NC/ACC Week Five College Football Previews:

Duke, NC State, App State, ECU, Wake Forest
Among In-State Teams Facing Key Challenges
(DG’s “This Week In CFB” YouTube Show = Below)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Sept. 23, 2025)

The 2025 college football season continues via a compelling Week Five schedule, with East Carolina hosting Army in a Thursday night clash on ESPN, Duke and Appalachian State facing difficult road trips, Wake Forest hosting nationally ranked Georgia Tech, and NC State trying to bounce back from its first loss while taking on Virginia Tech in Raleigh.

The most prominent games nationally this time include conference clashes in the ACC, the SEC and Big Ten, respectively: #8 Florida State at Virginia on Friday night (7 p.m., ESPN), #4 LSU at #13 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m., ABC) and #6 Oregon at #3 Penn State on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock).

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 (2-2) at Syracuse (3-1), Sat., noon (ACCN)

First, a quick reminder that Syracuse (a six-point home underdog) almost certainly would have been the favorite to beat Duke, except that the Orange’s sensational new starting quarterback — Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli — suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the team’s impressive win Saturday at Clemson and thus will miss the rest of this season.

Angeli had been leading the nation in passing, despite not making his transfer decision until after spring practice and despite starting just one game in his three full seasons with the Fighting Irish. Somehow, he had thrived for coach Fran Brown and the Orange almost from the start, and the redshirt junior did lead that big win over the Tigers at Death Valley despite getting hurt and leaving the game in the third quarter.

Now there’s at least a chance that Duke will have a significant edge at quarterback, where the Blue Devils have a proven commodity in Tulane transfer Darian Mensah, and where the Orange are forced to turn to the guy they originally believed would be their starter this season, LSU transfer Rickie Collins.

A January enrollee, Collins did go through spring practice at Syracuse and actually was announced as the team’s 2025 starter in April, before Angeli’s transfer decision became official. Collins was a highly regarded high school player in Louisiana before signing with home-state LSU but then riding the bench for the Tigers over the past two seasons, when he was stuck behind NFL prospect Garrett Nussmeier on the depth chart.

Now, as a redshirt sophomore, Collins will get his chance. Like a lot of inexperienced quarterbacks, he’s viewed as an inconsistent passer who at this point is more dangerous with his legs. Either Collins will prove that theory wrong or Duke will have a major advantage in this matchup.

During their 2-2 start against pretty solid competition — including nationally ranked Illinois, American Conference contender Tulane and, most recently, ACC middleweight NC State — the Blue Devils have been mostly good on offense, but they often have struggled on defense and even sometimes on special teams.

At running back, both rugged App State transfer Anderson Castle and shifty true freshman Nate Sheppard looked very good for coach Manny Diaz during their increased playing time against the Wolfpack. The Devils have plenty of capable wide receivers, too.

To beat Syracuse, though, Duke is going to need its defense — which is giving up an ACC-worst 32 points per game — to get better, too. End Vincent Anthony Jr. already has five sacks, and star cornerback Chandler Rivers has been rock-solid. Duke also has limited opponents to less than four yards per carry in the running game. However, opposing quarterbacks have completed about 70 percent of their passes, often against the Devils’ safeties, who have been better in run support than they have been in pass coverage.

Can Collins — in his first college start — exploit that Duke secondary, as others have this season? We’ll see on Saturday afternoon in The Dome.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Two

Virginia Tech (1-3) at NC State (3-1), Sat., 7 p.m. (The CW)

There’s little doubt that NC State (a 10-point favorite) is the better team in this one, and that would have been the case regardless of Virginia Tech’s recent coaching change, which led at least a couple of talented players to leave the Hokies and put their name in the transfer portal.

Quick reminder: Whereas typically the portal window only opens after the regular season, there is an exception for those players who see their head coach leave or get fired. Also, since the Hokies had played only three games at the time coach Brent Pry got fired, any player who chooses to sit out the rest of the season would qualify for a redshirt campaign rather than burning another year of eligibility.

Tech did beat Wofford (an FCS opponent) last week, but the Hokies opened their season by losing three straight, to South Carolina, Vanderbilt and then — the get-your-coach-fired stunner — 45-26 at home against ODU.

NC State is dealing with its own form of between-games adversity for the first time this season, after last week’s disappointing 45-33 loss at Duke. While the Wolfpack out-gained the Blue Devils by a lot, it mostly came down to turnovers. The Pack had three interceptions and lost a fumble, and the Devils committed no turnovers.

When not shooting itself in the foot, State has an outstanding offense this year, led by quarterback CJ Bailey, running back Hollywood Smothers, tight end Justin Joly and a bunch of good wide receivers, including Terrell Anderson, a sophomore from Grimsley High School in Greensboro who had a break-out game at Duke, with six catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

The only scary part of this game for State is that the Wolfpack’s defense has been leaky at times. The Pack gave up a bunch of yards to ECU, 31 points to a well-balanced Virginia offense and then 45 points in the loss at Duke.

