NC/ACC Week Two College Football Preview:
UVa-NC State, UNC-Charlotte, WCU-Wake
Among Most Compelling In-State Matchups
(DG’s “This Week In CFB” YouTube Show = Below)
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Sept. 4, 2025)
The 2025 college football season continues Friday and Saturday with a quirky Week Two schedule, which includes only a small fraction of the huge matchups that dotted the sport’s five-day extravaganza over the extended Labor Day weekend.
The most prominent games nationally this time include just one Top 25-vs.-Top 25 contest, plus two more matching a Top 25 squad with a Power Four opponent: #11 Illinois at Duke (Sat., noon, ESPN), Baylor at #17 SMU (Sat., noon, The CW) and #15 Michigan at #18 Oklahoma (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
Virginia (1-0) at NC State (1-0), Sat., noon (ESPN2)
While this ACC matchup won’t count in the conference standings (the schools opted to schedule this as a nonconference game), it could be a lot of fun, so it’s fitting that it will get some quality national exposure on ESPN2.
This is probably coach Tony Elliott’s best team in his four years at Virginia. That doesn’t mean it’s a juggernaut — Elliott’s first three teams in Charlottesville all failed to make a bowl game — but it’s definitely more talented (especially at quarterback), more experienced (every offensive starter is a senior or graduate student) and seemingly tougher in the trenches than his previous squads.
The Cavaliers (a two-point underdog in Raleigh) finally went out and got a high-quality quarterback from the portal, North Texas transfer Chandler Morris, who was sensational in their 48-7 victory over Coastal Carolina last week before leaving the game with an injury. Morris practiced with no limitations earlier this week, so he’s expected to be back in the starting lineup against the Wolfpack.
Morris can hurt you with his arm or his legs, so that’s a fundamentally different challenge than what the Pack faced last week, when ECU’s Katin Houser was more of a pocket-passer type.
Virginia also secured a quality running back transfer in J’Mari Taylor, formerly of NC Central, although the UVa offensive line didn’t create a lot of holes for him last week, even against a limited Coastal Carolina squad. At wide receiver, both James Madison transfer Cam Ross (224 all-purpose yards and two TDs in the opener) and former Kent State transfer Trell Harris (injured for most of last season) looked very good for the Wahoos last week.
NC State coach Dave Doeren has plenty of weapons, too. The combination of CJ Bailey at quarterback, Hollywood Smothers at running back, Justin Joly at tight end, and Wesley Grimes, Noah Rogers and exciting freshman Teddy Hoffman at wide receiver gave ECU fits last week, although the Wolfpack ended up with only 24 points on the scoreboard.
For the second game in a row, NC State’s defensive front will be asked to set the tone. That talented, experienced group — Caden Fordham and Sean Brown at linebacker, transfers Sebastian Harsh (Wyoming) and Cian Slone (Utah State) at end, Brandon Cleveland in the middle, etc. — completely stuffed ECU’s running game last week.
NC State did yield a lot of passing yards against the Pirates, with new faces all over the secondary, and that’s alarming with a dual threat such as Morris coming to town, so the Wolfpack front’s ability to disrupt UVa’s offense — something Coastal Carolina never came close to doing last week — will go a long way toward determining the outcome in this one, too.
In-State “Three To See,” Game Two
North Carolina (0-1) at Charlotte (0-1), Sat., 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
This is being called the “Biggest Game in Charlotte 49ers Football History,” and it’s difficult to argue with that description, especially with a vulnerable-looking version of UNC headed to the Queen City on a very short week, after its ugly 48-14 loss to TCU on Monday night in Chapel Hill.
Charlotte is the Old North State’s most recent addition to major college football, the 49ers hardly ever get the so-called Big Boys to play them at their place, and the university broke ground on its much-anticipated Jerry Richardson Stadium Expansion just last week. While that massive construction project won’t be completed until 2027, it has a chance to dramatically change the perception of a program that’s had only one winning season in its relatively brief gridiron history.
In terms of quality of play, to be blunt, both UNC and Charlotte looked horrible last week.
The Tar Heels got annihilated by an impressive TCU team, and if Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes had wanted to score 60 or more points on Bill Belichick’s bunch, there’s no doubt he could have done that with his senior quarterback against that Carolina defense, which got almost no production from its line and had lots of coverage and tackling problems in the secondary.
Carolina was horrific on offense, too, especially with South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez as the starter. Lopez (who didn’t arrive at UNC until after spring practice) fumbled the ball away for a scoop-and-score, threw a pick six, had trouble with his decision-making and just didn’t look comfortable in any way. Backup Max Johnson, a sixth-year senior, was much better, so it will be interesting to see who gets the call from Belichick against the 49ers.
Charlotte, meanwhile, laid an egg against App State in coach Tim Albin’s debut and is a 13-point underdog against Carolina. Starting quarterback Conner Harrell, a UNC transfer who was highly erratic for the Tar Heels, wasn’t any better last week for the 49ers, and Charlotte’s defense got absolutely torn up by App State’s passing game.
