Friday, Sept. 17
UCF (2-0, 0-0 AAC) at Louisville (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
7:30 p.m.; ESPN
Series tied, 1-1
Last meeting: UCF, 38-35 (2013)
Head Coaches:
Louisville – Scott Satterfield (13-13 in second season at Louisville; 63-37 in ninth season overall)
UCF – Gus Malzahn (2-0 in first season at UCF; 79-38 in 10th season overall)
Notes: The Cardinals welcome UCF for the first half of a home-and-home series • Louisville is slated to travel to Orlando next September • Louisville and UCF, former conference members, have met two times on the gridiron • he two schools were together in the American Athletic Conference for one season in 2013, with the Knights knocking off the Cardinals 38-35 in Louisville • Louisville defeated the Knights 42-21 in the first meeting between the two schools on Nov. 2, 1985 at Cardinal Stadium • UCF head coach Gus Malzahn is in his first year at the helm following a run of eight consecutive winning seasons at Auburn • Malzahn was on the opposing sidelines at the Chickfil-A Peach Bowl that capped the 2017 season, when UCF knocked off Auburn to cap an unbeaten season • Following Friday night’s contest, Louisville plays eight consecutive ACC games before ending its regular season versus rival Kentucky on Nov. 27.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Western Michigan (1-1, 0-0 MAC) at Pitt (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
Noon; RSN
First meeting
Head Coaches:
Pitt – Pat Narduzzi (43-34 in seventh season at Pitt and overall)
Western Michigan – Tim Lester (25-21 in fifth season at Western Michigan 55-44 in 11th season overall)
Notes: Pitt takes on Western Michigan for the first time, with the Broncos slated to play host to the Panthers in a return game at Kalamazoo in 2022 • Pitt is 27-4 all-time versus opponents from the MAC, with the two most recent wins coming in 2019 – 20-10 over Ohio during the regular season and 34-30 over Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl • Western Michigan’s roster includes defensive backs Bricen Garner and Therran Coleman, who each played four years at Pitt before opting to spend their final collegiate season with the Broncos • Pitt is home for the next two weekends – playing host to New Hampshire on Sept. 25 – before opening its ACC slate with a pair of road games against Coastal Division opponents Georgia Tech (Oct. 2) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 16) • The Panthers have won their last five home games against non-conference opponents.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Boston College (2-0, 0-0 ACC) at Temple (1-1, 0-1 AAC)
Noon; ESPN2
BC leads series, 29-7-2
Last meeting: BC,45-35 (2018)
Head Coaches:
Boston College – Jeff Hafley (8-5 in second season at Boston College and overall)
Temple – Rod Carey (10-12 in third season at Temple; 62-42 in ninth season overall)
Notes: Saturday will mark the 39th meeting in a football series that was first played in 1936 • This week’s game concludes a home-and-home set, following Boston College’s 45-35 win at Chestnut Hill in 2018 • Boston College has won the last six times it has faced Temple, with the Owls’ most recent series victory coming in 1999 in Philadelphia • RBs AJ Dillon (161) and Ben Glines (120) combined for 281 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Eagles’ 2018 victory, and QB Anthony Brown threw a pair of touchdown passes • The programs were meeting for the first time since 2004, the final season for each as Big East Conference members • Saturday’s contest will be the third of four consecutive non-conference games to open Boston College’s 2021 schedule • The Eagles will play host to Missouri on Sept. 25 before launching ACC play at Clemson on Oct. 2 • The Owls have future games lined up versus ACC opponent Duke (2022 and 2023).
