North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry

North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry
North Carolina A&T Aggies	North Carolina Central Eagles

NC A&T

NCCU

Locations in North Carolina

The North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry is an ongoing series of athletic competitions between North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and North Carolina Central University, both of which are located in North Carolina.

The intensity of the rivalry is driven by the proximity of the two schools, as both are only 55 miles apart via U.S. Interstate 85, the size of the two schools, as North Carolina A&T is one of the largest Historically Black College and University in the nation^[1] and North Carolina Central is the second largest in the state, and the fact that both schools are competing for many of the same students and athletes. Fans of Both Universities tend to place great emphasis on this rivalry.

Football

Football
Originated	1924
Series	NC A&T leads 49–34–5
Highest Margin of Victory	NC A&T 48, NCCU 0 (48 Pts) October 20, 1991
Highest Scoring Game	NC A&T 38, NCCU 31 ^OT (69 Pts) August 31, 1996
Most Recent Game	NCCU 21, NC A&T 16 November 21, 2015

The most prominent sport in the rivalry is football. The two teams have been competing against each other since 1924. The series between the two schools began with the inaugural game ending in a 13–13 tie. Since 1924, the rivalry game has shifted from North Carolina Central and North Carolina A&T's respective campuses. Under the leadership of coach Lonnie P. Byarm, the Aggies began a 4-game winning streak that lasted from 1925–28. The 1930s saw a balance of power in the series as the Eagles, led by head coaches Bryd D. Crudup (1929–31) and Leo Townsend (1932–35), would even out the series at 4 wins, 4 losses, and 1 tie, by the end of the 1933 season.

A fight during the 1950s compelled the game to be moved to Wallace Wade Stadium on the campus of Duke University. It was at Wallace Wade, that a man drove his car onto the field during the game and parked at the 50-yard line.^[2] The series record stands right now with the Aggies of North Carolina A&T leading with a record of 46–33–5.

Rise of the Classic

North Carolina A&T won the first Aggie-Eagle Classic game in 1994, 38–9. North Carolina A&T held a 10–2 edge in the meetings since the intrastate rivalry moved from a home-and-home scenario to an annual neutral site game in Carter-Finley Stadium in 1994. North Carolina Central would not earn their first win of the series until 2002, with a 33–30 overtime win. There are two instances in the series in which the losing team was unable to score: The first was in 2001 when the Aggies of North Carolina A&T won with a 22–0 victory and the other was in a 25–0 2003 win in which the Aggies went on the become the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions.

The games with the closest margins of victory happened in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, the Aggies, who were on the verge of a 15–13 upset by the Eagles, recovered a failed exchange with a little over a minute left. The Aggies progressed down the field and kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired to win the game.^[3] The following year, the Eagles of North Carolina Central returned the favor by defeating the Aggies 23–22 in the final edition of the classic. The Aggies beat Central 22–16 in their game on November 14, 2012.

The Fall of The Classic

The series came to an end when the contract with the city of Raleigh was not renewed. This was caused in part to the Capital Area Sports Foundation, which guaranteed each school $150,000 for the 2005 game. failing to deliver on financial guarantees to both schools. In its tax return for that year, the foundation reported more than $160,000 in payouts to North Carolina A&T, but the university said it has received less than $100,000 and didn't expect to see anything more.^[2] As a result of the collapse of the classic, The North Carolina A&T – North Carolina Central Rivalry was put on hold for the 2006 football season.

Rivalry renewed

Since the ending of the classic, the annual games between the rivals have once again returned to the respective campuses of the two universities. The 2007 game marked the first time in years that these two universities met for a football game on a non-neutral site. The Eagles defeated the Aggies 22–27 on the Aggies' home field. Following the game, controversy erupted as a player from NCCU stomped on the NC A&T logo in the middle of Aggie Stadium. This celebratory action led to a fight between players from both schools.

In order to accommodate an anticipated crowd that exceeds the capacity of its own stadium, North Carolina Central University moved its 2008 home football game to the neutral Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. This meeting again spelled victory for the Eagles as they once again won 28–27.

On September 10, 2009, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced that North Carolina Central University would rejoin the conference as its 13th member, effective July 1, 2010.^[4] With North Carolina Central's shift from a NCAA Division I independent school to a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the storied rivalry between the two institutions would now have conference ramifications. In the 2009 meeting, the Aggies prevailed in a 23–17 double overtime win in front of 19,534 spectators at Aggie Stadium in Greensboro, NC.

Football game results

North Carolina A&T victories shaded in ██ blue. North Carolina Central victories are shaded in ██ maroon. ^[5][6]

