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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

UNC AT GEORGIA TECH

Noon | WDBJ

Storyline: The Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-1) try to avoid a second straight loss to a Coastal Division foe.

Georgia Tech was held to 95 yards rushing in its 33-17 loss at Miami last week.

"The big problem with our offense last week was we never had the ball," coach Paul Johnson said.

No. 22 North Carolina beat the Yellow Jackets 28-7 last year.

The Tar Heels, who are 3-0 for the first time since 1997, are ranked sixth in Division I-A in total defense (198.6 ypg).

"They have a lot of big, physical players," Johnson said. "Their front seven is very talented and they have great speed.

"We've been very poor blocking on the perimeter to this point; we've got to get better there -- and certainly inside as well."

UNC is coming off a 31-17 win over East Carolina.

"We are still a work in progress," coach Butch Davis said. "By no stretch of the imagination are we even at or near close to being where we need to for the remainder of the schedule."

WAKE FOREST AT BC

2 p.m.

Storyline: The Demon Deacons (2-1, 0-0) have lost to Boston College the past two years.

Coach Frank Spaziani of BC (2-1, 0-1) is concerned about all aspects of his team.

"All the problems that we saw in the spring and preseason are still there," Spaziani said. "We have personnel issues across the board."

TCU AT CLEMSON

3:30 p.m.

Storyline: No. 15 TCU (2-0) opened with a win at Virginia. Now it will visit Death Valley.

Joseph Turner has run for 195 yards for the Horned Frogs.

"It's going to be very important that we can stop the run and do a good job on first down against those guys," said Dabo Swinney of Clemson (2-1). "We'll have to do a much better job of stopping the run than their previous opponents."

TCU is allowing an average of only 43.5 yards rushing.

"Field position will be critical in a game like this where you've got two really strong defenses," Swinney said. "We've got to be able to run."

SOUTH FLORIDA AT FSU

Noon | ESPNU

Storyline: The No. 18 Seminoles (2-1) face the Bulls for the first time. But South Florida (3-0) will be minus injured QB Matt Grothe.

FSU opened some eyes with a 54-28 win at BYU last weekend.

"You're hoping you don't have a letdown," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "That game showed the potential of our football team. The only thing about it is, teams do not play up to their potential every week."

Bowden said QB Christian Ponder is "heading in the same direction" as former star QB Chris Weinke.

RUTGERS AT MARYLAND

3:30 p.m.

Storyline: The Scarlet Knights (2-1) might not have much trouble against Maryland's woeful defense.

The Terrapins (1-2), coming off a loss to Middle Tennessee State, are allowing an average of 39.6 points and 466.3 yards of total offense. Maryland lost CB Nolan Carroll to a season-ending injury two weeks ago.

"We played a lot better Saturday; we just gave up some big plays again," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "We're blowing a coverage here or there.

"We're making a lot of mistakes because of our inexperience."

N.C. CENTRAL AT DUKE

7 p.m.

Storyline: The Blue Devils (1-2) host the I-AA Eagles (0-3) in the first meeting between the Durham, N.C., schools.

PITTSBURGH AT N.C. STATE

3:30 p.m. ESPNU

Storyline: After crushing two I-AA opponents, the Wolfpack (2-1) faces the Panthers (3-0) for the first time since 2001.

"Their front four is very formidable," State coach Tom O'Brien said. "They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback."

O'Brien is girding for the "smashmouth" Pitt offense.

"They come at you with a 5-8 tailback and a 6-2, 260-pound fullback in front of him, blocking," O'Brien said.

O'Brien is fretting about his injury-plagued offensive line and secondary.

VMI AT RICHMOND

3:30 p.m.

Storyline: The Spiders (3-0), the No. 1 team in the I-AA poll, have beaten VMI seven straight times. VMI's last win in the series came in 1996.

"They're much bigger than we are, so I hope we can hanker down there and defend the onslaught of these bigger guys," VMI coach Sparky Woods said.

Eric Ward has thrown for 555 yards for the defending I-AA champs.

FERRUM AT SOUTHERN VIRGINIA

1 p.m.

Storyline: The Panthers (1-1) seek to beat SVU (0-4) for the third straight year.

Ferrum coach Dave Davis has concerns about his secondary. Bridgewater's Hagan Driskell threw three TD passes in Ferrum's OT win last weekend, including a TD pass with 1:31 to go that forced OT.

"We've got three very inexperienced positions" in the secondary, Davis said. "They've got to get better in a hurry."

Ferrum's Matt Dobson completed just 13 of 51 passes last fall but is 15-of-24 this year.

The Knights are turning the ball over an average of 4.5 times and allowing an average of 48 points.

"We're missing too many tackles," coach DeLane Fitzgerald said.

W&L AT AVERETT

1 p.m.

Storyline: The Generals (1-2) try to beat Averett (1-1) for the third straight year.

Greensboro's Mike Caparaso threw four TD passes in an OT win at W&L last weekend. Now the Generals must deal with Averett's Cody Ladutko, who threw for 253 yards and two TDs in a win at Guilford last weekend.

"They spread the field quite a bit," W&L coach Frank Miriello said. "We put some new personnel on our nickel team, got a little more speed out there, so hopefully that'll pay off."