Week 11 NATIONAL College Football Previews:
Duke-#5 Miami, #11 Wake Forest-#25 SMU,
#15 USC-#6 Indiana Among Biggest Matchups
(DG’s Weekly CFB YouTube Show = Below)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Nov. 12, 2026)
The 2026 college football campaign continues Tuesday through Saturday with a compelling Week 11 schedule, highlighted by high-profile games involving nationally ranked teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten.
The three most intriguing contests nationally — each previewed below — include Duke (7-2) visiting #5 Miami (8-1) on Saturday afternoon (noon, ABC), #11 Wake Forest (8-1) traveling to #25 SMU (7-2) in the same time slot (noon, ESPN), and #15 Southern Cal (7-2) taking on #6 Indiana (8-1) later in the day (3:30 p.m., CBS). All three games have major implications for this year’s College Football Playoff.
Meanwhile, the other five Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams here in the Bold North State also are in action again this week, with UNC seeking bowl eligibility in a home game against Louisville, NC State hosting Syracuse on the Wolfpack’s Senior Day, App State visiting Marshall, and Charlotte and East Carolina going head-to-head in the Queen City.
Here are more details on our “Three To See” selections from this week’s national schedule:
National “Three To See,” Game One
Duke (7-2) at #5 Miami (8-1), noon (ABC)
When Duke coach Manny Diaz talked over the summer about this trip to Miami, he suggested that most of the associated storylines were passé.
Yes, Diaz was born and raised in Miami. Yes, his father was once Miami’s mayor. Yes, Diaz coached at Miami for six straight seasons, including from 2019-21 as the Hurricanes’ head coach. Yes, UM then fired him after his three-year record in Coral Gables amounted to just 21-15.
All of those same narratives were in play two years ago, Diaz said, when — in his first year at Duke — the Blue Devils traveled to Hard Rock Stadium and got blown out by a 53-31 final margin.
This time, of course, in addition to those older storylines, Miami happens to be the #5 team in the country, and the Hurricanes’ key players include two former Blue Devils, meaning Heisman candidate Darian Mensah at quarterback and another returning All-ACC player, ex-Duke wideout Cooper Barkate.
So, yes, the surrounding details are even more compelling this time, especially with the Devils coming in with a 7-2 record against the Canes’ 8-1 mark.
From an Xs-and-Os perspective, the most intriguing aspect of this game will come when Miami has the ball.
The Hurricanes have the #1 scoring offense in the entire country, at 45 points per game, and they have the top collegiate quarterback in Mensah, who leads the nation in passing efficiency, with 2,701 passing yards, 28 touchdown throws and only two interceptions.
Among UM’s first nine opponents, only Notre Dame kept the Canes under 33 points, and the Fighting Irish have a top-10 defense that includes multiple NFL prospects.
Duke does rank fifth nationally in scoring defense, at only 13 points per game, and the Blue Devils are #1 in the ACC in both scoring defense and total defense, although they may not have as many NFL-caliber athletes as Notre Dame does.
Meanwhile, when Duke has the ball, there will be another fascinating strength-versus-strength pairing.
Blue Devils running back Nate Sheppard ranks second nationally with 132 rushing yards per game, but Miami ranks first nationally in rushing defense, at only 64 yards per game.
Something has to give, as that old saying goes, and clearly Las Vegas thinks the “giver” will be Duke, as the Hurricanes are a two-touchdown favorite on their home field.
National “Three To See,” Game Two
#11 Wake Forest (8-1) at #25 SMU (7-2), noon (ESPN)
How’s this for fun?
The winner of this matchup immediately will become the most likely opponent for Miami in this year’s ACC championship game, and Wake Forest’s Gio Lopez and SMU’s Kevin Jennings are the “other two” best quarterbacks in the conference right now, behind Hurricanes superstar Darian Mensah.
Statistically speaking, at least, second-year coach Jake Dickert‘s Demon Deacons are better than fifth-year coach Rhett Lashlee‘s Mustangs; the Deacs have a slightly better offense than SMU, a slightly better defense, and much better special teams.
Wake has the #2 scoring offense in the ACC, behind only Miami, and the #2 scoring defense in the conference, behind only Duke. SMU isn’t far behind, though; the Mustangs are fourth in the ACC in scoring offense, at 37 points per game, and third in the league in total defense, at only 320 yards per game.
