BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell (2-2, 1-2 CAA) steps back outside of conference play this week, traveling to nearby 15^th-ranked North Carolina Central (3-1, 0-0 MEAC) on Saturday, September 30. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, N.C.

WATCH / FOLLOW
Watch the Camels take on NCCU on ESPN+, and listen online at GoCamels.com or through The Varsity Network app. Live stats are also available at GoCamels.com, and follow on Twitter @GoCamelsFB for live updates.

LAST TIME OUT
Campbell scored 14 fourth quarter points, but its comeback attempt came up short, falling 28-24 to Elon in CAA play at Barker-Lane Stadium.

Campbell trailed 28-10 at the end of the third after Elon's Jalen Hampton scored his fourth touchdown of the night. The Camels then found the endzone on back to back possessions, with VJ Wilkins and NaQuari Rogers TDs, bringing CU within 28-24 after a failed point after try, with 4:27 to play. Elon chewed up 3:25 of play before punting the ball back to the Camels with 56 left in regulation. Campbell used five plays to get into Elon territory, driving to the Phoenix 37 before time expired.

Hampton led the Phoenix with 169 yards on 33 carries with four touchdowns, highlighting an Elon offense that rushed for 242 yards on the night. Matthew Downing completed 13-of-27 passes for 116 yards and an interception, while Johncarlos Miller caught four passes for 55 yards.

Nine Phoenix combined for seven sacks, including one from Caleb Curtain, who also matched a game-high with 10 tackles. Bo Sanders also registered 10 stops, adding an interception.

Hajj-Malik Williams paced Campbell with a season-high 367 passing yards, completing 33-of-44 throws with a TD and an interception, while Wilkins hauled in a career-high 114 yards on 10 catches with his fourth quarter score. Jalen Kelsey added 65 yards on five grabs, while Chaney Fitzgerald also made five catches for 55 yards. Rogers combined for 54 yards, including 32 on the ground with a touchdown, and 22 yards receiving.

Monchovia Gaffney led Campbell's defense with 10 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. D'Marcus Harrington added nine tackles, while CJ Tillman tallied eight, including 2.0 stops for loss with a forced fumble.

WILKINS AGAIN NAMED CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season, Campbell's VJ Wilkins has been named CAA Football Rookie of the Week. Wilkins hauled in a season-high 114 receiving yards on 10 catches, adding a touchdown on Saturday against Elon. A redshirt freshman wide receiver, Wilkins caught five of his 10 passes in the fourth quarter of Campbell's near comeback, totaling 64 yards in the final stanza alone, including an 11 TD grab, his third score in four games.

For the season, Wilkins leads the Camels in receiving yards at 272, catches with 24, receiving TDs at three, as well as kickoff return yards with 226.

This is the third time in four games that a Camel has taken home CAA weekly honors. Wilkins was also named the league's top freshman performer following Campbell's week two win at The Citadel.

LEADING THE CAMELS
Campbell comes into this week's matchup with the 10^th-ranked scoring offense in FCS, averaging 37.2 points per game, also ranking 13^th best in total offense nationally at 440.0 yards per game.

Hajj-Malik Williams owns the FCS' third best completion percentage at 75.0 percent, completing 96-of-127 throws, averaging 282.5 passing yards per game with six touchdowns and one interception. The redshirt senior QB has also rushed for four scores, logging his 14^th career game with both a passing and a rushing touchdown last week against Elon.

Williams has connected with 14 different CU receivers through four games, including 10 with multiple catches. VJ Wilkins has posted a team-high 272 receiving yards on 24 catches with three touchdowns, while Jalen Kelsey owns 240 yards on 16 grabs. Chaney Fitzgerald has also hauled in 197 yards on 23 catches for the Camels with two scores.
NaQuari Rogers also owns four touchdowns on the ground, rushing for 252 yards.

Defensively, CJ Tillman has registered a team-best 39 tackles with 2.0 for loss, while Monchovia Gaffney owns 31 stops.

THE MATCHUP: NCCU
The Eagles are coming off a 45-3 neutral site win over Mississippi Valley State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with their lone loss of the year coming on the road at then-No. 24 UCLA.

NCCU has lost just three games over the last two seasons, finishing 10-2 in 2022 that included a 48-18 defeat in Buies Creek against the Camels before going on to down Jackson State 41-34 in overtime in the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

Walker Harris and Davius Richard have split time at QB, combining for 809 passing yards and eight touchdowns, with six different receivers catching TD passes. Richard has also rushed for three scores, while Latrell Collier owns 290 rushing yards with three TDs.

Jayden Flaker paces the NCCU defense with 24 total tackles, including 4.5 stops for loss and 3.5 sacks, adding two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.

This is the second all-time meeting between the Camels and Eagles.

CAMPBELL AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
The Camels are taking on a ranked foe for the second time this season, also battling No. 4 William & Mary to open the year. Campbell is 0-10 all-time against ranked FCS competition, including an 0-6 mark on the road.

Campbell has faced at least one ranked opponent in each of the last five full seasons. No. 11 Delaware, as well as No. 15 North Carolina, ranked in the FBS AP poll, also remain on the schedule for the Camels this season.

WILKINS, WILLIAMS RANK AMONG TOP FCS PERFORMERS BY PFF
Through four games this season, Campbell's Hajj-Malik Williams and VJ Wilkins rank among the nation's highest graded position players, according to PFF.

Williams ranks 13^th in all of college football and fifth among FCS quarterbacks, rating at a 90.7 offensive grade. Wilkins, meanwhile, stands alone as the top-graded wide receiver in college football at 92.2.

