NC/ACC Week Two CFB Previews & Schedules:
App-ECU, Aggie-Eagle Classic Among Highlights
As Wake Hits Road, State/UNC Seek Solutions
(DG’s Weekly CFB YouTube Show = Below)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Sept. 10, 2026)
The 2026 college football season continues Thursday through Saturday with a compelling Week Two schedule that includes all seven North Carolina-based Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in action, plus the continuation of one of the Bold North State’s top rivalries in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ranks.
The most prominent games nationally include #1 Ohio State (1-0) visiting #4 Texas (1-0) in the first must-see-TV matchup of the season (Sat., 7:30 p.m., ABC), plus #18 Tennessee (1-0) visiting Georgia Tech (0-1) in a contest (Sat., 7 p.m., ESPN) highlighting Volunteers true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, who was North Carolina’s high school player of the year last season at Grimsley High in Greensboro.
Meanwhile, from the wide-ranging schedule (please see at bottom) involving teams from the Bold North State, below are more details from this week’s “Three To See” in-state selections, plus brief notes on two other compelling Week Two matchups.
NC/ACC “Three To See,” Game One
Richmond (2-0) at NC State (0-1), Fri., 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Although Richmond has been a very good FCS program for decades, including under coaches such as Dave Clawson and now their 10th-year leader Russ Huesman, this preview — like this football game — is overwhelmingly about NC State.
The Wolfpack entered the 2026 campaign talking about the possibility of a trip to the ACC championship game and the College Football Playoff, and that talk included comments from 14th-year head coach Dave Doeren and third-year starting quarterback CJ Bailey, among many others. Obviously, the Pack then was embarrassed during its season-opening trip to Virginia, when the Cavaliers absolutely steamrolled State in the trenches on both sides of the ball on their way to a 34-8 victory.
As you might expect, NC State has lost only once in 20 all-time games against Richmond, and — as in previous matchups — the Wolfpack is expected to have a major advantage over the Spiders at the line of scrimmage, which typically has been one of the program’s greatest strengths under Doeren.
This year’s Pack is breaking in three new starters on the offensive line, however, and all six starters across the defensive front, and neither group played well in Charlottesville. Complicating matters further, starting linebacker AJ Richardson suffered a torn biceps in the UVa game and will miss the remainder of the season.
On the offensive line, the Pack hopes to build around senior left tackle Jimarion McCrimon (an ECU transfer who played well against UVa but had to leave the game early with an injury) and sophomore center Spike Sowells Jr. On the defensive front, the Pack hopes to find more help for fifth-year end Harvey Dyson III (an all-conference player at Tulane last season) and senior linebacker Popo Aguirre, a Miami transfer who had 18 tackles against the Wahoos but also gave up a touchdown in pass coverage.
The other major question mark at State right now surrounds the caliber of Bailey’s supporting cast on the Wolfpack offense.
With star running back Hollywood Smothers now at Texas, super-talented wide receivers Terrell Anderson and Noah Rogers now at Southern Cal and Alabama, respectively, and highly productive tight end Justin Joly now in the NFL, Bailey simply didn’t get nearly enough help from his line or his fellow ball-handlers against UVa.
Against a solid Richmond squad ranked #21 in the FCS ranks, it’s expected that running back Duke Scott will be able to live up to his billing, but it’s still more of a guessing game at wide receiver, where the top candidates include Buffalo transfer Victor Snow, Miami transfer Jojo Trader, Appalachian State transfer Davion Dozier and speedy redshirt sophomore returnee Keenan Jackson.
Perhaps one or more of those wideouts can build some chemistry with Bailey as the Pack enters this theoretically manageable three-game September stretch against the Spiders (a 30-point underdog), Vanderbilt (on the road) and then Appalachian State (in Raleigh).
NC/ACC “Three To See,” Game Two
ETSU (1-1) at UNC (1-0), Sat., noon (ACCN)
North Carolina is both coming off the most impressive victory of the Bill Belichick Era, a 15-10 win over TCU in Ireland in Week Zero, and dealing with countless off-the-field questions related to various pieces of the foundation Belichick initially built around himself in Chapel Hill.
The recent barrage of questions is related to some combination of 1-the resignation last week of highly compensated but underperforming Carolina general manager Mike Lombardi, 2-the drug-related inquiries surrounding still-on-medical-leave defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, Bill’s son, and 3-the allegations and ongoing investigations of potentially improper relationships between football coaches and members of the program’s recruiting staff.
Will the Tar Heels, who seemed laser-focused in their narrow win over TCU, be able to maintain a similar level of tunnel vision against East Tennessee State, an FCS opponent, or will the circus sideshow impact the product on the field?
In their victory over the Horned Frogs, the Heels played outstanding situational defense, but they did give up huge chunks of rushing yards, and they were facing an opponent with a new offensive coordinator, a somewhat limited Ivy League transfer quarterback and an injury-depleted receiving corps.