This pairing was considered essentially a toss-up last year in Winston-Salem, too, before the Demon Deacons posted a 13-12 victory. Such a low score seems highly unlikely this time.
SMU is only 1-2 on the road so far this season, but the Mustangs are 6-1 at home, and their last two contests at Gerald Ford Stadium especially showcased their progress on offense, via a 59-20 triumph over Cal and a 51-28 dismantling of a 6-2 Virginia Tech squad.
Jennings actually leads the ACC and ranks fifth nationally in passing, at 307 yards per game, and he has plenty of weapons around him, including running back Kendrick Raphael and wide receivers Yamir Knight (formerly of JMU) and Yannick Smith (formerly of ECU).
Wake is averaging more than 43 points per game, though, with Lopez and his favorite target, wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, leading the way.
In SMU’s only two losses — at Louisville and at Syracuse — the Mustangs lost multiple turnovers in each game but created none, so that will be one area worth watching, especially because the Demon Deacons have committed only three turnovers all season while creating only seven.
Another area of scrutiny will be special teams, where Wake has been much more reliable on field goals, punt/kick coverage and punt/kick returns.
Finally, in Wake’s best win this season, 30-27 at Louisville, the Deacs both ran the ball efficiently and stuffed the Cardinals’ running game. That combination may be more difficult to accomplish at SMU, especially with Raphael running behind one of the ACC’s better offensive lines.
There isn’t really a clear-cut favorite in this one, as the betting line has alternated repeatedly, with each side being just a one-point underdog.
National “Three To See,” Game Three
#15 USC (7-2) at #6 Indiana (8-1), 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
Let’s begin this game summary with a couple pieces of trivia.
First, Indiana, a program that was mostly irrelevant for about a century before coach Curt Cignetti arrived prior to the 2024 season, has never defeated Southern Cal, a program that claims 11 all-time national championships, in the sport of football. Never.
Second, in his less than three full seasons with the Hoosiers, Cignetti already has defeated every other Big Ten member at least once except one — and that “one” is coach Lincoln Riley’s high-powered USC squad.
Now, the reason those facts are described as merely “trivial” is that you obviously can’t beat someone you don’t play.
Indiana has faced USC only four times on the gridiron, and the Trojans did win all four contests, but the most recent of those came way back in 1982. Similarly, this game on Saturday in Bloomington is Cignetti’s first shot at USC in the Big Ten context, because the Trojans didn’t jump to that league until the 2024 season, and any conference with 18 members automatically reduces the frequency of most intraleague matchups.
What makes this Southern Cal-Indiana matchup particularly intriguing is that, even though the Hoosiers have a very impressive 8-1 record, they aren’t nearly as dominant or well-rounded as they were last year, when they finished 16-0 and captured the school’s first national championship on the gridiron.
TCU transfer Josh Hoover has been highly inconsistent at quarterback, and both before and after he suffered an upper-body injury during IU’s 19-15 home loss to Ohio State, the Hoosiers had to labor through low-scoring, one-possession wins over Nebraska, Michigan and Minnesota. There’s even a chance that backup QB Grant Wilson will get the start against USC.
Indiana still definitely has one of the best defenses in the country, though, and that’s the puzzle USC’s Riley — who developed the reputation of an offensive guru during his days as an assistant at Texas Tech and East Carolina more than a decade ago — will be asked to solve.
The Trojans have an outstanding fifth-year quarterback in Jayden Maiava, but their running game and defense both can be unpredictable.
USC was plenty good enough to beat a wounded #2-ranked Ohio State team 30-18 two weeks ago, but the week before that, the Trojans laid a 24-7 egg in a loss at Wisconsin.
Both USC and Indiana are coming off an open date, so there’s been plenty of opponent-specific prep time before this one, and the bottom line here is that most college football observers have far more trust in Cignetti and his staff than they have in Riley, who led Oklahoma to five straight brilliant seasons from 2017-21 (including four Big 12 titles) but has yet to approach that level of consistent excellence during his five seasons at USC.
NOTE: For the in-state edition of our Week 11 college football preview, including analysis on the highest-profile games, plus schedules and TV/streaming options for all 32 teams (FBS, FCS, Division Two, Division Three) in the Bold North State, please click HERE.
