NC/ACC Week Seven 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 Saturday with an intriguing Week Seven schedule, highlighted by three Top 25-vs.-Top 25 contests and several intriguing Atlantic Coast Conference matchups, while North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest are all home underdogs as they try to take another step toward possible bowl eligibility.

Six teams in position to compete for spots in the newly expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff will go head-to-head this weekend, with #2 Ohio State (5-0) visiting #3 Oregon in Big Ten action, #1 Texas (5-0) taking on #18 Oklahoma (4-1) in Dallas in the first Southeastern Conference edition of the famed “Red River Rivalry,” and #9 Ole Miss (5-1) traveling to face #13 LSU (4-1) at the SEC’s version of Death Valley.

Week Seven also marks the first time during the 2024 season that more than a dozen ACC and/or state of North Carolina teams face an open week. Just at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, that list includes 4-2 Boston College, 3-3 Charlotte, 5-1 Duke, 3-3 East Carolina, 1-5 Florida State, 6-0 and #6-ranked Miami, 5-1 and #25-ranked SMU, and 3-3 Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, UNC (3-3), NC State (3-3) and Wake Forest (2-3) all will be home underdogs against more accomplished ACC opponents.

#10 Clemson (4-1), which has won four straight games since its ugly, season-opening loss to Georgia, will take on the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem. The Tigers have won 22 of the last 25 matchups in that series.

Georgia Tech (4-2), which has played the most stingy run defense in the ACC so far this season, will battle the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. UNC’s All-American running back, Omarion Hampton, leads the league in rushing and ranks fifth nationally with 127 yards per game on the ground.

Syracuse (4-1), which is only a last-second field goal away from being 5-0, will compete against the Wolfpack in Raleigh. State’s defense, which has struggled against Clemson, Tennessee and most recently Wake Forest this season, must figure out a way to contain Orange quarterback Kyle McCord. An Ohio State transfer who was 12-1 as the Buckeyes’ starter, McCord ranks behind only Miami QB Cam Ward in some of the ACC’s most important passing statistics this year.

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

#10 Clemson (4-1) at Wake Forest (2-3), noon (ESPN)
Georgia Tech (4-2) at North Carolina (3-3), noon (The CW)
Appalachian State (2-3) at Louisiana (4-1), 7:30 pm (ESPN+)
Syracuse (4-1) at NC State (3-3), 8 pm (ACCN)

Open Week: Charlotte (3-3), Duke (5-1), East Carolina (3-3)

Atlantic Coast Conference (17 Teams)

#10 Clemson (4-1) at Wake Forest (2-3), noon (ESPN)
Georgia Tech (4-2) at North Carolina (3-3), noon (The CW)
Louisville (3-2) at Virginia (4-1), 3:30 pm (ACCN)
Stanford (2-3) at #11 Notre Dame (4-1), 3:30 pm (NBC)
California (3-2) at #22 Pittsburgh (5–0), 3:30 pm (ESPN)
Syracuse (4-1) at NC State (3-3), 8 pm (ACCN)

Open Week: Boston College (4-2), Duke (5-1), Florida State (1-5), #6 Miami (6-0), #25 SMU (5-1), Virginia Tech (3-3)


NC Football Championship Subdivision (Seven Teams)

Davidson (4-1) at Dayton (3-1), noon (Facebook)
New Hampshire (3-2) at Elon (1-4), 2 pm (FloSports)
Virginia Lynchburg (0-6) at #24 NC Central (4-2), 2 pm (ESPN+)
The Citadel (2-4) at Western Carolina (2-3), 2:30 pm (ESPN+)

Open Week: Campbell (2-4), Gardner-Webb (1-5), North Carolina A&T (1-5)

NC Division Two (14 Teams)

#23 Carson-Newman (5-0) at Mars Hill (1-2), 1 pm
West Liberty (1-4) at UNC Pembroke (1-4), 1 pm
Elizabeth City State (2-3) at Virginia Union (3-2), 1 pm
Shorter (2-1) at Chowan (1-3), 1 pm (FloSports)
Shaw (4-2) at Winston-Salem State (4-2), 1 pm
Newberry (1-3) at #17 Lenoir-Rhyne (4-1), 1 pm (FloSports)
Fayetteville State (3-2) at Livingstone (4-2), 2 pm
Barton (2-3) at Wingate (3-1), 3 pm
Limestone (4-1) at Catawba (1-3), 6 pm

Open Week: #22 Johnson C Smith (6-0), St Augustine’s (program suspended for 2024)

NC Division Three (Five Teams)

LaGrange (1-3) at North Carolina Wesleyan (1-4), noon (FloSports)
Guilford (3-1) at Randolph-Macon (3-1), 1 pm
Huntingdon-AL (2-2) at Methodist (1-4), 2 pm
Greensboro (1-3) at Brevard (2-1), 6 pm

Open Week: none