North Carolina

NIU loses turnover battle, falls to North Carolina State

Published

1 year ago

September 28, 2024

NIU loses turnover battle, falls to North Carolina State

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — CJ Bailey scored on the ground and through the air as North Carolina State defeated visiting Northern Illinois 24-17 on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Bailey, a true freshman making his second start for the Wolfpack (3-2), completed 13 of 20 passes for 108 yards. He supported a strong defensive effort from N.C. State that forced NIU (2-2) into four crucial turnovers.

“It was a team win. You know, offensively, obviously, statistics are not good, but we did not turn the football over the whole game,” N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said. “We punted the football really well and we played dominant defense against a really good football team.”

Momentum seemed to swing in the Wolfpack’s favor early in the second quarter, when N.C. State safety DK Kaufman reached NIU quarterback Ethan Hampton on a third-down blitz, knocked the ball out of his throwing hand and recovered the fumble for a 2-yard defensive touchdown.

N.C. State’s defense provided another boost in the third quarter when Devin Vann forced Hampton into a fumble that Brandon Cleveland recovered and returned to the 1. Bailey took advantage of the superb field position, throwing a short touchdown pass to KC Concepcion that pushed N.C. State ahead by two scores.

Trailing by seven points with four seconds to play, NIU’s attempt at a game-tying score was stifled when Hampton was intercepted in the end zone by Corey Coley.

“You lose the turnover battle four-to-nothing and it’s hard to win,” NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. “They blitzed us early and often. We just didn’t make enough plays.”

Antario Brown paced the Huskies with 114 yards rushing on 28 carries.

The takeaway

NC State: On offense, the Wolfpack played just well enough to complement their stout defense. The Wolfpack didn’t turn the ball over and scored when they reached the red zone. After a demoralizing defeat at Clemson last week, this was a bounce-back victory for N.C. State in its final non-conference game of the season.

“I know people are upset we didn’t have enough yards, this, that and the other,” Doeren said. “Don’t be mad about winning. That was a hell of a team win.”

NIU: The Huskies haven’t been able to recapture the magic of their Sept. 7 win at Notre Dame. This is NIU’s second consecutive loss and one where the Huskies struggled to capitalize on offense. The Huskies held the Wolfpack to 1-of-11 on third down conversions and to just 175 yards of total offense, but turnovers and stalled drives doomed NIU’s chances at another signature win.

Providing pressure

NIU had been on a six-game streak dating back to last season of not giving up any sacks. The Wolfpack shattered any hope the Huskies had of extending that mark, sacking Hampton four times. In all, N.C. State registered a season-high 12 tackles for loss.

N.C. State had just four sacks combined in its previous four games this season. It’s worth noting that the Wolfpack racked up this many sacks without Red Hibbler, who led N.C. State in the stat last season and is no longer on the team as of this week.

“We started communicating on a higher level. And that started with me. It was my job to do so… being more physical in practice,” said Wolfpack linebacker Caden Fordham, who had a team-high 14 tackles. “And I believe it translated to the field today.”

Key absences

Quarterback Grayson McCall and running back Hollywood Smothers were not dressed to play for N.C. State. McCall, the former three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year from Coastal Carolina, left the Wolfpack’s Week 3 win over Louisiana Tech with an undisclosed injury and hasn’t played since. Smothers, a transfer from Oklahoma, had 114 rushing yards and touchdown on 22 carries in the Wolfpack’s first four games.

Up next

NC State: The Wolfpack host rival Wake Forest next Saturday.

NIU: UMass visits the Huskies next Saturday.

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North Carolina

Former inmate buys NC prison to help others who have served time

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Former inmate buys NC prison to help others who have served time

With the recent purchase of the former Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro, Kerwin Pittman is laying claim to an unusual title — he says he’s the first formerly incarcerated person in the U.S. to purchase a prison. Pittman, the founder and executive director of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, Inc. (RREPS), was sent to prison […]

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North Carolina

NC Foundation at center of I-Team Troubleshooter investigation could face contempt charge

Published

16 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

NC Foundation at center of I-Team Troubleshooter investigation could face contempt charge

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — New details in an I-Team investigation into a Durham foundation accused of not paying its employees.

The North Carolina Department of Labor filed a motion in court to try to force the Courtney Jordan Foundation, CJF America, to provide the pay records after the state agency received more than 30 complaints from former employees about not getting paid.

