Welcome to Tomato Can Week, where the results count but don’t matter. Heading to town to make NC State feel slightly better about itself is Campbell, which has a 1-4 record that includes a 56-3 loss at East Carolina. That gives us a pretty good idea about the level of competition we’re looking at on Saturday.
The Camels are No. 100 in the FCS SP+ ratings, and No. 265—behind a number of D-II squads—in the all-CFB-encompassing top-766. The Camels’ offense is No. 56 among FCS teams in SP+, while the defense
is No. 121. They’re coming off a 42-35 loss to Western Carolina, which followed a 50-48 double-overtime win over Bryant the week prior. WCU piled up 488 passing yards against this defense, which has yet to hold an opponent under 5.5 yards per play.
Campbell has 56 new players on the 2025 roster, including 36 transfers, and returned only 11 starters.
The offense is led by quarterback Kamden Sixkiller, and with a name like that, your choices are either quarterback or fastest gun in the west. I’d have gone with the latter, personally, but to each their own.
Sixkiller—he wears No. 6, naturally—is completing 59.8% of his throws on an average of 5.7 yards per attempt and has eight touchdown passes against three interceptions. He was 18-25 against ECU, but for only 121 yards. Campbell ran for four yards in that game, which I’m guessing did not help.
Sixkiller’s favorite target is Randall King, who has 28 grabs for 333 yards and five touchdowns, leading the team in all three categories. King did not play in Campbell’s last game and is not listed on the two-deep for Saturday, and that’s a substantial blow to the Camels if he can’t suit up.
Trayjen Llanas-Wilcox was targeted a team-high 12 times in King’s absence, and has 175 yards receiving on the year. Second on the team in receptions is Mike Chandler II, with 16. Chandler is also the backup quarterback.
Campbell’s defense is allowing 9.0 yards per pass attempt and 331 passing yards per game. The Camels have a mere 14 tackles for loss, while surrendering 42 of them, which is an unfortunate ratio. CJ Bailey should have all the time he needs to do whatever he wants until taking his leave some time in the third quarter.
