How to Watch Cal vs. Oregon State and This Week's ACC Games

We get our first look at Cal — and the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference — this weekend with 16 games spread over five days, beginning Thursday.

The Bears, rebuilt after back-to-back 6-7 seasons, open Saturday night at Oregon State. Cal crushed the Beavers 44-7 a year ago, but that game was played in Berkeley and this is a different Bears squad.

Every ACC team plays this week, with the exception of Stanford, which lost 23-20 last Saturday at Hawaii.

In the video above, coach Justin Wilcox addresses whether this team has more unknowns than any he has coached at Cal.

Besides Cal, there are some games worth watching, including No. 9 Alabama at Florida State on Saturday afternoon and No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson later that afternoon. On Monday, ex-Cal coach Sonny Dykes takes his TCU team to North Carolina for Bill Belichick’s college debut.

Here’s the weekend’s ACC lineup:

(Point spreads provided by DraftKings)

THURSDAY

— East Carolina (plus-14) at NC State, 4 p.m., ACC Network

East Carolina beat NC State 26-21 in the Military Bowl last year in a game that featured an on-field brawl between the two in-state rivals. The Wolfpack finished with a 6-7 record last season and coach Dave Doeren, unhappy with his team’s performance and embarrassed by its behavior in the bowl game, has hired new coordinators.

— Elon (plus-36.5) at Duke, 4:30 p.m., ESPN+/ACC Extra

Duke beat the Phoenix 26-3 last year and the Blue Devils’ quarterback from that game (Maalik Murphy) is now at Oregon State. Instead, Duke will be led by Darian Mensah, who passed for 2,273 yards with 22 touchdown as a sophomore last fall at Tulane. He would like to make a good first impression. Duke leads the series 8-0-1 with the tie coming 104 years ago.

FRIDAY

Kennesaw State (plus-17.5) at Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network

Robbie Ashford was installed as Wake’s starting quarterback this week after brief stints at Oregon, Auburn (where he played for current Cal offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin) and South Carolina. Ashford will be tutored by first-year Demon Deacons coach Jake Dickert, who previously coached Cam Ward at Washington State, before Ward departed for Miami.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech (minus-4.5) at Colorado, 5 p.m., ESPN

Georgia Tech features dynamic quarterback Haynes King. Colorado coach Deion Sanders, whose team was picked 11th in the Big 12 this season, expects King to be a handful. “The kid is unbelievable,” Sanders said.

SATURDAY

Syracuse (minus-14) vs. No. 24 Tennessee at Atlanta, 9 a.m., ABC

This is the first of four games the Orange will play vs. teams that were part of last year’s College Football Playoff. Second-year coach Fran Brown, who guided Syracuse to 10 wins last season, will start Notre Dame transfer quarterback Steve Angeli at quarterback. The Vols are going with Joey Aguilar, who transferred from UCLA.

Duquesne (no line) at Pitt, 9 a.m., ACC Network

The neighboring schools haven’t squared off since 1939, when Duquesne pulled off a 21-13 upset. Not likely to happen again.

Fordham (no line) at Boston College, 11 a.m., ESPN+/ACC+

BC and Fordham have played 27 times, but not since 1954. The Rams were 2-10 last season and this does not promise to be a positive start to the 2025 schedule.

Eastern Kentucky (no line) at Louisville, noon, ACC Network

Sophomore running back Isaac Brown, who rushed for 1,173 yards in 2024, looks to start this season with a bang. Eastern Kentucky should be wary after the Cardinal opened last season with a 62-0 victory Austin Peay.

No. 8 Alabama (minus-14) at Florida State, 12:30 p.m., ABC

Second-year ‘Bama coach Kalen DeBoer, formerly of Washington, hopes to improve on a 9-4 debut. FSU coach Mike Norvell, whose squad went 2-10 in 2024, needs to be better. Much better.

Coastal Carolina (plus-11.5) at Virginia, 3 p.m., ACC Network

Virginia has 54 new players since last season — sound familiar, Cal fans? — but the Cavaliers have experience on the defensive side that could provide them an edge here.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No. 9 LSU (plus-3.5) at No. 4 Clemson, 4:30 p.m., ABC

Clemson is eager to show it’s all the way back and a home game against an SEC power is the perfect stage. A big game by quarterback Cade Klubnik would boost chatter about his Heisman Trophy candidacy.

East Texas A&M (no line) at No. 16 SMU, 6 p.m, ACC Network

We’re assuming that East Texas A&M is badly overmatched here, but here’s an unavoidable reality — SMU has averaged 48.7 points over its past 15 home games.

Cal (plus-1.5) at Oregon State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

We know less about this Cal team than perhaps any in years (decades?) based on not only all the personnel and coaching turnover but the fact that no one from the outside has seen them scrimmage. We’re all curious to see what it will look like on Saturday night.

SUNDAY

Virginia Tech (plus-7.5) at No. 13 South Carolina, noon, ESPN

VA Tech rolls out five new starters on the offensive line who will be matched against a well-regarded South Carolina defensive front. This is where games are won and lost.

No. 6 Notre Dame (minus-2.5) at No. 10 Miami, 4:30 p.m., ABC

This was once a game bigger than any other. The “Catholics vs. Convicts” matchup from a generation ago was a marquee showdown. This isn’t that, but it’s still a fascinating duel preseason between Top-10 teams.

MONDAY

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick | Bob Breidenbach / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TCU (minus-3.5) at North Carolina, 5 p.m., ESPN

A dream matchup — Sonny Dykes vs. Bill Belichick. Dykes, the one-time Cal coach, is armed with returning quarterback Josh Hoover, who passed for a program-record 3,949 yards with 27 TDs last year. Belichick, in his college debut after a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, has 70 freshmen or transfers and an entirely new defensive line that may be challenged by the pace of the Horned Frogs offense.

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