RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State's offense has gone from inept to fluid in the span of a few weeks — thanks partly to a breather in the schedule.

The Wolfpack will find out Saturday whether they've really made the kind of improvement needed to compete in Atlantic Coast Conference when N.C. State hosts Pitt.

After the Panthers game, N.C. State plays eight straight ACC games to close the season. Saturday's contest could reveal a lot about both teams: Have the Wolfpack found an offense and are the Panthers are good enough to make a run at the Big East Conference title.

N.C. State (2-1) couldn't find the end zone and managed a meager 133 total yards in the 7-3 opening loss against South Carolina. In the two games since, however, the Wolfpack has gotten things going against Football Championship Subdivision opponents to get some confidence back.

First came a 65-7 win against Murray State in which the Wolfpack scored on its first 10 drives. Then came a 45-14 win against Gardner-Webb, with Russell Wilson throwing for four touchdowns each time and setting an NCAA record for most pass attempts without an interception. And after the Gamecocks' upset of No. 4 Mississippi on Thursday night, that loss in the opener doesn't look quite as bad anymore, either.

N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien's main concern appears to be an offensive line that has battled injuries and could be going with a fourth different lineup in as many games.

"This will be a great test to see who and what we are after the couple of (FCS) teams we've played the last two weeks," O'Brien said.

The Panthers, meanwhile, are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2000 with easy wins against Youngstown State, Buffalo and Navy. In addition, Pittsburgh has been successful on the road recently and was the preseason favorite to win the Big East.

The Panthers' biggest problem could be a secondary that gave up more than 400 yards passing and four touchdowns through the air against Buffalo — an area the Wolfpack might be able to exploit with Wilson.

"I'm sure they'll watch the Buffalo game when we let up a lot of yardage on defense with a couple mistakes there, so I feel like they're going to come out and throw on us," defensive lineman Gus Mustakas said.