NC/ACC Week 13 College Football Previews:

Duke, UNC, ECU, NC State Among
In-State Teams Facing Pivotal Matchups
(DG’s “This Week In CFB” YouTube Show = Posted Below)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Nov. 18, 2025)

The 2025 college football season continues via a compelling Week 13 schedule, with Duke visiting UNC in a rivalry game that includes bowl-eligibility implications, NC State hosting Florida State in a Friday night national television spotlight, East Carolina continuing its pursuit of an American Conference championship with a trip to UTSA, and Johnson C Smith and Wingate hosting first-round Division Two playoff games.

Meanwhile, the most prominent Week 13 matchups nationally include intra-league clashes on Saturday involving College Football Playoff contenders from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten: #14 Miami at Virginia Tech (noon, ESPN), Pittsburgh at #15 Georgia Tech (7 p.m., ESPN) and #16 Southern Cal at #6 Oregon (3:30 p.m., CBS).

From the wide-ranging schedule (see below) in the Old North State, here are more details from this week’s “Three To See” selections:

In-State “Three To See,” Game One

Duke (5-5) at North Carolina (4-6), Sat., 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
(An “Old North State Tailgate & Traveling Sports Circus” Game)

When Bill Belichick’s father, Steve, was an assistant coach with UNC football, way back in the mid-1950s, Duke was often a Top 25 program, and the Blue Devils had the better of the so-called Victory Bell rivalry against the Tar Heels.

In fact, in each of Steve’s three years in Chapel Hill, Duke beat the Heels head-to-head and went on to capture the ACC football championship.

Carolina long ago turned the tables in this eight-miles-apart rivalry, though, and now the Heels have won five of the last six and 28 of the last 35 overall against the Devils, including three straight and 14 of the last 17 games played in Chapel Hill.

This year, each team is continuing its fight toward bowl eligibility; 5-5 Duke can get there with a win Saturday, whereas 4-6 Carolina can keep its postseason hopes alive with a victory.

Led by second-year coach Manny Diaz, Duke is a six-point favorite over Carolina mainly because the Blue Devils have the most prolific passing attack in the ACC, at 303 yards per game.

Tulane transfer Darian Mensah is one of the most polished passers in all of college football, and he has plenty of quality targets, led by wide receiver Cooper Barkate, a Harvard transfer who ranks third in the conference with 87 receiving yards per game. The Blue Devils have some balance offensively, too, and true freshman Nate Sheppard ranks sixth among ACC running backs with 70 rushing yards per game.

Although UNC has improved dramatically on defense during the course of this season under coordinator Steve Belichick, Bill’s son, the Tar Heels’ offense has shown absolutely no ability to exploit an opponent’s vulnerable defense. Duke, which is giving up almost 30 points per game, definitely fits that description, but Carolina is next-to-last in the league in scoring offense, at a woeful 19 points per game.

The Heels have a high-end wide receiver in sophomore Jordan Shipp, a rugged running back in freshman Demon June and a reliable tight end in redshirt junior Jake Johnson, but their play at quarterback and on the offensive line have ranked among the worst in the Power Four conferences all year.

That offensive production and consistency will need to get a lot better, starting Saturday afternoon, if Carolina is going to avoid a losing record in Belichick’s debut season in college football.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Two

East Carolina (7-3) at UTSA (5-5), Sat., 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

The good news for East Carolina is that the Pirates are the only in-state FBS team that’s still in the running for its league championship. At 5-1 in American Conference competition, ECU is alongside Navy, Tulane and North Texas in its pursuit of a spot in this year’s league title game.

More good news: The Pirates are a two-point favorite against UTSA this week and likely will be an even heavier favorite versus FAU next week, although both games are on the road.

The bad news is that the American Conference tiebreakers — unlike most Big Four conference tiebreakers — place significant weight on a team’s national College Football Playoff ranking, and that’s where the Pirates’ resume pales in comparison to those others.

ECU lost to both BYU and NC State in nonconference play, so its 7-3 overall record just isn’t going to come close to a Top 25 ranking. Meanwhile, 9-1 North Texas and 8-2 Tulane were included in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, and 8-2 Navy wasn’t far behind.

The bottom line is that ECU needs to win out and get help in order to have a shot at the American Conference title. Pirates fans should root especially hard right now for Temple, which hosts Tulane this week and visits North Texas next week.

None of those tiebreakers will matter, of course, unless ECU takes care of its own business at UTSA on Saturday.

The Roadrunners are not a bad team. Their loss at 10-0 Texas A&M was by a 42-24 margin, which is pretty competitive for a visit to a top-five SEC opponent, and in their most recent home game, they posted a dominant 48-26 victory over Tulane, a team that beat ECU head-to-head back in October.

UTSA won that Tulane game in large part by being plus-four in turnovers and by churning out long, time-consuming drives that kept Tulane’s high-powered offense on the sidelines. UTSA’s biggest problem this season has been slowing down the most explosive offenses; North Texas and South Florida both tore the Roadrunners’ defense to shreds.

