NC/ACC Week Eight College Football Previews:

Duke, UNC, East Carolina Among
In-State Teams Facing Key Games
(DG’s “This Week In CFB” YouTube Show = Below Soon)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Oct. 14, 2025)

The 2025 college football season continues via a compelling Week Eight schedule, with East Carolina getting another Thursday night national television spotlight in Greenville, Duke facing a huge opportunity with #12 Georgia Tech visiting Durham, embattled UNC embarking on an important cross-country road trip, and — at the Division Two level — UNC Pembroke hitting the road for a showdown that carries conference title implications.

Meanwhile, the most prominent Week Eight games nationally include intra-league clashes in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference, led by 4-1 Louisville at #2 Miami (Fri., 7 p.m., ESPN), #5 Ole Miss at #9 Georgia (Sat., 3:30 p.m., ABC) and #11 Tennessee at #6 Alabama (Sat., 7:30 p.m., ABC).

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

This is one of the most compelling matchups of the entire college football weekend, for multiple reasons.

First, Georgia Tech is 6-0 and nationally ranked, whereas Duke — while dealing with a lesser overall record — is a perfect 3-0 in conference play. If you look at their remaining schedules, the winner of this game — and only the winner — has an obvious, direct, manageable path to the ACC championship game in Charlotte.

That would be an enormous, first-time accomplishment for either fourth-year Tech coach Brent Key or second-year Duke coach Manny Diaz, just as Diaz’s name understandably has popped up in the Penn State coaching conversations, after the dismissal of long-time Nittany Lions leader James Franklin. Diaz did a great job as Penn State’s defensive coordinator during the two seasons immediately before he accepted the Duke job, although he’s not the #1 or #2 target in that coaching search, at least at this early stage.

Second, this game will match two of the best quarterbacks in the entire ACC — Haynes King of the Yellow Jackets, who’s a dual-threat nightmare for opposing defenses, and Darian Mensah of the Blue Devils. who’s throwing the ball at least as well as anyone in the league. Each ranks as a high-end midseason All-ACC candidate.

Neither defense in this game dominates at the line of scrimmage, which means that creating turnovers and getting off the field on third down will be crucial focal points for both sides.

Tech (a one-point underdog) will try to run the ball with King, on both designed runs and QB scrambles, and with the Yellow Jackets’ talented one-two punch at tailback, fifth-year senior Jamal Haynes and Penn transfer Malachi Hosley, behind a very strong line.

Duke, meanwhile, will try to run a bit, especially with blossoming true freshman tailback Nate Sheppard, but the Blue Devils also believe they’ll be able to protect Mensah, who has developed great chemistry with his wide receivers, especially Harvard transfer Cooper Barkate and former East Forsyth prep star Que’Sean Brown.

This seems to be an even matchup in many ways, although the Yellow Jackets have a significant statistical advantage on special teams, where junior placekicker Aidan Birr, senior punter Marshall Nichols (a big-time UNLV transfer and NFL prospect) and fifth-year senior punt returner Eric Rivers (an FIU transfer) have been extremely impressive all season.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Two

The one thing many people forgot or downplayed last week, when the rumors were flying about Bill Belichick’s future in Chapel Hill, is the Money Factor. That’s never a good idea if you’re trying to understand or communicate, as the outstanding book series describes in other contexts, How Stuff Works.

UNC’s decision-makers insist that they have no desire to fire the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach at this very early stage of his maiden voyage at the college level, but even if they did want to fire Belichick and his staff this year, the price tag would be approximately $30 million — $20 million for Belichick’s contractual buyout, about $10 million more for everyone and everything else.

For some very important perspective, remember that would be, by far, the largest coaching buyout ever paid by any public university in the state of North Carolina, and — for that reason and various others — it’s just insanely unlikely to happen during or even after Year One.

If Belichick wanted to leave — and he said again this week that’s not the case — that would be one thing, because it would be an uncomplicated departure from a financial perspective. Firing him, at this early stage, just is extremely unlikely to happen.

Regarding the actual game, as the Tar Heels (a 10-point underdog) travel about 2,400 miles for a battle that matches two of the five highest-ranked public universities in America from an academic standpoint, to be candid, neither Carolina nor California is a very good football team.

It’s true that the Bears are 4-2, but it’s also true that they’ve played a very weak schedule to this point, and that they got absolutely slaughtered by both San Diego State (34-0) and Duke (45-21).

Personnel-wise, ninth-year Cal coach Justin Wilcox has the better team in this matchup, mainly because of the Bears’ defense, where they have very good players at linebacker and in the secondary, but both teams have struggled mightily on offense.

Under first-year coordinator Freddie Kitchens (who has minimal play-calling or coordinating experience in his entire 27-year career), UNC’s passing offense in particular has been truly embarrassing, and schematically the Tar Heels simply have done absolutely nothing to keep defenses off-balance.

