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The ACC unveiled the 2021 football schedules for all 14 of its teams on Thursday, including Pitt. After a strange 2020 season in which the ACC slate was expanded to 10 games, Notre Dame was added to the conference as a temporary member and the divisions were eliminated, the conference is getting back to business as usual, with eight ACC games and up to four out-of-conference games per team.
Much of Pitt’s schedule was known before Thursday, but the release gave specific dates for each matchup. Unlike last season, Pitt will not be put through the ringer in terms of travel, as the team’s longest trip is to Georgia Tech on Oct. 2. However, Pitt will face Clemson for the second straight year on Oct. 23, and the following week, Miami will come to town.
Another apparent departure from last season is that Pitt will get in all four of its out-of-conference matchups, barring any unforeseen issues. That will give Pitt three tune-up games and a trip to Knoxville to take on a troubled Tennessee team now under new management. In 2020, the ACC placed restrictions on when and where out-of-conference games could be played. As a result, Pitt nixed its lightest four-game stretch in recent memory and scheduled Austin Peay at Heinz Field instead.
The season will get underway with a home tilt against UMass, the team Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple coached from 1998 to 2003 and from 2014 to 2018, on Sept. 4. The out-of-conference slate will be rounded out with matchups against New Hampshire and Western Michigan in addition to the aforementioned contest with Tennessee. And on Nov. 27, Pitt will conclude its regular season with a trip to Syracuse to face the Orange.
Pitt’s full schedule can be seen below.
Sept. 4: vs. UMass
Sept. 11: at Tennessee
Sept. 18: vs. Western Michigan
Sept. 25: vs. New Hampshire
Oct. 2: at Georgia Tech
Oct. 9: Bye
Oct. 16: at Virginia Tech
Oct. 23: vs. Clemson
Oct. 30: vs. Miami
Nov. 6: at Duke
Nov. 11: vs. North Carolina
Nov. 20: vs. Virginia
Nov. 27: at Syracuse