Don’t laugh, but it’s possible that the ETSU offense could provide an even greater challenge, because the Buccaneers’ starting QB is a talented Louisville transfer (Mason Mims), and they also may have the Southern Conference’s top running back (former Ole Miss player Jason Albritton) and the league’s top tight end (former Tennessee player Charlie Browder).
UNC’s defensive tackle rotation of Leroy Jackson, Xavier Lewis and Isaiah Johnson was outstanding against TCU, as were fifth-year defensive end Melkart Abou Jaoude and sixth-year linebacker Derek McDonald (a Syracuse transfer), and it will be up to the Tar Heels’ front six to disrupt an ETSU offense that averaged about 42 points over its first two games this season against lesser competition.
Carolina’s offense has a far more extreme need to find a spark, after managing only a touchdown and two field goals against TCU. ETSU may be exactly what the scheduling doctor ordered in that regard, because the Buccaneers gave up 49 points to Campbell, an FCS opponent, in their season opener.
Former Maryland and Wisconsin starting QB Billy Edwards Jr. had a successful debut for the Tar Heels in the sense that he threw for 232 yards, minimized his mistakes and made several high-IQ plays in a very tight, low-scoring affair, but Edwards also completed only 57 percent of his passes and missed several big-play opportunities downfield.
New UNC coordinator Bobby Petrino loves what he has with Jordan Shipp at wide receiver, Ohio State transfer Jelani Thurman and others at tight end, seventh-year senior Christo Kelly at center, and a solid running backs room, but against ETSU (a 34-point underdog) the Tar Heels need to see much more dominant tackle-to-tackle line execution if they’re going to develop into the sort of dangerous, well-balanced unit that can be more productive against ACC opponents, too.
NC/ACC “Three To See,” Game Three
App State (1-0) at East Carolina (0-1), Sat., noon (ESPNU)
In case you were wondering, the bragging rights associated with this in-state rivalry are squarely in the corner of Appalachian State, at least for now.
The Mountaineers are 22-12 all-time against East Carolina, and more importantly they have won all three games these programs have played against each other in the past five years. App State beat the Pirates 33-19 in Charlotte back in 2021, then 43-28 in Boone in 2023 and 21-19 in Greenville in 2024.
Generally speaking, the American Conference has been considered a higher-caliber football league than the Sun Belt Conference, yet the Mountaineers have built this three-game winning streak against ECU entirely in the mediocre aftermath of their four consecutive Sun Belt titles from 2016 through 2019.
Regarding this year’s matchup, App State is coming off a truly dominant 55-3 victory, and East Carolina is coming off a truly ugly 48-10 defeat, yet extreme caution is strongly advised when it comes to drawing too many conclusions from those highly contrasting Week One results. Remember, App State ran it up at home against Maine, an FCS opponent, whereas ECU’s big-margin defeat came in front of 100,000-plus spectators on the road at Alabama, which might have yet another top-10 team nationally.
What we do know is that App State is gaining confidence offensively here in Year Two under head coach Dowell Loggains, a long-time offensive guru, whereas ECU still has plenty of confidence defensively under head coach Blake Harrell, a long-time defensive guru.
Both of these teams lost an extraordinary amount of talent in the transfer portal after last season, making 2026 projections that much more complicated, but it’s not difficult to imagine a Saturday afternoon showdown between new App State quarterback Malachi Singleton (a Purdue transfer) and an ECU offense that believes it will be able to run the ball against the Mountaineers.
This will be Singleton’s first career start against an FBS opponent, so ECU will hope to trick him into a few mistakes. Meanwhile, ECU’s offense will be led by 25-year-old seventh-year senior Mitch Griffis, a Texas Tech transfer who served as Wake Forest’s starter back in 2023, and the Pirates believe they can get their running game going with some combination of North Texas transfer Ashton Gray and Marshall transfer Michael Allen, who predictably had very little room to run at Alabama.
In the final analysis, either the Pirates (a seven-point favorite) will be able to exploit App State’s largely rebuilt defense … or these two teams will be in for another nail-biter, just as they experienced at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in this head-to-head matchup two years ago.
Quick-Hitters Involving Other NC Teams
North Carolina A&T (0-2) at NC Central (1-1), noon (ESPN+)
The “Aggie-Eagle Classic,” which is now sponsored by our partners at Pepsi, is one of the oldest and best rivalries in North Carolina. (We’ll be there again this year with our “Bold North State Tailgate Tour.”) A&T leads the all-time series 54-38 (with five ties), and the Aggies have had long stretches of dominance in this rivalry, but NC Central has been firmly in control lately, with four consecutive victories — including two straight blowouts — under the Eagles’ eighth-year head coach, Trei Oliver, who was a star player for his alma mater back in the mid-1990s. Fun fact: A&T’s second-year head coach, Shawn Gibbs, was a college teammate of Oliver at NCCU about 30 years ago! P.S. If you’re headed to this game, please look for us outside O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham in the tailgating hours leading up to that noon kickoff, which was moved up from the originally scheduled time because of weather-related concerns.
