Pitt's 2020 schedule finalized
The ACC released the dates for the 2020 football schedule this afternoon. Pitt will play a 10-game conference schedule and will have one non-conference game to open the year. The league announced a new schedule format last week and today the dates have been set.
The 2020 football schedule will kick-off with four straight games at Heinz Field. The Panthers will open the season against Miami of Ohio on September 12th. The Redhawks were slated to be the opener all along, but the game will be pushed back from the original date of September 5th to September 12th. Miami won the MAC last season and finished the year with an 8-6 overall.
The conference slate for Pitt begins on September 19th when Syracuse comes to town. The Panthers and Orange meet every year as an annual crossover game between the Coastal and Atlantic Divisions. Pitt knocked off Syracuse 27-20 last season and the two teams were originally scheduled to meet on November 28th to close out the regular season.
The home stand continues with a pair of new games with Louisville on September 26th and North Carolina State on October 3rd. Louisville has high expectations this season with one of the best returning offenses in the ACC. The Cardinals were believed to be one of the top challengers to Clemson in the Atlantic Division this season. N.C. State is coming off a 4-8 campaign and will be traveling to Heinz Field for the first time since 2017.
Pitt's first road contest will be a road trip to Boston College on October 10th. The Eagles upset the Panthers to close out last season. Boston College will be under the guidance of first-year head coach Jeff Hafley, a former Pitt assistant coach under Dave Wannstedt. Pitt will then travel to Miami on the 17th for a showdown with the Hurricanes. Pitt lost a heartbreaker to Miami a year ago in the closing seconds by a score of 16-12. Pat Narduzzi is just 1-4 during his tenure against Miami.
Pitt returns to Heinz Field on October 24th with the 71st meeting all-time against Notre Dame. The original game against the Irish was slated to be on the 17th and is pushed back one week. Notre Dame is playing the 2020 season as a full-member of the ACC and is eligible to compete for the league championship.
The Panthers take a bye week on October 31st before closing out the year with three out of four on the road beginning with a trip to Tallahassee to take on Florida State. It will be the second meeting between the two schools as conference members and it will be the first time Pitt plays in Tallahassee since 1982.
The Panthers then will head to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech on November 21st. Pitt played at Georgia Tech a year ago and this year's contest was originally slated to be in Pittsburgh before the schedule change. Pitt won last year's game 20-10 and Narduzzi is 4-1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets.
Pitt returns to Heinz Field for one last home game on November 21st against Coastal rival Virginia Tech. In 2018, Pitt handled the Hokies 52-22 at Heinz Field, but Virginia Tech got its revenge last season with a 28-0 shutout in Blacksburg.
The regular season concludes with a trip to Death Valley to take on ACC preseason favorite Clemson. The Tigers have won the last five ACC Championships and have reeled off two national titles in that stretch as well. Dabo Swinney's program is among the top in the country at the moment. Pitt and Clemson have faced off one time in the regular season as conference foes with the Panthers scoring a memorable 43-42 upset in Death Valley over the eventual national champions in 2016.
The schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic has eliminated the two ACC divisions this year, and thus that takes away some common opponents for Pitt. This will be the first year since joining the ACC in 2013 that Pitt won't be facing off against Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia. Pitt will also not play originally scheduled non-conference games against Richmond and Marshall.