NC/ACC Week Five CFB Previews & Schedules:
#3 Notre Dame-UNC, Louisville-NCSU Lead Way
As Wake, Elon, Mars Hill Aim To Keep Building
(DG’s Weekly CFB YouTube Show = Below)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 1, 2026)
The 2026 college football season continues Thursday through Saturday with a compelling Week Five schedule that includes four North Carolina-based Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in action, including UNC hosting #3 Notre Dame, NC State hosting Louisville and Wake Forest hosting Stanford.
The most prominent games nationally include #4 Miami (4-0) taking on Clemson (3-1) at Death Valley in a prime-time Saturday night national television window (7:30 p.m., ABC), a Southeastern Conference showdown between #7 Alabama (4-0) and #16 Mississippi State (4-0) on Saturday afternoon (noon, ABC), and a high-profile Big Ten clash pairing #5 Ohio State (3-1) and #14 Iowa (4-0) in between (3:30 p.m., CBS).
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 a handful of other compelling Week Five matchups.
NC/ACC “Three To See,” Game One
#3 Notre Dame (4-0) at UNC (2-1), Sat., noon (ESPN)
It probably won’t surprise anyone to learn that, of the 23 previous football games between Notre Dame and North Carolina, the Fighting Irish won 21 times.
The Tar Heels are 0-13 all-time at Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana, 0-1 in a 1949 regular-season game (the first in the rivalry) played at Yankee Stadium in New York, and they’re a slightly more respectable 2-7 against the legendary Irish program in Chapel Hill, with the victories coming in 1960 under coach Jim Hickey and in 2008 under coach Butch Davis.
Regarding this year’s matchup, 4-0 Notre Dame has absolutely mauled everyone it has played — that includes a 41-13 victory over Wisconsin, a 52-0 annihilation of Rice, a 27-10 triumph over Michigan State, and a 49-10 win at Purdue — whereas the 2-1 Tar Heels have played consistently solid defense but just haven’t been able to put many points on the scoreboard.
The Notre Dame defense is ranked #1 nationally in some of the efficiency numbers, while yielding about eight points and an FBS-best 199 yards per game.
Fifth-year Irish head coach Marcus Freeman, whose average annual record with the Irish is an impressive 11-3 and who led Notre Dame to an appearance in the national championship game just two years ago, is a former Ohio State linebacker and a defensive-minded coach. He has big-time NFL prospects such as cornerback Leonard Moore, safety Brauntae Johnson, end Boubacar Traore and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa on that side of the ball this year, although Johnson will miss the Carolina game with an ongoing foot injury.
Every aspect of UNC’s depth chart will have to be at its best for the Tar Heels to even be competitive in this game.
The Carolina defense, which has given up only about 14 points per game against three teams with inferior quarterback play, will have to deal with a high-profile NFL prospect this time.
Notre Dame’s redshirt sophomore QB, CJ Carr, is now 14-2 as the Irish starter. He has completed more than 70 percent of his passes this season, for about 240 yards per game and nine touchdowns, while throwing only one interception and taking only two sacks.
Notre Dame is expected to have its biggest advantage against the struggling Carolina offense, which is near the bottom of the ACC in scoring offense, at only 23 points per game.
The Tar Heels have run the ball well at times, and they have a talented wide receiver in Jordan Shipp and a versatile tight end in Jelani Thurman, but their offensive tackles often have trouble in pass protection, and their sixth-year senior quarterback, Billy Edwards Jr., while showing strong leadership skills and making mostly good decisions, hasn’t yet made opposing defenses respect his downfield throwing ability.
Bottom line: In the history of UNC football, Notre Dame is the one regular opponent (10 or more contests) with the most dominant record (21-2) over the Tar Heels, and it would take a truly historic performance by the home team on Saturday for Carolina (a 21-point underdog) to claim just its third win ever in this nearly 80-year-old rivalry.
NC/ACC “Three To See,” Game TwoStanford (2-2) at Wake Forest (3-1), Sat., noon (ACCN)
This matchup looks a bit different than it did just a week ago, because each team is coming off its best game so far this season.
Stanford was picked to finish last in the ACC under first-year head coach Tavita Pritchard, and the Cardinal initially stumbled to a 1-2 start that included lopsided losses to Miami and Duke.
However, Stanford stunned Georgia Tech 34-27 last Saturday night in Palo Alto, with sixth-year senior quarterback Davis Warren (formerly of Michigan) posting a career-high 396 passing yards and three touchdowns to beat the Yellow Jackets.
