ATLANTA — A Thursday night opener versus longtime Atlantic Coast Conference rival Clemson will kick off Georgia Tech’s 2020 football schedule, which was unveiled on Wednesday by the ACC.
For the second-straight season, Georgia Tech will open the campaign with a Thursday night conference battle against Clemson. The nationally televised 2020 season opener for both teams will be played on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The opener against five-time-defending ACC champion Clemson is the first of seven home games for the Yellow Jackets, including six contests at Bobby Dodd Stadium and the previously announced Nov. 14 “Mayhem at MBS” showdown versus Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the state-of-the-art home of the Atlanta Falcons, located less than a mile from Georgia Tech’s Midtown Atlanta campus.
Other home dates at Bobby Dodd Stadium include ACC Coastal Division matchups against Virginia (Oct. 17), Duke (Nov. 7) and Miami (Nov. 21), as well as previously announced non-conference contests against Gardner-Webb (Sept. 12) and UCF (Sept. 19).
After three-straight home games to open the season, the Yellow Jackets will make their first road trip of the season to ACC Coastal rival North Carolina on Sept. 26. The Jackets’ other conference road games are at Virginia Tech (Oct. 3), Pitt (Oct. 24) and Syracuse (Oct. 31). Tech closes the season at archrival Georgia on Nov. 28.
Thursday, Sept. 3 – Clemson* (Bobby Dodd Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 12 – Gardner-Webb (Bobby Dodd Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 19 – UCF (Bobby Dodd Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 26 – at North Carolina* (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Saturday, Oct. 3 – at Virginia Tech* (Blacksburg, Va.)
Saturday, Oct. 17 – Virginia* (Bobby Dodd Stadium)
Saturday, Oct. 24 – at Pitt* (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Saturday, Oct. 31 – at Syracuse* (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Saturday, Nov. 7 – Duke* (Bobby Dodd Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 14 – Notre Dame (Mayhem at MBS – Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 21 – Miami (Fla.)* (Bobby Dodd Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 28 – at Georgia (Athens, Ga.)
Home games in BOLD
* ACC games
Kickoff times and TV arrangements TBA
NOTING GEORGIA TECH’S SCHEDULE
-- Georgia Tech plays seven regular-season home games for the second-straight season.
-- Five of Georgia Tech’s six NCAA Division I FBS home opponents earned bowl berths in 2019 (Clemson, UCF, Virginia, Notre Dame and Miami).
-- Georgia Tech’s six FBS home opponents averaged 9.2 wins last season.
-- Three of Georgia Tech’s seven home opponents won at least 10 games last season – Clemson (14), Notre Dame (11) and UCF (10).
-- Nine of Georgia Tech’s 11 overall opponents earned bowl berths in 2019 (Clemson, UCF, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Pitt, Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia).
-- Georgia Tech’s 11 FBS opponents averaged 8.6 wins last season.
-- Four of Georgia Tech’s 11 opponents won at least 10 games last season - – Clemson (14), Georgia (12), Notre Dame (11) and UCF (10).
-- Georgia Tech is opening the season with an ACC home game for the first time since 1990, when it opened the campaign with a 21-13 home win over NC State, en route to an 11-0-1 record and its fourth national championship.
-- Georgia Tech is opening the season with three-straight home games for the first time since 2006.
-- Georgia Tech is playing three home games in the month of November for the second-straight year (GT played four November home games in 2019). Prior to last season, Tech had not played as many as three home games in November since 2013.
-- Georgia Tech’s Nov. 14 contest versus Notre Dame is the first game of the Yellow Jackets’ five-game “Mayhem at MBS” series, which has the Jackets hosting a game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium each season through 2024. Opponents include Notre Dame in 2020 and 2024 and Clemson in 2022 (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game). Opponents for Tech’s 2021 and 2023 games at MBS are TBA.
-- Georgia Tech is hosting Notre Dame for the first time since 2006.
-- Georgia Tech is hosting UCF for the first time since 2000.
-- Georgia Tech will make its first-ever trip to Syracuse. The Yellow Jackets and Orange have squared off three times previously – the 2001 Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, N.J. (an 18-17 GT win), the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. (a 51-14 GT win) and in their only previous ACC matchup, a 56-0 Georgia Tech home win on Oct. 19, 2013.
