College football Week 8: Penn State among 5 teams on upset alert

College football upset alert No. 5: North Carolina Tar Heels

Rank: 14 | Opponent: 23 NC State Wolfpack | Time: Saturday, Oct. 24, Noon ET

After climbing to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 rankings, the North Carolina Tar Heels promptly went out and lost to a Florida State team that had looked downright abysmal for much of the year prior to last week. Sam Howell and the Heels made a furious comeback attempt, to be sure, but they came up short and now sit at 3-1 on the season.

Now, UNC is at home in college football Week 8 for a rivalry game against the NC State Wolfpack, a team that’s 4-1 and has crept into the top 25 rankings themselves. Unfortunately, this matchup is slightly less enticing given the fact that the Wolfpack will be without starting quarterback Devin Leary for this game due to injury.

But even with Leary out, there are some factors that put the Tar Heels in danger of an upset. North Carolina’s offense is potent but has been slow to start in several games this season, including last week. Furthermore, the defense is not deep right now and that has shown up in a bad way. So even without Leary, that’s an area that NC State could look to attack with pace when they have the ball.

On top of all of this, though, this is a rivalry game where things have often gotten weird. So while North Carolina is favored by more than two touchdowns over NC State, it would be fitting for this matchup historically if the heavy underdog wasn’t only able to go on the road and cover the spread but win outright to pull off the upset.