Viewing guide: What to watch in Week Two

Pitt has a night game this week, kicking off against Cincinnati at 6:30 pm at Acrisure Stadium. But there is plenty of football to watch before that game starts.

Here’s a rundown of what to watch for from Pitt’s 2023 opponents this weekend.

Note: Louisville improved to 2-0 Thursday night with a 56-0 blowout win at home over Murray State.

11 am

Wake Forest (1-0) vs. Vanderbilt (2-0)
ACC Network
Wake Forest gets the early game on the conference network with an 11 am kickoff against a Vanderbilt team that has scored 82 points in wins over Hawaii and Alabama A&M. Meanwhile, the Deacons are coming off a 37-17 win over Elon, so this ACC-SEC challenge looks to be a proving ground for both teams.

Noon

Notre Dame (2-0) at N.C. State (1-0)
ABC
N.C. State handled a road trip to UConn last week with a 24-14 win, but the Wolfpack will likely need more than 155 passing yards from Brennan Armstrong to beat the Irish, who have averaged 58 points per game in wins over Navy and Tennessee State. N.C. State did rush for more than 200 yards to beat UConn, but Notre Dame has held both of its opponents to less than three yards per rush.

Virginia Tech (1-0, 1-0) vs. Purdue (0-1)
ESPN2
Virginia Tech avenged the 2022 loss to Old Dominion with a win over the Monarchs last week, while Purdue is likely still smarting from its loss to Fresno State in Week One - a game that saw the Boilermakers give up four touchdown passes to UCF transfer quarterback Mikey Keene, including a game-winner in the final minute.

Boston College (0-1) vs. Holy Cross (1-0)
ESPN+/ACCNX
Jeff Hafley needs a bounce-back win in the worst way after falling to Northern Illinois in Week One. The Boston College head coach hasn’t announced who will be starting at quarterback for the Eagles - opening starter Emmett Morehead or Thomas Castellanos, who replaced Morehead and produced 205 yards of offense and three touchdowns. Neither option looks great right now, but Hafley needs to find the right one and Holy Cross should be a good chance to work through that competition.

3:30 pm

Syracuse (1-0) vs. Western Michigan (1-0)
ESPN+/ACCNX
Syracuse was particularly rough with Colgate last week, beating the Raiders 65-0 behind four touchdowns passes from Garrett Shrader and three more from backup Carlos Del Rio-Wilson. The competition for the Orange will step up into the FBS ranks this week with Western Michigan, who beat St. Francis (Pa.) 35-17 last week.

5:15 pm

17 North Carolina (1-0) vs. Appalachian State (1-0)
ESPN+/ACCNX
UNC logged a big win for the ACC last week when the Tar Heels handled South Carolina rather comfortably. Now Mack Brown’s group has to take care of business against Appalachian State, who is 1-0 after beating Gardner-Webb last week. The Mountaineers handled Gardner-Webb largely due to a 3-0 advantage in turnovers, but they also showed some holes in run defense and converted just 4-of-13 third downs, so Drake Maye and company should be in good shape.

6:00 pm

21 Duke (1-0, 1-0) vs. Lafayette (1-0)
ESPN+/ACCNX
Duke was one of the biggest winners in the ACC last week, upsetting then-No. 9 Clemson with a 28-7 win in Durham by blocking two field goals and recovering two fumbles in the red zone. Now the Blue Devils will look to get to 2-0 against Lafayette, who snuck past Sacred Heart 19-14 last week.

West Virginia (0-1) vs. Duquesne (1-0)
Big12/ESPN+
WVU will look to bounce back from its season-opening loss at Penn State by taking out its frustrations on another Pennsylvania team when Duquesne comes to Morgantown tonight. Despite the loss in State College, the Mountaineers showed some promise, getting a combined 152 rushing yards from C.J. Donaldson and Garrett Greene and not committing any turnovers. They should have little trouble with the Dukes before facing a third Keystone State team when Pitt heads south next week.

8:30 pm

4 Florida State (1-0) vs. Southern Miss (1-0)
ACCN
The big winner in the ACC - and maybe all of college football - from Week One, FSU jumped into the top four of the AP poll after knocking off LSU rather convincingly last Sunday. Now the Seminoles will close out Saturday’s slate of conference games by hosting Southern Miss. FSU is favored by 30.5 in this game, which will serve as a precursor to the Noles’ headlong dive into ACC play, which starts next week at Boston College.