Date Year Location Winner Score Attendance November 22 1924 Durham, NC TIE 13–13 unknown October 24 1925 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 19–0 unknown November 22 1926 unknown NC A&T 19–0 unknown October 22 1927 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 28–13 unknown October 13 1928 Durham, NC NC A&T 20–0 unknown November 1 1930 Durham, NC NCCU 20–14 unknown October 31 1931 Durham, NC NCCU 6–0 unknown November 24 1932 Greensboro, NC NCCU 20–0 unknown November 30 1933 Durham, NC NCCU 20–0 unknown November 29 1934 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 6–0 unknown November 30 1935 Durham, NC NC A&T 9–6 unknown November 26 1936 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 39–0 unknown November 25 1937 Durham, NC NC A&T 14–7 unknown November 24 1938 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 25–0 unknown November 30 1939 Durham, NC NC A&T 7–0 unknown November 28 1940 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 12–6 unknown November 22 1941 Durham, NC NCCU 9–6^† unknown November 26 1942 Greensboro, NC NCCU 12–6 unknown October 20 1945 Durham, NC NCCU 40–0 unknown October 19 1946 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 17–0 unknown December 6 1947 Durham, NC NCCU 17–0 unknown December 4 1948 Greensboro, NC TIE 4–4 unknown November 24 1949 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 33–6 unknown November 23 1950 Durham, NC NC A&T 25–13 unknown November 22 1951 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 13–6 unknown November 27 1952 Durham, NC NC A&T 26–0 unknown November 26 1953 Greensboro, NC NCCU 15–6 unknown November 25 1954 Durham, NC NCCU 7–6 unknown November 24 1955 Greensboro, NC TIE 7–7 unknown November 22 1956 Durham, NC NCCU 20–0 unknown November 28 1957 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 28–0 unknown November 27 1958 Durham, NC NC A&T 20–18 unknown November 26 1959 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 3–0 unknown November 24 1960 Greensboro, NC NCCU 14–13 unknown November 23 1961 Durham, NC NCCU 13–0 unknown November 17 1962 Durham, NC NC A&T 28–7 unknown November 28 1963 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 6–0 unknown November 26 1964 Durham, NC NC A&T 26–0 unknown November 25 1965 Greensboro, NC NCCU 7–6 unknown November 24 1966 Durham, NC NCCU 12–6 unknown November 23 1967 Greensboro, NC NC A&T 19–6 unknown November 27 1968 Durham, NC NC A&T 21–6 unknown November 22 1969 Greensboro, NC TIE 28–28 unknown November 21 1970 Durham, NC NCCU 13–7 unknown November 20 1971 War Memorial Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 14–13 unknown November 18 1972 Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 9–7 42,000 November 17 1973 War Memorial Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 16–6 unknown November 23 1974 Durham County Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 29–18 unknown November 22 1975 War Memorial Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 34–16 unknown November 20 1976 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 17–16 unknown November 19 1977 War Memorial Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 25–6 unknown November 18 1978 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 16–6 unknown November 17 1979 War Memorial Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 16–6 unknown November 22 1980 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NC A&T 49–13 unknown December 13 1980 Richmond City Stadium Richmond, VA NC A&T 37–0 unknown November 28 1981 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 35–7 unknown November 13 1982 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NC A&T 13–7 unknown November 12 1983 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC TIE 13–13 unknown

Date Year Location Winner Score Attendance November 10 1984 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 49–10 unknown November 16 1985 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 28–19 unknown November 15 1986 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NC A&T 35–12 unknown November 14 1987 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 28–19 unknown September 3 1988 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 15–2 unknown September 2 1989 American Legion Memorial Stadium Charlotte, NC NC A&T 24–6 unknown September 1 1990 American Legion Memorial Stadium Charlotte, NC NC A&T 21–6 unknown September 7 1991 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 48–0 unknown September 5 1992 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 49–7 unknown September 3 1994 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 38–9 32,437^° September 3 1995 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 18–17 44,807^° August 31 1996 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 38–31^OT unknown^° August 30 1997 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 36–7 48,001^° September 5 1998 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 40–10 unknown^° September 5 1999 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 20–7 unknown^° September 3 2000 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 40–7 43,134^° September 1 2001 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 22–0 36,438^° September 1 2002 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NCCU 33–30^OT 25,027^° August 31 2003 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 25–0 21,430^° September 5 2004 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NC A&T 16–15 27,852^° September 5 2005 Carter-Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC NCCU 23–22 35,000^° September 22 2007 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 22–27 unknown October 4 2008 American Legion Memorial Stadium Charlotte, NC NCCU 28–27 unknown October 3 2009 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 23–17^2OT 19,534 September 25 2010 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 27–16 15,173 November 19 2011 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 31–21 18,413 November 18 2012 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NC A&T 22–16^OT 11,184 November 23 2013 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NC A&T 28–0 16,052 November 22 2014 O'Kelly Riddick Stadium Durham, NC NCCU 21–14 13,326 November 21 2015 Aggie Stadium Greensboro, NC NCCU 21–16 18,409

† All 1941 NCCU conference games were forfeited after the CIAA conference ruled that player Henry "Big Dog" Thomas was ineligible.
± The 2010 game set an attendance record in O'Kelly Riddick Stadium with 15,173 in attendance.
° Games played during the Aggie-Eagle Classic

References

1. "A&T Becomes Largest HBCU in Nation". www.ncat.edu. Retrieved 2014-11-21.
2. Greensboro News & Record
3. NCCU Football Game Notes
4. "North Carolina Central University joins Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference". Onnidan.com. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
5. "NCAT Football Media Guide" (PDF). NCAT Sports Information. 2010-06-15.
6. "NCCU Football Media Guide". NCCU Athletics. 2010-06-16.

• NCATAggies.com – Official site of North Carolina A&T athletics
• nccueaglepride.cstv.com North Carolina Central University Eagles Athletic Website
• MEACSports.com – Official site of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference