Wake Forest’s trip to NC State in search of a 5-1 start headlines the ACC weekly slate

Things to watch this weekend in the Atlantic Coast Conference:

Game of the week

Wake Forest (4-1, 2-1 ACC) at N.C. State (3-2, 1-1), Saturday, noon ET (The CW)

The Demon Deacons are coming off a 57-3 win against Stanford that marked the program’s biggest margin of victory in a league game. Their lone loss came against No. 4 Miami and they’re hovering just outside the AP Top 25 poll. Now they have a chance for a third road win against a power-conference opponent in this renewal of the long-running instate series.

The Wolfpack’s journey has been wild in recent weeks. There was a shocking loss at Vanderbilt when a last-second lost fumble turned an almost-certain win into a crushing setback, a home win against Appalachian State despite blowing a 21-point lead and then holding off Louisville at home.

The undercard

North Carolina (2-2, 0-1) at No. 25 Pittsburgh (5-0, 2-0), Saturday, noon ET (ESPN)

The Panthers hopped into the AP Top 25 after last week’s win at Virginia Tech, while coach Pat Narduzzi then stuck up for the league in questioning why there’s only three ranked teams. The more pressing concern, though, is adjusting to the loss of quarterback Mason Heintschel to a season-ending knee injury last week. Auburn transfer Holden Gernier took over and now is set to face a UNC team coming off a loss to No. 3 Notre Dame.

Florida State (3-2, 1-1) at Louisville (2-3, 1-2), Friday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

The Seminoles looked sharp in rolling past Virginia 38-7 last week, earning a second win since a high-scoring loss at now-No. 6 Alabama. This week starts a two-game road swing, first against a previously ranked Louisville team followed by a trip to Miami. As for the Cardinals, a season that began with going toe-to-toe with then-No. 9 Mississippi in a close loss has now seen consecutive three-point losses to Wake Forest and N.C. State.

Impact players

— Duke QB Walker Eget. Nate Sheppard is leading the country in rushing (161.0 yards per game) to power the Blue Devils offense as they emerge from an open week. That’s where Duke needs the San Jose State graduate transfer to step up and help ease some of the burden on Sheppard. Eget has thrown for six touchdowns with one interception in the last three games leading into Saturday’s trip to Georgia Tech.

— Virginia Tech QB Ethan Grunkemeyer. The junior transfer from Penn State threw for 434 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Pitt, and has cracked the 300-yard mark through the air in three of five games. The Hokies head west Saturday to face California.

Inside the numbers

Stanford’s offense is sputtering in its first year under Tavita Pritchard. The Cardinal is ranked last in the ACC in scoring (17.4) and next to last in total offense (339.6) entering Saturday’s trip to Notre Dame. … Syracuse visits Virginia on Saturday night, which will mark the Orange’s first trip to Charlottesville since an overtime loss in October 2015. The teams have played just twice since Syracuse joined the league for the 2014 season. … North Carolina’s 26 points in the loss to Notre Dame marked their second-best output against a Bowl Subdivision foe in Bill Belichick’s two seasons. The high was 27 points against Syracuse last year. … No. 4 Miami, No. 24 SMU, Clemson and Boston College don’t play this week.

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