NC/ACC Week Seven College Football Previews:

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

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 7, 2025)

The 2025 college football season continues via a compelling Week Seven schedule, with surging East Carolina getting another Thursday night national television spotlight, NC State facing a huge opportunity at #16 Notre Dame, Appalachian State embarking on an important out-of-state road trip, and — at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level — promising Elon and Western Carolina squads hosting highly regarded foes.

Meanwhile, the most prominent games nationally on Saturday include conference clashes in the SEC and the Big Ten, led by #8 Alabama at #14 Missouri (noon, ABC), the famous “Red River Showdown” between #6 Oklahoma and Texas (3:30 p.m., ABC) and #7 Indiana at #3 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

East Carolina (3-2) at Tulane (4-1), Thurs., 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

There are six teams in the American Conference that have elevated themselves above the rest so far this season —a list that also includes 6-0 Memphis, 4-1 South Florida, 5-0 North Texas and 5-0 Navy — and these two, East Carolina and Tulane, get to go head-to-head in ESPN’s national TV spotlight on Thursday night.

When either the Pirates or the Green Wave attempted to play someone in college football’s heavyweight division earlier this season, they got crushed. For ECU, it was a 34-13 home loss to BYU. For Tulane, it was a 45-10 defeat at Ole Miss.

However, the Green Wave (a six-point favorite) already has posted convincing victories over Northwestern of the Big Ten and Duke of the ACC this season, and the Pirates have both thrown the ball well and played very good defense overall, with their 13 points per game allowed ranking 11th nationally.

This matchup may come down to which defense does a better job of forcing the opposing offense away from what it does best.

What ECU does best offensively is throw the ball, often very soon after the snap. Redshirt junior quarterback Katin Houser is eighth nationally, with 302 passing yards per game, and he has plenty of capable receivers, including Anthony Smith, Yannick Smith and Brock Spalding, although he doesn’t always get great support from the Pirates’ rushing attack.

Tulane, meanwhile, has one of the best running quarterbacks in the nation in BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff, who leads the Green Wave in rushing by a wide margin but is completing only 54 percent of his passes. It’s not an option offense at Tulane, but Retzlaff gets yards in bunches for the Green Wave the way Haynes King gets them at Georgia Tech or Chandler Morris gets them at Virginia, as a byproduct of a more traditional offensive approach.

ECU’s defense was amazing in its wins over Campbell, Coastal Carolina and Army, but Tulane offers a much bigger and far more complicated challenge than any of those three opponents, so this one should be an enjoyable gridiron-style chess match on Thursday night.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Two

NC State (4-2) at #16 Notre Dame (3-2), Sat., 3:30 p.m. (Peacock)

The most exciting aspect of this matchup may be the quarterbacks. NC State sophomore CJ Bailey and Notre Dame redshirt freshman CJ Carr are two of the most promising younger signal-callers in all of college football.

The NFL is scrutinizing other, older guys even more right now — LaNorris Sellers of South Carolina, Dante Moore of Oregon, John Mateer of Oklahoma, Garrett Nussmeier of LSU, Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, etc. — but that’s in part because Bailey and Carr are only two years removed from high school, which means — unlike the others listed here — they won’t even be eligible for the draft until 2027, and even that’s only if they decide to jump early at that point, with college eligibility remaining.

The bottom line, for now, is that both Bailey and Carr are very dangerous passers, decent runners, mostly good decision-makers and very productive college players. They also both get help from extremely talented running backs (Hollywood Smothers for the Wolfpack; Jeremiyah Love, a probable first-round NFL pick, for the Fighting Irish). Neither defense in this game has been dominant so far this season, so there’s at least the possibility of a lot of yards and points in this one.

One reason Notre Dame is a 23-point favorite in this game is that the Fighting Irish’s 3-2 record has come against a much more difficult schedule than the Wolfpack’s 4-2 record.

The Irish’s two losses — both by three points or fewer — were to a pair of teams, Miami and Texas A&M, that are both still undefeated and both ranked in the national top five.

Meanwhile, the Wolfpack’s two losses have been to a very solid Duke team — but by double digits — and to a Virginia Tech squad that had recently seen its coach get fired, and that ugly defeat happened on the Pack’s home field.

While it’s true that Notre Dame isn’t nearly as dominant at the line of scrimmage as it was last season, when coach Marcus Freeman (pictured above) led the Irish to a 14-2 record and the national championship game, it’s also true that this isn’t one of coach Dave Doeren’s toughest teams in the trenches, either.

