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Trap Game in Chapel Hill: No. 1 Miami Visits a North Carolina Team That Owns This Series

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On paper, this is a coronation stop. In reality, Kenan Stadium has a way of ruining Miami’s October. No. 1 Miami (7-0, 5-0 ACC) visits North Carolina (4-3, 2-2) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, and while the Hurricanes are more than two-touchdown favorites, history and the calendar both say to be careful.

Start with the history: North Carolina has won the last five meetings in this series, including ranked Miami teams in 2020 and 2023, and three of those wins came under the lights in Chapel Hill. In 2004, a 3-4 Carolina team stunned No. 4 Miami on this same Halloween weekend on a walk-off field goal. Bill Belichick’s second Carolina team is out of the Playoff picture, but it already owns a win over a ranked Pitt team and pushed Syracuse to overtime last week before falling 31-30 after blowing a 10-point lead.

Then there is the calendar. Miami’s biggest game of the regular season, against Notre Dame, waits next week. Head coach Mario Cristobal has spent the week insisting his team will not look ahead, and the Hurricanes’ play backs him up: they hung 52 on Pitt last Saturday, with quarterback Darian Mensah completing 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. Mensah and receiver Malachi Toney are building Heisman cases on an offense averaging 49 points per game.

The matchup that decides it is whether Carolina can slow Mensah down long enough to make this a fourth-quarter game. Miami has scored 40 or more in all but one game this season; if the Tar Heels cannot generate pressure, the streak reaches six straight losses to the Hurricanes in the series. But if Carolina hangs around late in a loud Kenan Stadium, Halloween has seen this movie before.

Kickoff: Saturday, October 31, 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ABC. Venue: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, N.C.

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Dream Season Meets Desperation: No. 20 Northwestern Walks Into Autzen Against Reeling Oregon

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October 28, 2026

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One sideline is living the season nobody predicted. The other is trying to save one that has come apart. No. 20 Northwestern (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) visits Oregon (4-3, 2-2) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock at Autzen Stadium, in the strangest role reversal on the Week 9 schedule: the Wildcats, picked 14th in the preseason Big Ten media poll, are the ranked team with Playoff hopes, and the Ducks are home underdogs in the court of public opinion if not the betting line.

Northwestern’s formula travels. Quarterback Aidan Chiles accounted for five touchdowns last week against Rutgers, throwing for 219 yards and three scores while rushing for 83 yards and two more. Running back Caleb Komolafe leads a punishing ground game with 551 yards and five touchdowns at 6.3 yards per carry, and the offense, rejuvenated under Chip Kelly, has jumped more than 100 yards per game from last season. The Wildcats’ only loss is a six-point defeat at Indiana, and their defense allows just 16.6 points per game.

Oregon, a preseason national title favorite, has lost three games and its identity. Star quarterback Dante Moore is out injured, Dylan Raiola threw for 246 yards in last week’s 21-10 loss at Illinois, and the Ducks have managed just 14 points per game across their last three. The school fired offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer this week, leaving Dan Lanning to rebuild a game plan on the fly.

The matchup that decides it is Northwestern’s run game against a desperate Oregon front. If Komolafe and Chiles control the clock, Autzen’s noise fades and the Wildcats’ dream season gains its loudest win. If Oregon’s talent finally wakes up at home, this is where the slide stops.

Kickoff: Saturday, October 31, 3:30 p.m. ET. TV: Peacock. Venue: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Ore.

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