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IN THE SPOTLIGHT

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT AT FERRUM

1 p.m.

Storyline: Three times this decade, these teams met in the regular-season finale with the USA South's automatic NCAA Division III playoff bid at stake.

But for the first time since Christopher Newport added football in 2001, these squads aren't waiting until their finale to meet.

And it doesn't look like either team is heading to the playoffs.

North Carolina Wesleyan (5-2, 4-0) is in first place, and has already beaten both CNU (4-3, 3-1) and Ferrum (4-3, 2-2).

Ferrum has lost to the Captains the past five years.

CNU, which beat Ferrum 13-10 to claim the league crown last year, is led by All-American Tunde Ogun. He has rushed for 686 yards.

"We have to tackle well in the secondary," Ferrum coach Dave Davis said. "Our DBs, they're going to have to make multiple tackles because they're going to scheme this thing so that our DBs are involved in the run. And that's a size mismatch, when you've got a little DB trying to tackle that big back."

Tony Spradlin has caught a team-high 18 passes for CNU, while fellow Salem graduate Keith Gaines is the Captains' top return man.

MIAMI AT WAKE FOREST

3:30 p.m. | WSET

Storyline: The No. 19 Hurricanes (5-2, 2-2) try to bounce back from a loss to Clemson in which they were "terrible," according to UM coach Randy Shannon.

Clemson was 7-of-14 on third down last week.

"Our third-down defense has to be better than what it's been," Shannon said.

QB Jacory Harris has thrown for 1,774 yards for Miami.

"Our problem all year's been being able to get enough pressure on the quarterback," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said.

Wake (4-4, 2-2) has scored a total of 13 points in its back-to-back losses.

N.C. STATE AT FLORIDA STATE

Noon | WDBJ

Storyline: The Seminoles (3-4, 1-3) try to hand the Wolfpack (3-4, 0-3) a fourth straight loss.

N.C. State ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring defense (27.1 ppg), while Florida State ranks 11th (28 ppg).

"Stopping people right now has been our biggest problem," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said.

Will FSU have to win by shootout the rest of the season?

"It looks like it," Bowden said. "When you look at [this game] on paper, it looks like a shootout."

Christian Ponder has thrown for 2,176 yards for FSU.

"We have to play better pass defense," Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien said. "You look at the way that they're playing offense, it seems to indicate that we're going to have to score some points to be in the football game.

"Ponder's probably down there salivating about the opportunity to throw against us."

GEORGIA TECH AT VANDERBILT

7:30 p.m.

Storyline: The No. 11 Yellow Jackets (7-1) face Vandy (2-6) for the first time in six years.

Georgia Tech leads I-A in time of possession (34:50), while Vandy ranks 117th out of 120 teams (26:42).

CENTRAL MICHIGAN AT BC

3:30 p.m. | ESPNU

Storyline: The Eagles (5-3) take on the best team in the Mid-American Conference.

The Chippewas have won seven straight since losing their opener at Arizona, including a win at Michigan State.

Dan LeFevour ranks fifth in I-A history with 13,920 yards of total offense in his career. He is the first player in I-A history with at least 10,000 passing yards and 2,500 rushing yards.

C. CAROLINA AT CLEMSON

3:30 p.m.

Storyline: The Tigers (4-3) face I-AA Coastal Carolina (3-4) for the first time.

CHARL. SOUTHERN AT VMI

1:30 p.m.

Storyline: Last week at Presbyterian, VMI snapped a five-game losing streak, a 10-game road losing streak, a seven-game Big South losing streak and a nine-game Big South road losing streak.

This week, VMI (2-5, 1-3) will try to snap a three-game skid in its series with the Buccaneers (2-5, 0-2).

"Their defense, ... they can control the line of scrimmage. They're big and strong," VMI coach Sparky Woods said. "They can knock you back."

Two of Charleston Southern's losses were at Florida and South Florida.

BRIDGEWATER AT W&L

1 p.m.

Storyline: This is the home finale for W&L (3-5, 2-2 ODAC).

W&L and BC (5-2, 2-1) rank 1-2 in the ODAC in rushing offense at 203.2 ypg and 200 ypg, respectively.

W&L also leads the league in rushing defense (85.9 ypg).

Thomas Tate has rushed for 843 yards for the Eagles.

"It'll be like a heavyweight boxing match because we have been playing the run pretty well and they have a potent running game," W&L coach Frank Miriello said.

The Generals have scored at least 28 points in each of their past three games.