That could the focus back on the skill players, where both teams have plenty of talent, so perhaps that Peacock-only streaming audience at least will have some offensive fireworks worth watching, even if the scoreboard ends up being tilted in the Irish’s favor, as expected.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Three

Appalachian State (3-2) at Georgia State (1-4), Sat., 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

This game is included for one main reason: Looking at App State’s 3-2 record, and peeking ahead at the Mountaineers’ remaining schedule, this is the one road game that App really needs to win if this team is going to assure itself of a bowl game in head coach Dowell Loggains’ first season in Boone.

The Mountaineers’ first two true road games went poorly — blowout losses at Southern Miss and Boise State. Their final two road games this season likely will be extremely difficult — at ODU and at JMU, which look like two of the better teams in the Sun Belt Conference this year.

App State does have four more home games remaining, so simply defending that home turf — where the Mountaineers have a stunningly good record historically, including victories in nine of their last 10 games at The Rock — could be a pathway to the postseason this year, but a road win this week at 1-4 Georgia State also would help the cause in a very big way.

The Mountaineers are only a one-point favorite in this game, mainly because the only “sure thing” they’ve had going for them so far this season has been the powerful ground game of Rashod Dubinion, the Arkansas transfer who ranks fifth nationally with 122 rushing yards per game. App State has used four different quarterbacks already this season, from LSU transfer AJ Swann in the opener to last week’s starter, 6-foot-7, 245-pound Iowa State transfer JJ Kohl, and through its 3-2 start, the team is averaging only 23 points per game.

Georgia State has been particularly bad on special teams and defense this season, including against the run, so if the Panthers stack the box to try to slow down Dubinion, as expected, the Mountaineers should have plenty of opportunities in the passing game, where redshirt senior wide receiver Dalton Stroman and junior wideout Jaden Barnes (a speedy transfer from Austin Peay) are really talented guys who can shine only if one of the App State quarterbacks can get them the ball.

In-State “Three To See,” Bonus Games

Meanwhile, 3-2 Wake Forest is traveling to 0-6 Oregon State. If first-year head coach Jake Dickert is going to get the Demon Deacons (a two-point favorite) to a bowl game this season, they probably need to get this one, even though it’s 2,300 miles away and probably will be played in front of a tiny crowd against a desperate opponent that’s been reeling since the disintegration of the Pac-12. Duke (4-2) and North Carolina (2-3) are both off this week. … At the FCS level, 4-2 Elon faces a wonderful opportunity on Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Stadium, as the Phoenix host #17 Villanova, a Coastal Athletic Association opponent that has been a pretty consistent winner over the years. Elon is playing great defense, as usual, under Tony Trisciani, who’s now in his seventh season leading the program, after serving as its defensive coordinator under Curt Cignetti (now at Indiana) in 2017 and 2018. … Also at the FCS level, there are three teams still undefeated in Southern Conference play, and two of them will face each other on Saturday, when Furman visits Western Carolina in Cullowhee. … Finally, at the Division Two level, Catawba is off to a 5-1 start, and the Indians will take a huge step toward a possible appearance in the South Atlantic Conference championship game Saturday night if they can get a win at 3-2 Wingate.

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

East Carolina (3-2) at Tulane (4-1), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) — Thursday
Charlotte (1-4) at Army (2-3), noon (CBSSN)
NC State (4-2) at #16 Notre Dame (3-2), 3:30 p.m. (Peacock)
Wake Forest (3-2) at Oregon State (0-6), 3:30 p.m. (The CW)
Appalachian State (3-2) at Georgia State (1-4), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Open Week: Duke (4-2), North Carolina (2-3)

Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)

Pittsburgh (3-2) at #25 Florida State (3-2), noon (ESPN)
Stanford (2-3) at SMU (3-2), noon (The CW)
Virginia Tech (2-4) at #13 Georgia Tech (5-0), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
NC State (4-2) at #16 Notre Dame (3-2), 3:30 p.m. (Peacock)
Wake Forest (3-2) at Oregon State (0-6), 3:30 p.m. (The CW)
Clemson (2-3) at Boston College (1-4), 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)

Open Week: Cal (4-2), Duke (4-2), Louisville (4-1), #2 Miami (5-0), North Carolina (2-3), Syracuse (3-3), #19 Virginia (5-1)