N.C. State will face Florida State's top-rated defense without three of its starters on the offensive line, including guard Zach Allen, who is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury.

Allen, who started the first five games at right guard, got his right foot rolled up from behind during the third quarter of N.C. State's 44-37 loss to Miami last Saturday.

The ACC football schedule will remain at eight games, the ACC announced Wednesday, after its league meetings in Boston.

And the N.C. State-North Carolina basketball rivalry is officially safe.

The ACC had planned on going to a nine-game football schedule in 2013, with the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh, but with a new agreement with Notre Dame, which will play five ACC games each season, that plan was scrapped. The league will stay at an eight-game conference season for football.

MIAMI — A frustrated and perplexed Tom O'Brien searched for answers after N.C. State's 44-37 road loss to Miami on Saturday.

After all, N.C. State quarterback Mike Glennon threw for 440 yards and O'Brien's older team out-rushed a younger Miami team, in the throes of NCAA investigation and a rebuilding project, 224 to 85.

But in the end, a series of defensive miscues, offensive errors and mental vacations cost the Wolfpack (3-2) its opener for the fifth time in six seasons under O'Brien.

N.C. State will be without two starters from its offensive line for Saturday's trip to Miami. Right tackle Andrew Wallace and left tackle Rob Crisp will both miss the game with injuries.

Wallace, a senior, injured his left foot in last Saturday's 52-14 win over The Citadel and will miss his first game of the season. Crisp, a junior, will miss his fourth straight game with a back injury, according to the injury report released by N.C. State on Thursday morning.

Running back Tony Creecy returned to the top of the depth chart on Monday but freshman Shadrach Thornton will also play against Miami on Saturday.

Creecy missed N.C. State's 52-14 win over The Citadel last Saturday with an undisclosed injury, as did James Washington. With Mustafa Greene suspended for the second straight week, that left Thornton, a freshman, who ran for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his first college game.

Thornton's second on the depth chart, behind Creecy, who has 130 yards on 31 carries in three games.

Updated 10:30 p.m.

RALEIGH —  After running back Shadrach Thornton scored his first touchdown on the first drive of the game, N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien tried to keep the freshman from getting too over-hyped about the fast start.

Mark Gottfried's contract got an automatic two-year extension when N.C. State made the NCAA tournament last March. The second-year basketball coach got a $750,000 raise on Friday for the Wolfpack's 24-win season which ended in the Sweet 16.

Gottfried will make $1.95 million annually, which ranks second among ACC coaches.

Green Hope senior Ashley Williams, a starter in every game for the Falcons in her career, has committed to N.C. State as a preferred walk-on for next season. Green Hope is 87-6 in Williams' three years, and she led the state in assists (7.0) last season.

The NCAA cleared N.C. State freshman guard Rodney Purvis on Monday afternoon.

The McDonald's All-American guard will be eligible to play basketball for the Wolfpack this season after the NCAA completed a review of Purvis' high school, Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh.