College football Week 8 games of the week: Clemson-NC State in a battle of ACC unbeatens

(16) North Carolina State at (3) Clemson – 3:30 p.m. ET – ESPN

With two undefeated teams facing off on Saturday, Clemson and NC State will be the game to watch this weekend. Both teams hope to take control of the ACC Atlantic division while keeping their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Although the Tigers have come away with victories over the Wolfpack the past few seasons, NC State has consistently played them tough. Last year, Clemson escaped with a seven-point victory but has had trouble slowing down the NC State offense and that unit is even better this year.

The Tigers defense is led by one of the nations most dominant defensive lines, which will be tasked with disrupting quarterback Ryan Finley, who threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns against Clemson last season. Freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his stable of running backs should have no problem scoring points, but the defense will have to keep NC State out of this game.

NC State had its biggest test of the season against Boston College last week and escaped with a five-point victory after holding off a fourth-quarter comeback attempt. However, staying undefeated after this weekend will be no easy task. Anytime a team plays Clemson, they need a near-perfect game to come away with a victory. That doesn’t change for the Wolfpack, who are outmatched by the Tigers on all fronts. However, if NC State can slow down the Tigers dominate pass rush, Finley should be able to make this a competitive game.

This is not the easiest game to predict. Clemson could easily blow-out NC State, but don’t be surprised if they come out flat and allow the Wolfpack to make this a game down the stretch.