2018 schedule features five Top 25 opponents

The ACC released its full 2018 football schedule Wednesday, and the slate for Pitt features a Friday night contest and five teams that finished in The Associated Press Top 25 last season — four of which placed within the top 13.

Pitt will play host to Penn State (No. 8 in 2017) and Virginia Tech (No. 24) and travel to Central Florida (No. 6), Notre Dame (No. 11) and Miami (No. 13).

“This is about as challenging a schedule as you’ll find across college football,” coach Pat Narduzzi said in a statement.

“Our non-conference schedule includes two Power Five opponents and a UCF team that went undefeated. And I think the road to the ACC title game will be a real grind in both divisions. We know firsthand how ultra-competitive the Coastal has been with five different champions the past five years.”

The Panthers will open the season with three consecutive home games beginning Sept. 1 against Albany — a school with two notable Pittsburgh ties. The Great Danes are coached by former Pitt assistant Greg Gattuso, and former defensive coordinator Bernard Clark is now the head coach at Robert Morris.

The Nittany Lions are the next team to visit Heinz Field and will look to avenge their 42-39 loss at the venue in 2016. Pitt will open conference play Sept. 15 against Georgia Tech before hitting the road to face North Carolina the weekend after.

Pitt will then face a challenging stretch features two non-conference games in three weeks — traveling Setp. 29 to UCF, returning home against ACC foe Syracuse Oct. 6 and then making the trip to Notre Dame for the first time since 2012 on Oct. 13.

After an open week, the schedule with soften a bit with a home game Oct. 27 against Duke and a Friday night game Nov. 2 at Virginia. Pitt will play its home finale against Virginia Tech before ending the season at Wake Forest (Nov. 17) and at Miami (Nov. 24). The Panthers closed the 2017 season with a 24-14 upset of the Hurricanes.