By Aaron Beard

AP Sports Writer

North Carolina State and Duke are finally getting back together in football.

The Wolfpack and Blue Devils — separated by about 25 miles — meet Saturday in their first matchup in seven years and their first in Raleigh since 2009. That’s because the instate series that went decades as an every-year matchup has become merely occasional in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s cross-division scheduling rotation after waves of expansion.

“We go in every grocery store and you see N.C. State, you see Duke, you see (North Carolina), there’s stuff everywhere,” Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said. “And yet we don’t play them. So to me, it’s just a natural rivalry game. It makes sense geographically to play a team that’s that close to you and your own league. So it’s kind of a common-sense deal, in my opinion.”

This will be the first home game since the Sept. 19 opener for N.C. State (3-1, 3-1 ACC), which is coming off consecutive road wins against then-ranked Pittsburgh and Virginia. Duke (1-4, 1-4) is coming off its first win at Syracuse last weekend.

The teams played every year except once from 1924 through 2003, the exception being in 1944 during World War II. But they’ve met just three times since the ACC expansion beyond nine teams in 2004, the last being in Doeren’s first year in 2013.

The ACC typically plays an eight-game league slate with 14 football-playing members. The coronavirus pandemic forced changes that included No. 4 Notre Dame giving up its football independence to play as a 15th member for 2020 and the league revamping its scheduling model  to include 10 conference games.

“With the midst of what we’re in, we have no idea what next year is going to look like,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “We may be playing nine or 10 conference games every year. That may be what TV wants to see. So in that environment, it would likely have a better chance of happening.”

Some other things to know about Saturday’s Duke-N.C. State game:

LEARY’S GROWTH: N.C. State’s Devin Leary’s development at quarterback has been key to the Wolfpack’s strong start. Since taking over in the second half of the Virginia Tech loss, Leary has thrown for a career-high 336 yards and four touchdowns at Pitt – including the go-ahead score in the final minute – and two more scores at Virginia.

TURNOVER CONCERNS: The Blue Devils have nine interceptions and 10 lost fumbles, with those 19 turnovers at least five more than any other team in the Bowl Subdivision ranks. That included having to overcome four more in the Syracuse win.

RUNNING STRONG: Look for Duke to again lean on the running game. Behind Deon Jackson (169 yards) and Mataeo Durant (163), the Blue Devils finished with 363 yards and 645 against Syracuse, both of which standing as the No. 3 single-game totals in 13 seasons under Cutcliffe. The Blue Devils hadn’t run more than 38 times in the first four games, but ran it 63 times against Syracuse.

“I think as an offense, we’ve just been clicking more and we’re building that team chemistry,” Durant said, adding: “Now it’s just about sustaining and being consistent as an offense overall.”’

HOLDING GROUND: The Wolfpack’s defense has stepped up in the past two wins. N.C. State had a goal-line stand in each victory, first by stopping Pitt four times from the 1-yard line and then the Cavaliers, who were stuffed on the final two plays from the 1.