The ABC11 I-Team first told you about CJF and its problems paying employees in July. The foundation ran summer camps in Durham and Raleigh, and at the time, more than a dozen workers said they didn’t get paid, or they got paychecks that bounced. ABC11 also talked to The Chicken Hut, which didn’t get paid for providing meals to CJF Durham’s summer camps, but after Troubleshooter Diane Wilson’s involvement, The Chicken Hut did get paid.

The NC DOL launched their investigation, and according to this motion filed with the courts, since June thirty one former employees of CJF filed complaints with the agency involving pay issues. Court documents state that, despite repeated attempts from the wage and hour bureau requesting pay-related documents from CJF, and specifically Kristen Picot, the registered agent of CJF, CJF failed to comply.

According to this motion, in October, an investigator with NC DOL was contacted by Picot, and she requested that the Wage and Hour Bureau provide a letter stating that CJF was cooperating with the investigation and that repayment efforts were underway by CJF. Despite several extensions, the motion says Picot repeatedly exhibited a pattern of failing to comply with the Department of Labor’s investigation. The motion even references an ITEAM story on CJFand criminal charges filed against its executives.

The NC DOL has requested that if CJF and Picot fail to produce the requested documentation related to the agency’s investigation, the employer be held in civil contempt for failure to comply. Wilson asked the NC Department of Labor for further comment, and they said, “The motion to compel speaks for itself. As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

ABC11 Troubleshooter reached out to Picot and CJF America, but no one has responded. At Picot’s last court appearance on criminal charges she faces for worthless checks, she had no comment then.

Out of all the CJF employees we heard from, only one says he has received partial payment.

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North Carolina

N.C. Democrat runs as Republican to shed light on gerrymandering

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

N.C. Democrat runs as Republican to shed light on gerrymandering

Kate Barr is a Democrat.

What You Need To Know

Democrat Kate Barr is running in the Republican primary in N.C. Congressional District 14

Barr is running against former state Speaker of the House Tim Moore

Barr is running to make a point about gerrymandering

But when voters in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District open their ballots in the March primary they’ll find an “R” next to her name.

She is literally a RINO or Republican In Name Only.

Barr considers herself a Democrat but said she’s running as a Republican to make a point about gerrymandering.

“Fundamentally… I hate gerrymandering. That is pretty much my core motivation for everything I do in politics,” Barr told Spectrum News 1.

The district, west of Charlotte, is solidly Republican.

The current congressman won by 16 points last election.

Barr said it speaks to just how gerrymandered North Carolina is. State Republican lawmakers recently approved a congressional map that favors Republicans in 11 of the state’s 14 congressional districts.

That’s in a state that only voted for President Donald Trump by three points in 2024 and elected a Democrat for governor.

“When the North Carolina state legislature passed the new congressional maps that further gerrymandered this state it became clear there has to be a political price for this behavior,” Barr said.

This is not the first unusual campaign for Barr.

In 2024 she ran as a Democrat in a district that heavily favored Republicans. The focus again was to draw attention to gerrymandering.

Her motto was “Kate Barr can’t win.”

She did not win, losing by 30 points.

But Barr was encouraged by some of the results she saw and in November launched her campaign for Congress.

This time she decided to run as a Republican.

She’s hoping that gives her an edge because in North Carolina voters not registered with either major party, known as unaffiliated, are the largest voting block in the state, and can participate in the Democrat or Republican primaries.

“Voters understand that the way to have a say is to choose which primary is actually going to elect their leader and vote in that primary,” Barr said. “I can absolutely win in this one… because primary turnout is so low it just doesn’t take that many people showing up and saying we’ve had enough to unseat an incumbent.”

Barr faces former North Carolina Speaker of the House and incumbent Republican congressman Tim Moore. His campaign told Spectrum News 1 that “Kate Barr’s latest stunt is an insult to Republican voters. Folks know a far-left fraud when they see one, and she doesn’t belong in our primary.”

Whether she wins or not, Barr hopes to encourage a fix to gerrymandering, an issue that’s front and center in North Carolina and around the country.

“Gerrymandering is wrong no matter which party is doing it, and we need to put an end to it. Period,” Barr said. “The goal, end result, is to have an independent commission in every state made up of citizens.”

Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

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