Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins’ second season will begin the same way his first did — with a Thursday night season opener against Clemson. The Yellow Jackets will face the powerhouse Tigers, who finished the season 14-1 after reaching the College Football Playoff Championship game, at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Sept. 3. That was among the highlights of the schedule for Tech as the ACC schedule was released Wednesday morning.
Tech and Clemson opened the 2019 season on a Thursday night at Death Valley, a 52-14 win for the Tigers that began their journey to their fifth consecutive ACC title and fifth consecutive berth in the College Football Playoff, two of which resulted in championships. The Jackets went on to finish 3-9 in Collins' debut season.
» MORE: Game-by-game breakdown
Unquestionably, it will be a testy assignment; Clemson has won its past five meetings with Tech by 14 points or more. However, college coaches have often claimed that big matchups to open the season have helped teams train with better focus in the spring and summer. With a Thursday night game, Tech will have a national stage and an opportunity to demonstrate its progress at the start of Collins’ second season.
It will be part of a busy weekend for college football in Atlanta. Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games, Florida State-West Virginia on Sept. 5 (Saturday) and Georgia-Virginia on Sept. 7 (Labor Day).
Tech and Clemson will meet again in an opener in 2022, in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff game on Labor Day night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, part of the Jackets' five-game series at the sports palace.
After Clemson and two home non-conference games (Gardner-Webb on Sept. 12 and Central Florida on Sept. 19), Tech will play four of its next five games on the road. Away games at North Carolina (Sept. 26) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 3) and then two more at Pittsburgh (Oct. 24) and Syracuse (Oct. 31) will sandwich a single home game against Virginia on Oct. 17.
Tech’s lone open date of the season will precede the Virginia game.
The game at Syracuse, the Jackets’ rotating crossover matchup against the Atlantic Division, will be Tech’s first at the Carrier Dome.
The Jackets will then play three consecutive home games — Duke (Nov. 7), Notre Dame (Nov. 14) and Miami (Nov. 21) — before finishing the regular season at Georgia on Nov. 28. The game against the Fighting Irish will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the first of the team’s series at MBS.
The closing stretch — Notre Dame, Miami and Georgia — could well be formidable. Notre Dame finished the 2019 season 11-2 and likely will be a top-10 team to start the season. Miami slid at the end of the season to finish at 6-7, but has added two significant grad transfers (Houston quarterback D’Eriq King and Temple defensive end Quincy Roche). While the Bulldogs were hit hard on offense by early departures to the NFL, they figure to be stocked as usual.
The rhythm is similar to the Tech schedule for 2019, when the Jackets also played three of their first four league games on the road, then finished with three of four at home.
The open date would appear favorably scheduled, falling after the fifth game of the season. The Cavaliers also will have an open date before that game. Virginia will be the only team that has an open date before facing the Jackets this season.
Georgia Tech 2020 football schedule
(Home games in bold)
Sept. 3: Clemson
Sept. 12: Gardner-Webb
Sept. 19: Central Florida
Sept. 26: at North Carolina
Oct. 3: at Virginia Tech
Oct. 17: Virginia
Oct. 24: at Pittsburgh
Oct. 31: at Syracuse
Nov. 7: Duke
Nov. 14: Notre Dame (at Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
Nov. 21: Miami
Nov. 28 at Georgia
About the Author
