Pitt opens ACC play at home
First 3 in league are at Heinz Field
Pitt’s COVID-19 revised schedule is set. After the Panthers’ 2020 conference opponents were cemented last week — Clemson and Notre Dame among them — there now is clarity on when those games will be played and whom Pitt will welcome in the non-conference.
That is, as long as a season starts and finishes.
Pat Narduzzi’s squad will open an expectation-laden campaign against Miami of Ohio Sept. 12 at Heinz Field. Miami previously was scheduled Sept. 5 as Pitt’s season opener, with the Panthers under contract to pay $1.1 million for the RedHawks visit. Because of the ACC’s delayed start, that game was moved instead of being canceled, so Pitt avoids breaching the contract.
The ACC mandated last week that each program’s one non-conference game must be played in the team’s home state.
Richmond would have been an option if the Colonial Athletic Association had not canceled its fall schedule. The rule also eliminated Pitt’s previously scheduled game at Marshall. A Marshall athletics spokesperson said Tuesday that Thundering Herd athletic director Mike Hamrick had yet to hear from Pitt regarding a change to their agreed-upon game Sept. 12.
What’s certain, though, is Pitt’s favorable opening start to the 2020 conference slate with home games Sept. 19 against Syracuse, Sept. 26 Louisville and Oct. 3 N.C. State. The Panthers then travel to Boston College Oct. 10 for its first road test, followed by a trip Oct. 17 to South Florida against Miami.
Pitt’s game at Miami will be its farthest away (1,178 miles) and its first against a Coastal Division opponent … which doesn’t matter this season. Divisions have been eliminated with all 15 teams playing under a single set of standings. Still, with the top two teams by conference winning percentage reaching the ACC championship in Charlotte, N.C., the Panthers could take a significant step toward getting there with a win at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
After its second road game, Pitt comes back to Heinz Field Oct. 24 to play Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish, a full ACC member for the 2020 season eligible for the ACC title game and Orange Bowl bid, originally were scheduled to face Pitt Oct. 17.
Pitt will have its first open date Oct. 31. Miami and N.C. State share that off weekend, if either game has to be rescheduled. Pitt also will need that off week to recuperate after seven consecutive games and prepare for a rough home stretch. Narduzzi’s team finishes its season with three road games in four weeks.
The Panthers, whose total travel distance of 3,925 miles ranks second in the ACC, will play at Florida State (921 miles away) Nov. 7 — a one-week bump back from the teams’ previously scheduled Halloween matchup. The following Saturday (Nov. 14), Pitt travels to Georgia Tech (685 miles).
Pitt will play host Nov. 21 to Virginia Tech before facing Clemson Nov. 28 in Death Valley. Pitt is the most recent ACC team to beat Clemson at Memorial Stadium. The Panthers upset coach Dabo Swinney’s crew in 2016.
Pitt is the only ACC team to have its second off week in the final week of the season, and because of that, the lone game it could reschedule on that day would be the opener against Miami of Ohio.