Meanwhile, Wake Forest went to Louisville and beat the nationally ranked Cardinals, 30-27. That victory was a byproduct of both another brilliant game plan from second-year Wake coach Jake Dickert and his staff and more solid execution and high football IQ from the Demon Deacons on the field, both offensively and defensively.
One of the biggest reasons Wake is a 13-point favorite over Stanford is that the Demon Deacons are a more difficult team to defend than they were during Dickert’s 9-4 debut last season, and the Cardinal are dead-last in the ACC in scoring defense, at more than 33 points per game.
The Deacons do miss star tailback Demond Claiborne — who wouldn’t? — but they’re a much more balanced offense with UNC quarterback transfer Gio Lopez reuniting with his former offensive coordinator, Rob Ezell, in Winston-Salem after Lopez’s turbulent season in Chapel Hill.
Lopez has said he has much more freedom to audible in Wake’s offense, as well as much more freedom to run from the QB position, and so far that combination has made him look a lot more like he did two years ago, when Ezell and Lopez helped lead South Alabama to a bowl game.
Now Lopez gets to compete against a very vulnerable Stanford defense, which has an outstanding linebacker in fifth-year senior Matt Rose but is last in the league in sacks, total defense, passing defense and scoring defense.
Lopez already ranks fifth in the ACC in passing, with 278 yards per game, and he has thrown eight touchdown passes against only one interception. Lopez also has quickly developed tremendous chemistry with Wake’s senior wideout, Carlos Hernandez.
Hernandez, who now ranks fifth nationally with 129 receiving yards per game, was among the handful of players who followed Dickert from Washington State to Wake Forest after the 2024 season, and now he’s having by far the best season of his four-year college career. Also a dangerous punt returner, Hernandez had a 78-yard reception for a touchdown in the season opener against Akron and a 77-yard catch for a score last week, in one of the biggest plays of the Demon Deacons’ enormous victory at Louisville.
NC/ACC “Three To See,” Game Three
Louisville (2-2) at NC State (2-2), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Louisville has a 9-4 all-time edge in this rivalry, including a 6-3 advantage over NC State teams led by 14th-year Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren.
The only previous matchup between Doeren and fourth-year Louisville coach Jeff Brohm with their current schools was a 13-10 Cardinals victory three years ago at this same venue, Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.
Brohm’s average record through his first three seasons at his alma mater was roughly 9-4, whereas Doeren’s average record over his first 13 seasons in Raleigh was roughly 7-5. That small but significant disparity symbolizes the different perceptions of these two programs and perhaps even the perceptions of these two teams, with each entering this contest with a middling 2-2 record.
Statistically speaking, both offenses will enter this contest with more accomplishments — and likely more confidence — than both defenses.
Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, an Ohio State transfer who played only rarely during his three seasons with the Buckeyes, has emerged as one of the top five signal-callers in the ACC through his first four games under Brohm. A dual-threat QB who was a dynamic multi-sport athlete in high school, Kienholz ranks third in the ACC in total offense and fourth with 285 passing yards per game, with seven touchdown throws against only one interception.
Kienholz does not have the benefit of an elite offensive line, but he is surrounded by quality skill players, including Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown at running back, Vanderbilt transfer Tre Richardson and Florida State transfer Lawayne McCoy at wide receiver, and former Miami player Jaleel Skinner at tight end.
Similarly, ever since his very slow start to the season in NC State’s embarrassing loss at Virginia, Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey — a third-year starter — has played at a high level, with the very large exception of his unforgettable, game-reversing end-zone flub in the final seconds at Vanderbilt.
But Bailey also plays behind a so-so offensive line, and after the Wolfpack lost tight end Justin Joly to the NFL and several other key offensive contributors to the transfer portal, it’s taken Bailey a while to develop chemistry with their replacements.
Over the Wolfpack’s last three games, tailback Duke Scott and backup QB Will Wilson have been valuable weapons in the running game, while wideouts Keenan Jackson and Jojo Trader and tight end Preston Douglas have stepped up as quality receivers.
NC State will need a smart plan to deal with Louisville edge rusher Clev Lubin, the only high-impact player on either team’s defensive line in the early going, but the Pack hopes to exploit an injury-riddled Cardinals secondary in many of the same ways Wake Forest did on the way to its big win over the Cards last Saturday.
Quick-Hitters Involving Other NC Teams
With Duke (4-0), Appalachian State (3-1) and East Carolina (2-2) all off this week, that leaves more of the Bold North State spotlight for the FBS teams mentioned above, plus a few squads from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Division Two ranks.
