North Carolina
Three Key Matchups For FSU Football’s Home Matchup Against North Carolina
The Florida State Seminoles will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday at 3:30 ET on ACC Network. FSU will look to bounce back after its first loss to the rival Miami Hurricanes in four years.
READ MORE: Blue-Chip Wide Receiver Decommits From Florida State Following 1-7 Start
North Carolina comes into this game with a 4-4 record. Their offense, led by quarterback Jacolby Criswell and running back Omarion Hampton, failed to score 30 points only twice through eight games. Their defense has had its ups and downs, though. The Tar Heels only gave up 14 to a scrappy Virginia team on the road last week (who put up 31 at Clemson two weeks ago) but gave 70 at home to James Madison in late September.
North Carolina head coach Mack Brown began his illustrious coaching career as a student wide receiver coach for Florida State. He won a national championship with the Texas Longhorns in 2005 and is currently serving his second stint as the Tar Heels head coach. From 1988 to 1997 and from 2019 until the present, Brown has never defeated his alma mater. With this game in Tallahassee as well, the 4-4 Tar Heels could end Brown’s 0-8 record against the Garnet and Gold.
Many fans will be glued to their screens or making the trip to the Sunshine State’s capitol this weekend to see their Seminoles in action, but if you’re looking for the pivotal matchups – the game within the game on Saturday – NoleGameday has you covered.
Against Miami last week, the ’Noles gave up 230 yards on the ground on 40 attempts, good for 5.8 yards per rush. Hampton, who has already eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing on the season, averages 5.6 yards a pop. Florida State picked its poison against the Hurricanes and held Heisman frontrunner QB Cam Ward to 208 yards through the air, the first time he’s failed to reach 300 yards on the season. This strategy kept the game within two scores more than halfway through the fourth quarter, but the ’Canes dominated the time of possession and limited the Seminoles to eight possessions the entire contest.
North Carolina, however, has maintained a top-40 passing attack despite Texas A&M transfer QB Max Johnson being out for the season with a broken leg. Jacolby Criswell has come in and averaged a 57th-best 7.65 yards per attempt. Cam Ward is 6th-best at 9.77 yards per attempt.
While Criswell’s passing ability should not be overlooked, the Florida State defense will be able to have more freedom in their game plan against the Tar Heels. FSU has a top-40 pass defense and fared well in man coverage through the air last week. With a threat like UNC’s Hampton on the ground, the Seminoles could get away with attributing more bodies to the run.
Nonetheless, they will still need to execute.
Of the eight opponents that Florida State has played this season, UNC has the second-worst rushing defense (65th), only better than Duke (88th).
When facing the Blue Devils, the Seminoles recorded 162 yards on the ground and had a chance to tie the game at the end despite losing the turnover battle by four (including three turnovers on three straight offensive plays).
If Florida State can tie or even possibly win the turnover margin on Saturday, the ’Noles could find themselves back in the win column for the second time this season.
Redshirt freshman FSU QB Brock Glenn is atop of the depth chart for the fifth straight week, but true freshman QB Luke Kromenhoek has received significant playing time in the last two games.
There’s a saying that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. However, what can’t be denied is that the Tar Heels will have to prepare for two quarterbacks during their preparation this week. Both have similar skill sets, but Kromenhoek could be more prone to running the ball due to play calls with limited reads.
How UNC looks if Kromenhoek enters the game (and it’s likely he does) is certainly a key matchup for Saturday’s contest.
READ MORE: Luke Kromenhoek’s Legs Spark Florida State’s First Touchdown Drive Against Miami
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An AMBER Alert has been issued for a 15-year-old New Bern boy after police say he was abducted at gunpoint from a motel early Saturday morning.
According to the New Bern Police Department, officers responded around 3:15 a.m. to the Palace Motel, located at 1901 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., after receiving a report of a child abduction.
Police said two adults inside the motel room told officers they had been asleep with two boys — 15-year-old Isaiah Kavon Owens and 13-year-old Kenneth Brantley Jr. — when they were awakened by someone banging on the door.
According to investigators, Larry Tompkins opened the door and encountered multiple people, including Kenneth Lee Brantley Sr., the father of Kenneth Brantley Jr.
Police said Brantley pointed a gun at Tompkins before taking both boys from the room and leaving in a black 2012 GMC Yukon Denali XL with South Carolina license plate XFH752.
Authorities said Brantley may be traveling to his residence in Marion, South Carolina. A statewide BOLO (Be On the Lookout) has been issued for the vehicle.
The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons issued an AMBER Alert Friday morning at the request of the New Bern Police Department.
Isaiah is described as a Black male, 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing approximately 100 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt, black pants and red-and-blue sneakers.