Wake Forest (1-0) at Purdue (1-0), noon (FS1)
Purdue has been one of the worst programs in the Big Ten for most of the past 20 years, and the Boilermakers were picked to finish dead-last in the league again this year, under second-year coach Barry Odom. However, just as Wake Forest dominated Akron 38-16 last week in its opener, Purdue did something similar during a 44-19 victory over Indiana State. For what it’s worth, both starting quarterbacks in this Wake-Purdue game spent time under Belichick in Chapel Hill, and each played very well for his current team last week. Lopez, of course, struggled as the Tar Heels’ starter last season, whereas Purdue QB Ryan Browne spent only the 2025 spring semester in Chapel Hill before returning to the Boilermakers. Browne is now in his second season as Purdue’s starter and coming off a career-high 317 passing yards and three TDs last week against Indiana State. Lopez did similar things to Akron last Thursday, so this one should be fun to watch, with the Demon Deacons just a three-point favorite.
NOTE: For the national edition of our Week Two college football preview, including analysis on the highest-profile games, please click HERE.
NC Football Bowl Subdivision (Seven Teams)
(Games Saturday Unless Otherwise Indicated)
FCS #21 Richmond (2-0) at NC State (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPNU) — Friday
East Tennessee State (1-1) at North Carolina (1-0), noon (ACCN)
Wake Forest (1-0) at Purdue (1-0), noon (FS1)
Appalachian State (1-0) at East Carolina (0-1), noon (ESPNU)
Duke (1-0) at Illinois (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (FS1)
Charlotte (0-1) at #9 Ole Miss (1-0), 7:45 p.m. (ESPN2)
Open Week: none
Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)
Florida A&M (1-0) at #7 Miami (1-0), 8 p.m. (ACCN) — Thursday
FCS #18 Villanova (1-1) at #24 Louisville (0-1), 7 p.m. (ACCN) — Friday
Norfolk State (1-1) at #25 Virginia (1-0), 7 p.m. (ACCNX) — Friday
FCS #21 Richmond (2-0) at NC State (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPNU) — Friday
Rutgers (0-1) at Boston College (0-1), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2) — Friday
East Tennessee State (1-1) at North Carolina (1-0), noon (ACCN)
Old Dominion (1-0) at Virginia Tech (1-0), noon (The CW)
Wake Forest (1-0) at Purdue (1-0), noon (FS1)
UCF (1-0) at Pittsburgh (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
California (0-1) at Syracuse (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Duke (1-0) at Illinois (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (FS1)
UC Davis (2-0) at #17 SMU (1-0), 4 p.m. (ACCNX)
#18 Tennessee (1-0) at Georgia Tech (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Georgia Southern (1-0) at Clemson (0-1), 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Open Week: Florida State (0-1), Stanford (0-1)
NC Football Championship Subdivision (Seven Teams)
North Carolina A&T (0-2) at NC Central (1-1), noon (ESPN+)
(Bold North State Tailgate game; time change = weather concerns)
Elon (2-0) at #13 Rhode Island (1-1), noon (FloCollege)
Dickinson-PA (1-0) at Davidson (0-2), noon (ESPN+)
Campbell (2-0) at Florida (1-0), 5:30 p.m. (SECN+)
Gardner-Webb (0-2) at Liberty (0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Carolina (1-1) at Cincinnati (1-0), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Open Week: none
NC Division Two (13 Teams)
Virginia Union (1-1) at Chowan (1-1), 1 p.m. (CCDN)
UNC Pembroke (1-1) at Shorter (1-1), 1 p.m. (CCDN)
Catawba (1-1) at Mars Hill (1-0), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Wingate (1-1) at Carson-Newman (2-0), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Ferrum (0-2) at Shaw (1-1), 2 p.m. (CIAA)
Bluefield (0-2) at Barton (0-2), 2 p.m. (CCDN)
Livingstone (0-2) at Bluefield State (0-2), 6 p.m. (CIAA)
#16 Valdosta State (2-0) at Fayetteville State (2-0), 6 p.m. (FSUSN)
Johnson C Smith (0-1) at Winston-Salem State (0-2), 6 p.m. (CIAA)
Lenoir-Rhyne (1-1) at #11 Newberry (1-0), 7 p.m. (FloCollege)
Open Week: Elizabeth City State (0-1)
NC Division Three (Five Teams)
Apprentice (1-1) at North Carolina Wesleyan (1-0), noon (FloCollege)
Sewanee (0-1) at Brevard (0-0), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Greensboro (1-0) at Roanoke (1-0), 2 p.m. (FloCollege)
Methodist (0-1) at Guilford (0-1), 7 p.m. (FloCollege)
Open Week: none