Cal’s offense has a very talented but also very unpredictable true freshman at quarterback in Jaron Sagapolutele (practice it: “JARE-en Song-Ew-Polo-Tell-Ay”), and the Bears have a familiar face at running back in NC State transfer Kendrick Raphael, but their sheer talent level overall should not be enough to push Carolina around.

Maybe the most unpredictable aspect of this game — and perhaps the most fascinating, too — will be whether the Tar Heels, though reports of locker room infighting, will actually play together and put forth maximum effort for their coaches and teammates. That’s a very low bar, but there are virtually no safe assumptions surrounding UNC football right now.

In-State “Three To See,” Game Three

Tulsa (2-4) at East Carolina (3-3), Thurs., 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
(Old North State Tailgate & Traveling Sports Circus)

Among the seven FBS programs in North Carolina, there are only two that still appear to have a chance at a special season, when you factor in both how the team is playing and who’s left on their regular-season schedule.

One of those squads is Duke. The other is East Carolina.

The Pirates are only 3-3 right now, but they’re playing very good defense, they have a highly productive quarterback in Katin Houser, and they may be favored in five of their last six regular-season games, with a mid-November visit to Greenville by 6-0 Memphis the only exception.

ECU is a huge (16-point) favorite on Thursday night against Tulsa, which did shock Oklahoma State in Stillwater earlier this season — getting long-time Cowboys coach Mike Gundy fired in the process — but the Golden Hurricane has looked pretty poor in conference play so far, especially on offense.

First-year Tulsa head coach Tre Lamb, who did a very good job during his four-year tenure at Gardner-Webb here in the Bold North State, then quickly turned one solid season at East Tennessee State into the Tulsa job, is a rising star in the coaching ranks, at only 36 years old. However, he just doesn’t have great personnel this season, especially on offense.

At quarterback, the Golden Hurricane has used both sophomore Kirk Francis and redshirt freshman Baylor Hayes extensively, without much success in either case.

Expect ECU head coach Blake Harrell and defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge, whose unit leads the American Conference in scoring defense, at only 15 points per game, to make life miserable for Tulsa’s QBs under the bright lights at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday night.

In-State “Three To See,” Bonus Games

At the FBS level, NC State (4-3) and Wake Forest (4-2) are both off this week, but Appalachian State and Charlotte have home games on Saturday afternoon, under two totally different sets of circumstances. … The 4-2 Mountaineers are a 10-point favorite as they host 3-3 Coastal Carolina (3:30 p.m., ESPN+) at Kidd Brewer Stadium. The Chanticleers have looked absolutely horrific in all three of their losses this season, but they have won two of their last three. Maybe the most interesting angle to watch for App State, which absolutely annihilated Georgia State last week (at one point leading 31-zip in Atlanta), is the continued development of redshirt sophomore quarterback JJ Kohl, the 6-foot-7, 245-pound Iowa State transfer who barely played in the Mountaineers’ first four games but started the last two — both victories — and looked much-improved at Georgia State, with 309 passing yards and four touchdowns. … Meanwhile, the 1-5 49ers are an 11-point underdog as they host 3-3 Temple (3:30 p.m., ESPN+). The Owls appear to be a middle-of-the-pack team in the American Conference this season, whereas Charlotte — as expected — may have a hard time staying out of the league cellar. … The only other game worth mentioning this week comes at the Division Two level. UNC Pembroke, led by third-year head coach Mark Hall, is #20 in the D2 national rankings, after a fantastic 6-1 start. The Braves visit the only other team that is undefeated in the Conference Carolinas, the North Greenville Crusaders. The winner of that one will have the inside track for the league championship and the automatic D2 playoff bid that comes with it.

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

Tulsa (2-4) at East Carolina (3-3), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) — Thursday
North Carolina (2-3) at California (4-2), 10:30 p.m. — Friday
#12 Georgia Tech (6-0) at Duke (4-2), noon (ESPN)
Coastal Carolina (3-3) at Appalachian State (4-2), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Temple (3-3) at Charlotte (1-5), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Open Week: NC State (4-3), Wake Forest (4-2)

Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)

Louisville (4-1) at #2 Miami (5-0), 7 p.m. — Friday
North Carolina (2-3) at California (4-2), 10:30 p.m. — Friday
#12 Georgia Tech (6-0) at Duke (4-2), noon (ESPN)
UConn (4-2) at Boston College (1-5), noon (ACCN)
SMU (4-2) at Clemson (3-3), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Washington State (3-3) at #18 Virginia (5-1), 6:30 p.m. (The CW)
Pittsburgh (4-2) at Syracuse (3-3), 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Florida State (3-3) at Stanford (2-4), 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Open Week: NC State (4-3), Virginia Tech (2-5), Wake Forest (4-2)