Police said Isaiah is autistic and has a speech delay.
Investigators said arrest warrants have been obtained for Brantley charging him with the abduction and endangerment of Isaiah Owens.
The New Bern Police Department said it is working with local, state, out-of-state and federal law enforcement agencies to locate Isaiah and ensure his safe return.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the New Bern Police Department at 252-633-2020, their local law enforcement agency, or call 911 immediately.
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Authorities advise the public not to approach Brantley.
A man once given the nickname Cardiac Kemba due to his heart-stopping heroics at the University of Connecticut, Kemba Walker is back to breathe life into the 704’s youth basketball community.
The Charlotte Hornets’ legend officially opened the Kemba Walker Sports Academy in Concord, North Carolina this afternoon, a multi-sport facility just north of Charlotte that’s mission is “to provide a safe, fun, and inclusive environment for athletes to learn, grow, excel and compete.”
At a ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the 54,000 square foot facility, Walker took some time to answer questions from assembled media about his latest venture that was created with community in mind.
“It’s really bigger than, you know, basketball,” said the Hornets’ all-time leading scorer this afternoon when talking about the academy. “We want the kids to have some discipline and really teach them how to work hard you know? That’s what we’re chasing. We’re chasing something that’s much bigger than the actual sport.”
It’s a bold vision, and one that Walker has dreamed of fulfilling since he was a kid suiting up for his childhood AAU program, the New York Gauchos.
“(The Gauchos’ facility) is probably not quite like this. It’s not as big as this. But that was my safe space, you know? That was the place I was able to go to, to enjoy the game of basketball and meet some of my closest friends that I still have to this day who actually run this place.”
Walker has been a pillar of the grassroots basketball community in Charlotte since he was a baby-faced, 20-something-year-old suiting up for the Bobcats. And even though he spent some time playing elsewhere in his professional basketball career, the four-time All-Star has considered the Queen City his domain since draft night.
“I never left, first of all” said Walker when asked about returning to the Hornets as an assistant coach and being able to now give back to the community that embraced him with open arms when he was drafted in 2011. “Obviously, I went to a couple of different teams and, you know, my path took me to a couple of different places, but I always kept my house here, and my family was always here, and whenever I had time in the summer, something like that, I was always here.”
“But it is amazing to be back. I love Charlotte.”
And Charlotte loves him back.
Walker stamped his name in the franchise record books with a successful career on the court, but he forever endeared himself into the community by embracing the basketball-crazed city he didn’t have a single tie to until he was drafted there.
The Kemba Walker Sports Academy will host its first grassroots basketball event this weekend, the Kemba Walker Invitational, where AAU teams from across the country (including Walker’s own New York Gauchos) will convene in Concord to christen the facility.
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Home sales in western North Carolina have increased since last year, according to the latest report from a realtor group.
Canopy MLS, a subsidiary of the Canopy Realtor Association, reports that May home sales across the four-county Asheville area (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison counties) reflected a spring market that remains “active and competitive.”
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A total of 592 homes closed in May, representing a 6.3 percent increase compared to May 2025 and a 2.1 percent gain over April, the report said. Buyer demand continued to strengthen, with pending sales, a leading indicator of future closings, surging 22.4 percent year over year as 728 properties went under contract during the month.
“The strength of buyer demand in May is encouraging and reflects continued confidence in the Asheville region as a place to live, work and invest,” said Dave Noyes, a Realtor/Designated Managing Broker with eXp Realty and Canopy MLS Board of Director, in a news release. “
ASHEVILLE HOUSING MARKET SHOWS STEADY STRENGTH AS INVENTORY RISES ACROSS REGION
Contract activity also increased 7.1 percent compared to April, signaling that buyers remained engaged despite mortgage rates averaging approximately 6.5 percent throughout May, the report said.
“Buyers are adapting to today’s mortgage rates and taking advantage of the increased inventory we’ve seen over the past year. Although fewer new listings came onto the market in May, homes continue to attract strong interest, which is helping maintain a healthy balance between supply and demand as we head into the summer months,” Noyes said.
While buyer activity increased , new listing activity moderated. Sellers introduced 1,165 homes to the market in May, a 6.7 percent decline compared to the same month last year and a 7.7 percent decrease from April. Even so, the region’s inventory of homes for sale continued to expand, rising 3.2 percent year over year to 3,092 properties at report time. Months of supply, however, declined from six months in May 2025 to 5.4 months this past May, suggesting that the pace of buyer demand is absorbing available inventory faster than new listings are being added.
The report said that although buyers have more choices than a year ago, the market remains relatively balanced, with strong contract activity continuing to support overall sales momentum.
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