The top three in-state games at the FCS level involve 4-1 Campbell, 4-1 Elon and 2-3 Western Carolina. … Coach Braxton Harris and the Camels, who are now ranked #24 in the coaches’ poll, would match the best start in their program’s modern history if they can get to 5-1 with a victory at 2-3 NC Central. … The Phoenix, who are knocking on the door of the FCS Top 25 under eighth-year coach Tony Trisciani, can get to 5-1 with a win at 1-4 New Hampshire in a matchup of teams that were both picked to finish in the top four of the Coastal Athletic Association in that league’s preseason coaches poll. … The Catamounts, while off to a rough start under sixth-year coach Kerwin Bell, get to host the #8 team in the FCS rankings, 4-0 Tennessee Tech, at Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee on Saturday night. Those are fun opportunities for Campbell, Elon and Western Carolina, and we wish them well this weekend.
Meanwhile, in the Division Two ranks, Mars Hill has a chance to build on one of the best starts in that program’s history. Second-year head coach Kevin Barnette and the Lions are off to a 4-0 start, they posted an eye-opening road victory at #16 and previously undefeated Carson-Newman last week, and they’re now ranked #21 in one of the D2 polls. The Lions host 3-2 Tusculum on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Meares Stadium in Mars Hill, right there in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the far western part of the Bold North State. Good luck to Mars Hill, which is alongside 4-0 Duke and 3-0 Brevard (a Division Three program) as the only major college football teams in North Carolina that remain undefeated this season.
NOTE: For the national edition of our Week Five college football preview, including analysis on the highest-profile games, please click HERE.
NC Football Bowl Subdivision (Seven Teams)
(Games Saturday Unless Otherwise Indicated)
#3 Notre Dame (4-0) at North Carolina (2-1), noon (ESPN)
Stanford (2-2) at Wake Forest (3-1), noon (ACCN)
Louisville (2-2) at NC State (2-2), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Memphis (3-1) at Charlotte (0-4), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Open Week: Appalachian State (3-1), Duke (4-0), East Carolina (2-2)
Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)
Pittsburgh (4-0) at Virginia Tech (4-0), 7 p.m. (ESPN) — Friday
#3 Notre Dame (4-0) at North Carolina (2-1), noon (ESPN)
Boston College (2-2) at #21 SMU (3-1), noon (The CW)
Stanford (2-2) at Wake Forest (3-1), noon (ACCN)
Syracuse (1-2) at UConn (2-2), noon (CBSSN)
Louisville (2-2) at NC State (2-2), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
California (2-2) at UNLV (2-2), 3:30 p.m. (CBSSN)
Virginia (3-1) at Florida State (2-2), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
#4 Miami (4-0) at Clemson (3-1), 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
Open Week: Duke (4-0), Georgia Tech (1-3)
NC Football Championship Subdivision (Seven Teams)
Elon (4-1) at New Hampshire (1-4), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Davidson (2-3) at San Diego (1-3), 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
North Carolina A&T (1-4) at Bryant (3-1), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
#24 Campbell (4-1) at NC Central (2-3), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
Gardner-Webb (1-4) at Charleston Southern (2-2), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
#8 Tennessee Tech (4-0) at Western Carolina (2-3), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Open Week: none
NC Division Two (13 Teams)
Johnson C Smith (3-1) at Bluefield State (0-5), 1 p.m. (BBSN)
Shaw (4-1) at Bowie State (1-3), 1 p.m. (CIAA)
Elizabeth City State (0-4) at Virginia Union (4-1), 1 p.m. (CIAA)
North Greenville (4-0) at UNC Pembroke (4-1), 1 p.m. (CCDN)
Fayetteville State (2-3) at Livingstone (2-3), 2 p.m. (CIAA)
Ferrum (0-4) at Barton (1-4), 2 p.m. (CCDN)
Carson-Newman (4-1) at Lenoir-Rhyne (2-3), 2 p.m. (FloCollege)
Tusculum (3-2) at #21 Mars Hill (4-0), 2:30 p.m. (FloCollege)
Chowan (2-2) at West Alabama (4-1), 5 p.m. (CIAA)
Wingate (2-3) at Catawba (2-3), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
Open Week: Winston-Salem State (0-5)
NC Division Three (Five Teams)
LaGrange (2-1) at North Carolina Wesleyan (2-1), noon (FloCollege)
Huntingdon (1-2) at Methodist (1-2), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Belhaven (1-2) at Brevard (3-0), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Roanoke (3-0) at Guilford (1-2), 1 p.m. (FloCollege)
Southern Virginia (1-2) at Greensboro (1-2), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
Open Week: none
