▼49Georgia State
  • Wk 1Lvs Morgan State7-17
  • Wk 1Lat Georgia State10-59

The series

The series is tied 10-10

20 meetings since 2003 · North Carolina Central has won the last 4

North Carolina Central wonNorth Carolina A&T won2003: North Carolina A&T by 252004: North Carolina A&T by 12007: North Carolina Central by 52008: North Carolina Central by 12009: North Carolina A&T by 62010: North Carolina Central by 112011: North Carolina A&T by 102012: North Carolina A&T by 62013: North Carolina A&T by 282014: North Carolina Central by 72015: North Carolina Central by 52016: North Carolina Central by 212017: North Carolina A&T by 142018: North Carolina A&T by 452019: North Carolina A&T by 542021: North Carolina A&T by 232022: North Carolina Central by 152023: North Carolina Central by 142024: North Carolina Central by 422025: North Carolina Central by 4220032025
  • 2025North Carolina Central 62-20
  • 2024North Carolina Central 66-24
  • 2023North Carolina Central 30-16
  • 2022 · neutral siteNorth Carolina Central 28-13
  • 2021North Carolina A&T 37-14

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Our model and the betting line don’t fully agree on North Carolina Central’s chances here.

50-50Model · 88%Line · 98%North Carolina A&TNorth Carolina Central

North Carolina Central favored by 24.5 · Total 55.5

How games like this usually go

North Carolina Central by 24.5, and it went to form

50%90%Q1Q2Q3Q450%90%Q1Q2Q3Q4

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 411 games since 2025 with a favorite of 21.5 points or more.

The market

The books’ cut: 5.3%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

Home-field advantage: Bottom third of FBS.

0% at home, 0% on the road against FBS opponents (0-0 home, 0-6 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -2.9 at home vs. away over 43 games — inside the ±10.5 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 49 miles to get here.

Where next