Harrell and safety Ja’Qurious Conley, another former Tar Heel, are two of Charlotte’s five team captains this season. Conley and wide receiver Justin Olson, yet another UNC transfer, were among the 49ers’ handful of standouts in their loss to App State.
In-State “Three To See,” Game Three
Western Carolina (0-1) at Wake Forest (1-0), Sat., 2 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
While this tilt definitely lacks the pomp and circumstance of the two games described above, Western Carolina is a top-25 team in the FCS rankings, the Catamounts have a fun, explosive offense under head coach Kerwin Bell, and Wake Forest just wasn’t very good in coach Jake Dickert’s debut last week against Kennesaw State.
The Demon Deacons’ defense did a good job of harassing Kennesaw State’s quarterback last week, but they weren’t very good against the run, which was alarming. On offense, Wake just didn’t look very confident in its passing game, although new quarterback Robby Ashford (Auburn’s 2022 starter) is an outstanding athlete and did throw for more than 200 yards.
It hurt, literally and figuratively, when Wake Forest’s star running back, Demond Claiborne (status uncertain for WCU), left the game early last week with a painful rib injury, but the Demon Deacons should have been able to run the ball more effectively against Kennesaw State even without Claiborne, and it’s embarrassing to score only 10 points against an opponent that only recently made the jump from the FCS ranks.
Wake ultimately got the win last week, 10-9, but the Deacons are going to be expected to find ways to dominate Western Carolina, an actual FCS opponent, this week. That’s unlikely to be an easy task against the Catamounts’ creative offense, but if Dickert is going to have an impressive first season in Winston-Salem, his team is going to have to show a lot of improvement from Week One to Week Two, especially while going against a WCU defense that yielded 52 points last week in a loss to Gardner-Webb.
NC Football Bowl Subdivision (Seven Teams)
(Games Saturday Unless Otherwise Indicated)
#11 Illinois (1-0) at Duke (1-0), noon (ESPN)
Virginia (1-0) at NC State (1-0), noon (ESPN2)
Western Carolina (0-1) at Wake Forest (1-0), 2 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
Lindenwood (0-1) at Appalachian State (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Campbell (0-1) at East Carolina (0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
North Carolina (0-1) at Charlotte (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)
James Madison (1-0) at Louisville (1-0), 7 p.m. (ESPN2) — (Friday)
#11 Illinois (1-0) at Duke (1-0), noon (ABC or ESPN)
Virginia (1-0) at NC State (1-0), noon (ESPN2)
Baylor (0-1) at #17 SMU (1-0), noon (CW)
Central Michigan (1-0) at Pittsburgh (1-0), noon (ESPNU)
East Texas A&M (0-1) at #14 Florida State (1-0), noon (ACCN)
UConn (1-0) at Syracuse (0-1), noon (ACCX/ESPN+)
Western Carolina (0-1) at Wake Forest (1-0), 2 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
Troy (1-0) at #8 Clemson (0-1), 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Gardner-Webb (1-0) at Georgia Tech (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
Texas Southern (0-1) at California (1-0), 6 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
North Carolina (0-1) at Charlotte (0-1), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Bethune-Cookman (0-1) at #5 Miami (1-0), 7 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
Vanderbilt (1-0) at Virginia Tech (0-1), 7:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Boston College (1-0) at Michigan State (1-0), 7:30 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)
Stanford (0-1) at BYU (1-0), 10:15 p.m. (ESPN)
NC Football Championship Subdivision (Seven Teams)
#25 Western Carolina (0-1) at Wake Forest (1-0), 2 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
Gardner-Webb (1-0) at Georgia Tech (1-0), 3:30 p.m. (ACCX/ESPN+)
Campbell (0-1) at East Carolina (0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Davidson (0-1) at Elon (0-1), 6 p.m. (FloCollege)
NC Central (1-1) at Old Dominion (0-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+)
North Carolina A&T (0-1) at UCF (1-0), 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
NC Division Two (13 Teams)
#11 Valdosta State (1-0) at Johnson C Smith (1-0), noon
Barton (0-1) at West Virginia State (0-1), noon
#25 West Alabama (1-0) at Chowan (1-0), 1 p.m.
Catawba (1-0) at Emory & Henry (1-0), 1 p.m.
Elizabeth City State (0-1) at Hampton (0-1), 6 p.m.
Fayetteville State (0-1) at UNC Pembroke (0-1), 6 p.m.
Livingstone (0-1) at Allen (0-1), 6 p.m.
#24 Lenoir-Rhyne (0-1) at Tusculum (1-0), 6 p.m.
Winston-Salem State (0-1) at Mars Hill (0-0), 6:30 p.m.
Open Week: Shaw, Wingate
NC Division Three (Five Teams)
Averett (0-0) at North Carolina Wesleyan (0-0), 6 p.m. — (Thursday)
Kentucky Christian (0-0) at Brevard (0-0), 1 p.m. (YouTube)
Methodist (0-0) at Shenandoah (0-0), 1 p.m.
Greensboro (0-0) at Guilford (0-0), 7 p.m.