Other Camels among PFF's position leaders is Isaiah Burch, grading out as the third-ranked pass blocker at center at 88.0, and Baraka Beckett, coming in at No. 15 among guards in the FCS at 71.8 overall, anchored by an 81.5 pass blocking grade.

CAMELS FACE ONE OF THE STRONGEST SCHEDULES IN FCS
According to Stats Perform, Campbell faces the fifth toughest schedule in the FCS, based on 2022 Division I opponent records. CU's 2023 opponents, all Division I FCS or FBS, owned a 77-55 record (.583) last season.

Harvard owns the strongest 2023 slate, according to the metric at .648 (68-37), followed by Nicholls (.610, 83-53), Elon (.606, 80-52) and Cal Poly (.585, 69-49). North Alabama (.573, 71-53), Yale (.571, 60-45), ETSU (.570, 65-49), Central Arkansas (.568, 67-51) and Northern Arizona (.561, 74-58) round out the top-10.

NEXT UP
Campbell will head to new CAA foe Hampton on October 7 before returning to Barker-Lane Stadium to a Homecoming matchup with Maine on October 21.

TWO FORMER CAMELS OPEN SEASON ON NFL ROSTERS
For the first time, two former Camels appeared on active NFL rosters opening the 2023 season. Both matched up in their first career NFL game, with Brevin Allen's Los Angeles Chargers hosting Julian Hill's Miami Dolphins in week one.

Allen became the first Camel to play in an NFL game on Sunday, seeing time in 12 plays, including seven kickoffs, a punt return and four defensive snaps. He increased his playing time to 18 plays in week two.

After making the Dolphins' initial 53-man roster, Hill was inactive through two games due to injury, but made his NFL debut in Miami's record-setting 70-20 win over Denver, seeing time on 58 total plays.

Both signed as undrafted free agents after the 2023 NFL Draft following their Campbell careers, with Allen initially signing to the LA practice squad as an outside linebacker.

Allen was a four-time All-Big South honoree at CU as a defensive end, earning second team honors this season, despite being limited to just eight games in 2022. The redshirt senior totaled 22 tackles with 7.5 stops for loss, including 4.5 sacks, to go along with an interception, still ranking among the Big South Conference's leaders in tackles for loss and sacks.

Campbell's all-time leader in tackles for loss (38.0) and tied for the school record for sacks (20.5), Allen earned All-America honors in 2021. In his final collegiate season, the Greensboro native was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week after posting three sacks and an interception in the first half of Campbell's win over Robert Morris, also earning honorable mention FCS defensive player of the week accolades.

He was also named to the Buck Buchanan watch list for FCS defensive player of the year, as well as the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000.

One of the top FCS tight end targets in the country, Hill earned First Team All-Big South honors in 2022, collecting all-conference accolades for the third time in his career. Hill registered 659 yards receiving with five TD catches and 38 total receptions, leading all Big South tight ends in those categories. He posted 50 or more receiving yards six times on the season, including a career-high 122 yards on four catches with a touchdown at Bryant.

Hill added a rushing touchdown at North Carolina A&T, also helping lead the Camels to 500 or more yards of total offense four times, and 400 or more passing yards twice.

He played in 48 games from 2018-22 at Campbell, making 26 consecutive starts over his last three seasons, with 85 receptions for 1,218 yards and seven touchdowns.

The duo was two of three Camels to sign with NFL squads following the 2023 NFL Draft, along with safety Aaron Maddox with the Indianapolis Colts.

The trio became the first Camels to join NFL squads since running back De'Shawn Jones attended rookie minicamp with the Seattle Seahawks in 2018.

Other Camels to join the NFL ranks include defensive tackle Greg Milhouse, who played for the New York Giants in the 2016 NFL preseason, and then with Seattle in 2017, long snapper Daniel Dillon, who played in the 2016 NFL preseason for the Arizona Cardinals, and defensive end Ugonna Awuruonye who attended rookie minicamp with Atlanta in 2016.

CAMELS BEGIN 16TH SEASON OF MODERN ERA
Heading into the 16th season of Campbell's modern era of football in 2023, the program continues its upward trajectory.

Just five Big South Conference seasons removed from the non-athletic scholarship Pioneer Football League (the football conference home for CU from 2008-17), the Fighting Camels are now a member of the CAA, the top conference in the FCS, home of some of the most history rich, consistent, national championship winning and storied programs in the subdivision.

In the offseason, the Camels hauled in the top recruiting class in the FCS for the second consecutive year.

The 2023 Camels return 11 total starters, including seven on the offensive side of the ball, three on defense and one on special teams, as well as 44 letterwinners (losing 53 last season), while bringing in a whopping 53 newcomers (25 freshmen, 28 transfers) in head coach Mike Minter's 11th season in Buies Creek.

CAMPBELL JOINS THE COASTAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
Campbell University officially became a member of the Coastal Athletic Association in all sports on July 1, 2023.

The addition of Campbell in 2023 increases the CAA's full membership to 14 schools, joining fellow new members North Carolina A&T, Hampton, Monmouth and Stony Brook as schools that have all joined in the last year. CAA Football now consists of 15 teams in 2023.

The conference encompasses many of the nation's largest metropolitan areas with a geographic footprint that stretches from Boston to Charleston. It has produced 18 national team champions in five different sports and 33 individual national champions.

Campbell joined NCAA Division I in 1977 and became a charter member when the Big South Conference was formed in 1983. Campbell joined the Atlantic Sun Conference in the summer of 1994 and competed in the ASUN 17 years before returning to the Big South in the summer of 2011.

After a five-decade absence, Campbell resumed football competition in 2008 as a member of the Pioneer Football League. Campbell moved up to competition in Big South football in 2018.