NC/ACC Week 13 College Football Preview
(“This Week In College Football, with David Glenn” show = below)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
The 2024 college football season continues Thursday through Saturday with an intriguing Week 13 schedule, highlighted by two Top 25-vs.-Top 25 contests and several important Atlantic Coast Conference matchups, while NC State plays a Thursday night game on national television, with the Wolfpack seeking to reach the six-win threshold required for automatic bowl eligibility.
On the national scene, the Big Ten will provide the most prominent game pairing fellow members of the national Top 25, and the resumption of an old-school national rivalry will deliver the other.
In a matchup between College Football Playoff hopefuls, #5 Indiana (10-0) will visit #2 Ohio State (9-1) on Saturday afternoon (noon, FOX). The Hoosiers haven’t defeated the Buckeyes on the gridiron since 1988, or 36 years ago, despite the fact that the two long-time Big Ten programs have played each other in all but a handful of seasons during that period. Indiana is averaging about 44 points per game this season, second-most nationally, but Ohio State is #1 in scoring defense, at only 10 points per contest.
The other ranked-vs.-ranked clash of the weekend will match #19 Army (9-0) and #6 Notre Dame (9-1) at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Saturday night (7 pm, NBC/Peacock), in what is being billed as the classic rivalry’s biggest game in more than a half-century. The Fighting Irish have won 15 consecutive games over the Black Knights. Army’s most recent victory over Notre Dame came way back in 1958, during an era when the West Point school was often prominent in the national polls and played head-to-head against the Irish more often than has been the case in recent decades.
In action involving one or more teams from the Old North State, NC State (5-5) will get the Week 13 schedule off to an early start on Thursday, when the Wolfpack visits 6-4 Georgia Tech (7:30 pm, ESPN) as a nine-point underdog. The Pack must beat either the Yellow Jackets this week or North Carolina next week to achieve the six wins required for automatic bowl eligibility.
Elsewhere, resurgent UNC (6-4) seeks to extend its winning streak to four games during the Tar Heels’ trip to Boston College (5-5) on Saturday afternoon (noon, The CW), while Duke (7-3) hopes to take another step toward an extremely rare 10-win campaign as the Blue Devils host Virginia Tech (5-5) on Saturday night (8 pm, ACCN).
Meanwhile, ECU (6-4) will try to extend its record to 4-0 under interim coach Blake Harrell as the Pirates visit North Texas (5-5) as a three-point underdog, App State (4-5) will play its final home game of the season as a seven-point underdog to James Madison (8-2), and Wake Forest (4-6) will try to avoid its second straight losing season while competing as a 24-point underdog at #8 Miami (9-1).
At the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level, Western Carolina (6-5) and NC Central (7-3) have very winnable road trips, at Samford (4-6) and Delaware State (1-10), respectively, to complete their regular-season schedules. With victories on Saturday, the Catamounts and Eagles both would be candidates to be selected for at-large bids to the FCS playoffs, although there’s a very good chance that no North Carolina-based squad will make the 24-team FCS bracket this year.
Finally, at the Division Two level, two in-state teams will compete in the first round of the 28-team D2 playoffs.
#17 Wingate (9-1) will host Virginia Union (8-3) on Saturday at Irwin Belk Stadium (1 pm, ESPN+). The Bulldogs are #5 nationally in scoring defense under first-year head coach Rashaan Jordan, formerly their long-time defensive coordinator, at only 10 points per game. Wingate, which beat Carson-Newman 28-13 last Saturday to claim the outright South Atlantic Conference championship for just the third time in program history, is on a seven-game winning streak and hasn’t lost a home game this season.
#15 Lenoir-Rhyne (9-2) will visit #12 West Alabama (9-1) on Saturday (2 pm, ESPN+). The Bears, who historically are the most successful Division Two program in North Carolina, advanced all the way to the national semifinals in last year’s playoffs under coach Mike Jacobs, who now leads an outstanding Mercer team (9-2, #9 in the national rankings) at the FCS level. Under first-year head coach Doug Socha, Lenoir-Rhyne hopes to defeat West Alabama for the first time in program history, after falling short in both 2017 and 2018.
If Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne both win Saturday, the archrivals would get a 2024 rematch next week in the playoff’s second round. The Bulldogs went to Hickory during the regular season and beat the Bears, 14-10, on Nov. 2. Round Two, if it occurs, would be at Wingate, the higher-seeded team in the playoff bracket.
NC Football Bowl Subdivision (Seven Teams)
(Games Saturday Unless Otherwise Indicated)
Georgia Tech 30, NC State 29 — (Thurs.)
Wake Forest (4-6) at #8 Miami (9-1), noon (ESPN)
North Carolina (6-4) at Boston College (5-5), noon (The CW)
James Madison (8-2) at Appalachian State (4-5), 2:30 pm (ESPN+)
Charlotte (3-7) at Florida Atlantic (2-8), 3 pm (ESPN+)
East Carolina (6-4) at North Texas (5-5), 3:30 pm (ESPN+)
Virginia Tech (5-5) at Duke (7-3), 8 pm (ACCN)
Open Week: none
Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)
Georgia Tech 30, NC State 29 — (Thurs.)
Wake Forest (4-6) at #8 Miami (9-1), noon (ESPN)
North Carolina (6-4) at Boston College (5-5), noon (The CW)
#13 SMU (9-1) at Virginia (5-5), noon (ESPN2)
UConn (7-3) at Syracuse (7-3), noon (ACCN)
Charleston Southern (1-10) at Florida State (1-9), 1:30 pm (ACCX/ESPN+)
The Citadel (5-6) at #17 Clemson (8-2), 3:30 pm (The CW)
Stanford (3-7) at California (5-5), 3:30 pm (ACCN)
Pittsburgh (7-3) at Louisville (6-4), 4 pm (ESPN2)
Virginia Tech (5-5) at Duke (7-3), 8 pm (ACCN)
Open Week: none
NC Football Championship Subdivision (Seven Teams)
Elon (5-6) at North Carolina A&T (1-10), 1 pm (FloSports)
North Carolina Central (7-3) at Delaware State (1-10), 1 pm (ESPN+)
Towson (6-5) at Campbell (3-8), 2 pm (FloSports)
Gardner-Webb (4-7) at Western Illinois (3-8), 2 pm (ESPN+)
Davidson (6-4) at Valparaiso (3-7), 2 pm (ESPN+)
Western Carolina (6-5) at Samford (4-6), 3 pm (ESPN+)
Open Week: none
NC Division Two (14 Teams)
Virginia Union (8-3) at #17 Wingate (9-1), 1 pm (ESPN+)
#15 Lenoir-Rhyne (9-2) at #12 West Alabama (9-1), 2 pm (ESPN+)
(Both Games = First Round, Division Two Playoffs)
Season Complete: Barton (3-8), Chowan (3-7), Elizabeth City State (3-7), Fayetteville State (4-5), Johnson C Smith (8-2). Livingstone (6-4), Mars Hill (5-4), Shaw (6-4), St Augustine’s (program suspended for 2024), UNC Pembroke (6-5), Winston-Salem State (7-3)
NC Division Three (Five Teams)
none
Season Complete: Brevard (6-3), Greensboro (1-9), Guilford (3-7), Methodist (1-9), North Carolina Wesleyan (4-6)
