The schedule gives these 2 a common opponent. Wake went to Louisville and won 30-27. NC State hosted Louisville and won 31-28. That's the same 3-point margin, but Wake did it on the road, and the road has been where Wake has done its best work all year.
Wake Forest is 2-0 away from home, and both wins were tight: 38-36 at Purdue and the 3-pointer in Louisville. The only loss came at home, 20-33 to Miami, the one opponent on the schedule that looked like a real ACC contender. NC State's 2 losses both came on the road, 8-34 at Virginia to open the year and 31-35 at Vanderbilt. At Carter-Finley the Wolfpack are 3-0, which is a big reason this is more interesting than the Stanford score suggests.
Richmond73-0
Both teams come in having won 2 straight, and both sit in the middle of the ACC table: Wake is 2-1 in conference and NC State is 1-1. Neither is in the AP Top 25, but a conference win here keeps either one in the bowl conversation into the back half of October. For NC State, it would also count as a win over a team that isn't Richmond or App State, which the Wolfpack's résumé still needs.
The early forecast for Raleigh calls for 77 degrees, clouds, a 20% chance of rain and light wind. That's ordinary football weather, but it's a week out and could still change. No board has posted yet, so there's nothing to price. The picture is clear enough anyway: Wake has a quarterback playing his best football, and NC State has an offense that has had to carry its defense for a month. Whichever of those gives first decides it.