Tech’s quarterback, Kyron Drones, is a fifth-year senior with lots of experience and tremendous running ability, but he’s never been a particularly polished passer, and he has trouble seeing the field and throwing the ball accurately and on-time on downfield routes. Tech’s best skill player may be wide receiver Donovan Greene, a Wake Forest transfer.

If the Pack plays a cleaner game and executes a smart game plan for Drones — meaning keep him in the pocket, have a “spy” on him so he can’t gash you on scrambles out of the pocket — there should be no problem getting back on the winning track, with the much tougher part of State’s schedule still ahead.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Three

App State (2-1) at Boise State (2-1), Sat., 7:30 p.m. (FS1)

This is a fun matchup, in part, because App State became one of the most successful FCS-to-FBS transition stories in the East a little more than a decade ago, and Boise State (located more than 2,000 miles from Boone) has been an even bigger success story out West, after converting to the FBS ranks in the 1990s.

Boise was a junior college program for many decades and won a national championship at that level in the 1950s. Then the Broncos jumped to the FCS and won a national title there in 1980. Since joining the FBS ranks, Boise has had national Top 25 teams under multiple coaches, including Dan Hawkins, Chris Petersen, Bryan Harsin and — just last year — current coach Spencer Danielson, who was previously the team’s defensive coordinator.

Danielson finished 12-2, won the Mountain West Conference title, finished in the national top 10, and took the Broncos to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals in his first full season as their head coach.

Boise State is regarded by most as the best team in the Mountain West again this year, although the Broncos’ 2-1 start included an ugly 34-7 nonconference loss at South Florida before they put up huge offensive numbers in their back-to-back victories over Eastern Washington and Air Force.

Quarterback Maddux Madsen is only 5-foot-10, but he’s a redshirt junior now in his second year as the team’s starter, and he was voted onto the Mountain West preseason all-conference team. The Broncos also have a star running back in sophomore Dylan Riley, a star wide receiver in fifth-year senior Latrell Caples and a couple of their league’s best offensive linemen.

Boise has not been an elite team on defense, though, so if App State is going to have a chance, it probably will have to put up some big numbers on the scoreboard for first-year head coach Dowell Loggains, who’s an offensive guy from his days as an assistant in the NFL and in the Southeastern Conference.

AJ Swann, the LSU transfer who previously started at Vanderbilt, put up some big numbers in the Mountaineers’ first two games, both victories, but he threw three red-zone interceptions in their ugly 38-22 loss at Southern Miss in his most recent outing and was replaced by freshman Noah Gillon and junior college transfer Billy Wiles.

App State had an open week last week, so it will be fascinating to see what the national TV audience on FS1 gets from the Mountaineers’ quarterback — or quarterbacks — on the famous blue field in Boise.

The Mountaineers have an outstanding running back in Arkansas transfer Rashod Dubinion and an exciting wide receiver in Austin Peay transfer Jaden Barnes, among other talented skill players, but they’ll likely need a big performance from Swann or another signal-caller if they’re going to post what would be a stunning upset in Idaho.

In-State “Three To See,” Bonus Games

East Carolina is back in the national spotlight this week, as the 2-2 Pirates host a Thursday Night Special (7:30 p.m., ESPN) against 1-2 Army. The Pirates — led by quick-trigger quarterback Katin Houser and a very talented receiving corps — are a four-point favorite, and they’re hoping to put up some big offensive numbers against the Black Knights, who have played three straight close games to open their season, including a 24-21 win at Kansas State of the Big 12. … In other noteworthy in-state action, 2-1 Wake Forest is hosting 4-0 and nationally ranked Georgia Tech on Saturday (noon, ESPN). The #16 Yellow Jackets are a 13-point favorite over the Demon Deacons, mainly because Tech — led by sixth-year senior QB Haynes King — has been very well-rounded on offense this season, and the Deacs have not been nearly as difficult to defend. NC State dominated Wake at the line of scrimmage in the Wolfpack’s 34-24 win in Winston-Salem, and the Jackets definitely are going to try to do the same.

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

Army (1-2) at East Carolina (2-2), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) — Thursday
Duke (2-2) at Syracuse (3-1), noon (ACCN)
#16 Georgia Tech (4-0) at Wake Forest (2-1), noon (ESPN)
Virginia Tech (1-3) at NC State (3-1), 7 p.m. (The CW)
App State (2-1) at Boise State (2-1), 7:30 p.m. (FS1)

Open Week: Charlotte (1-3), North Carolina (2-2)

Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)

#8 Florida State (3-0) at Virginia (3-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN) — Friday
Duke (2-2) at Syracuse (3-1), noon (ACCN)
#16 Georgia Tech (4-0) at Wake Forest (2-1), noon (ESPN)
Louisville (3-0) at Pittsburgh (2-1), noon (ESPN2)
California (3-1) at Boston College (1-2), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Virginia Tech (1-3) at NC State (3-1), 7 p.m. (The CW)
San Jose State (1-2) at Stanford (1-3), 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)

Open Week: Clemson (1-3), #2 Miami (4-0), North Carolina (2-2), SMU (2-2)