Richmond @ North Carolina State preview

North Carolina coach Dave Doeren made his debut at the school last week and already has his team playing a more exciting brand of football on offense. Doeren brought a no-huddle offense over from Northern Illinois and will unleash that attack again on Saturday when the Wolfpack host Richmond. N.C. State will break in a new starting quarterback, however, with Brandon Mitchell out 4-to-6 weeks.

Mitchell injured his left foot in a 40-14 drubbing of Louisiana Tech and had surgery after the game. Pete Thomas, who lost a close camp battle to Mitchell for the starting job, will take over in his absence. The Spiders are ranked 12th in the FCS and dominated Virginia Military Institute to grab a win in their season opener.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPN 3. LINE: None.

ABOUT RICHMOND (1-0): The Spiders will not be intimidated by playing an FBS school after knocking off Duke in 2006, 2009 and 2011. Richmond annually challenges itself against an Atlantic Coast Conference school and was crushed at Virginia 43-19 last season before recovering to earn a share of the Colonial Athletic Association title. Quarterback Michael Strauss passed for 265 yard and three touchdowns in the 34-0 win over VMI last week and is 5-0 as a starter.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (1-0): Doeren guided Northern Illinois to the Orange Bowl last season thanks to an offense that put up 40.5 points in the regular season. That wide-open attack was on display last weekend, when the Wolfpack ran up 542 total yards against Louisiana Tech. Thomas went 15-for-27 for 212 yards in relief but left the heavy lifting to the running game, led by Freshman Matt Dayes with 84 yards and three touchdowns.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Four of the nine wide receivers used by N.C. State last week were freshmen.

2. The Spiders are 15-4 in non-conference games since 2007, including two wins over Duke.

3. Wolfpack K Niklas Sade went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts in Week 1, with the longest coming from 45 yards.

PREDICTION: North Carolina State 48, Richmond 20