That means it probably will be up to quarterback Katin Houser, running back London Montgomery and an ECU offense that has become more balanced over the course of the season to put UTSA on the defensive, just as ECU’s defense — which is #1 in the American, giving up only 18 points per game — hopes to continue its season-long efficiency and reliability.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Three

Florida State (5-5) at NC State (5-5), Fri., 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Florida State and NC State have more than just their middling 5-5 records in common this season.

At their best, the Seminoles and the Wolfpack can beat almost anyone. Remember, FSU defeated national power Alabama 31-17 in its season opener, and NCSU beat ACC leader Georgia Tech pretty convincingly, 48-36, just two weeks ago.

At their worst, though, these same two teams can be really, really bad. The Seminoles lost 20-13 at Stanford earlier this season, and NCSU got absolutely hammered by Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and — just last week — 41-7 at Miami.

At this point, sixth-year Florida State coach Mike Norvell and 13th-year NC State coach Dave Doeren are fighting both their own teams’ inconsistencies and the reality that many in their own fan base are calling for their job.

The good news for ESPN’s national TV audience on Friday night is that both quarterbacks in this game, Tommy Castellanos of the Seminoles and CJ Bailey of the Wolfpack, can be electrifying — Castellanos as a dangerous runner and a capable passer, Bailey as a dangerous passer and a capable runner.

Each QB also will be going against a vulnerable defensive unit. The Wolfpack is giving up about 32 points per game, which ranks second-worst in the ACC, and is dead-last in the league in passing defense. The Seminoles (a four-point favorite) have some better numbers on defense, but they have fallen fall short of their usual standard on that side of the ball, especially on the defensive line.

Both Castellanos and Bailey have plenty of weapons around them — Gavin Sawchuk and Hollywood Smothers at running back, Duce Robinson and Terrell Anderson at wide receiver, and Randy Pittman Jr. and Justin Joly at tight end, among others — so this could be a fun, high-scoring, unpredictable affair at Carter-Finley Stadium under the lights on Friday.

In-State “Three To See,” Bonus Games

Although the Bold North State won’t have any participants in the FCS playoffs or the Division Three playoffs this year, it does have two teams that will begin play in the 32-team Division Two playoff bracket on Saturday. Under fourth-year coach Maurice Flowers, Johnson C Smith just won its first CIAA football title since 1969, and this week marks the first time the Golden Bulls will ever compete in the D2 playoffs. Meanwhile, under second-year coach Rashaan Jordan, Wingate earned its second straight trip to the D2 playoffs, this time via an at-large bid. Both of those in-state teams’ first-round postseason matchups were discussed in this week’s “Fun Facts & Shout-Outs” post. … The only other games worth mentioning are FBS contests. First, if Appalachian State is going to have a chance to reach a bowl game in coach Dowell Loggains’ debut season, the 4-6 Mountaineers must beat 5-5 Marshall on Saturday in Boone (2:30 p.m., ESPN+). The Thundering Herd is a three-point favorite at Kidd Brewer Stadium. … Finally, this last game will be included mainly in the spirit of morbid curiosity. The 1-9 Charlotte 49ers are visiting 9-1 Georgia on Saturday (12:45 p.m., SECN). In what may be the largest point spread of the entire 2025 season in any game matching FBS opponents, the Bulldogs — who are ranked fourth nationally and are likely headed to the College Football Playoff for the fourth time in the past five years — are 44.5-point favorites over the 49ers. In all likelihood, the point spread will be the only intriguing aspect of that contest.

NC Football Bowl Subdivision (Seven Teams)
(Games Saturday Unless Otherwise Indicated)

Florida State (5-5) at NC State (5-5), 8 p.m. (ESPN) — Friday
Delaware (5-5) at Wake Forest (7-3), noon (ACCN)
Charlotte (1-9) at #4 Georgia (9-1), 12:45 p.m. (SECN)
Marshall (5-5) at Appalachian State (4-6), 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Duke (5-5) at North Carolina (4-6), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
East Carolina (7-3) at UTSA (5-5), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)

Florida State (5-5) at NC State (5-5), 8 p.m. (ESPN) — Friday
#14 Miami (8-2) at Virginia Tech (3-7), noon (ESPN)
Louisville (7-3) at SMU (7-3), noon (ESPN2)
Delaware (5-5) at Wake Forest (7-3), noon (ACCN)
Duke (5-5) at North Carolina (4-6), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Syracuse (3-7) at #9 Notre Dame (8-2), 3:30 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Furman (6-5) at Clemson (5-5), 4:30 p.m. (The CW)
Pittsburgh (7-3) at #15 Georgia Tech (9-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
California (6-4) at Stanford (3-7), 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)

Open Week: Boston College (1-10), #19 Virginia (9-2)