Saturday, Sept. 18
Albany (0-2, 0-1 CAA) at Syracuse (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
Noon; ACCN
First meeting
Head Coaches:
Syracuse – Dino Babers (25-37 in sixth season at
Syracuse; 62-53 in 10th season overall)
Albany – Greg Gattuso (34-42 in eighth season at Albany, 131-73 in 20th season overall)
Notes: Syracuse faces in-state opponent Albany in football for the first time • It is the second of three consecutive home games for the Orange, which will welcome Liberty on Sept. 24 for a Friday night contest • Albany last played an ACC opponent in 2018, when the Great Danes dropped a 33-7 decision to Pitt in the season opener • The Panthers were Albany’s first-ever opponent from a Power 5 conference and the Great Danes’ second against an FBS foe • Albany head coach Greg Gattuso is a Pittsburgh native whose teams won eight MAAC championships in 12 seasons at Duquesne (1993-2004) • Gattuso then worked on the Panthers’ staff for six seasons (2005-11) and spent time in the ACC as Maryland’s defensive line coach for three seasons (2011-13) before taking the helm at Albany • He led the Great Danes to the second round of the NCAA D-I playoffs in 2019.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Michigan State (2-0, 1-0 Big Ten) at #24 Miami (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
Noon; ABC
Miami leads, 4-0
Last Meeting: Miami, 26-20 (1989)
Head Coaches:
Miami – Manny Diaz (15-11 in third season at Miami and overall)
Michigan State – Mel Tucker (4-5 in second season at Michigan State; 9-12 in third season overall)
Notes: First meeting between the Power 5 programs since 1989 and one of four September games over the past two weekends for ACC teams against Big Ten opponents • The Hurricanes were scheduled to visit Michigan State last season, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic • Saturday’s game will be the fourth of five in the series to be played at Miami • The Hurricanes’ lone trip to Michigan State came in the most recent meeting in September of 1989, when a No. 2-ranked Miami squad survived an upset bid by the unranked Spartans to win 26-20 • Redshirt freshman QB Gino Torretta came off the bench to throw a touchdown pass after relieving injured starter Craig Erickson to help the Hurricanes escape • The teams first met late in the 1945 season, with the Hurricanes posting a 21-7 victory that stands as the only series game to date decided by more than six points.
Saturday, Sept. 18
#15 Virginia Tech (2-0, 1-0 ACC) at West Virginia (1-1, 0-0 Big 12)
Noon; FS1
WVa. leads series, 28-23-1
Last meeting: VT, 31-24 (2017)
Head Coaches:
Virginia Tech – Justin Fuente (40-26 in sixth season at Virginia Tech; 66-49 in 10th season overall)
West Virginia- Neal Brown (11-12 in third season at West Virginia; 46-28 in seventh season overall)
Notes: The programs have squared off 52 times since 1912, but this year’s game will be just the second between the teams since they met every year from 1973 through 2005 • The Hokies won the more recent meeting in 2017 by a 31-24 score at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., the first neutral site game between the teams since 1962 (Richmond, Va.) • QB Josh Jackson passed for 235 yards, ran for 101 and accounted for two touchdowns in his first start for Virginia Tech, and the No. 21 Hokies made a last-second stand to hold off the No. 22 Mountaineers • Arguably the most memorable contest in the series was a 22-20 Tech victory in Morgantown on Nov. 6, 1999, when Michael Vick led a last-minute comeback that Shayne Graham capped with a 44-yard game-winning field goal as time expired • The Mountaineers are scheduled to play in Blacksburg in 2022.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Georgia Tech (1-1, 0-0 ACC) at #6 Clemson (1-1, 0-0 ACC) 3:30 p.m.; ABC
Georgia Tech leads, 50-33-2
Last meeting: Clemson, 73-7 (2020)
Head Coaches:
Clemson – Dabo Swinney (141-34 in 14th season at Clemson and overall)
Georgia Tech – Geoff Collins (7-17 in third season at Georgia Tech; 22-27 in fifth season overall)
Notes: Clemson has held the recent upper hand in a series dominated early on by Georgia Tech, winning each of the last six meetings and nine of the last 10 • The schools first met in 1898 and 1899 with games at Augusta, Ga., and Greenville, S.C. • Those were the only neutral-site meetings until the 2009 ACC Football Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. • Saturday will mark the 16th time in the last 18 meetings that at least one team has been nationally ranked • Last year’s game between the teams in Atlanta saw QB Trevor Lawrence pass for a career-high 404 yards and five touchdowns as top-ranked Clemson overwhelmed the homestanding Yellow Jackets • The Tigers have scored a combined 174 points in the last three meetings versus the Jackets • Clemson is 15-6 versus the Tigers in Death Valley, including a 52-14 win in the most recent meeting two seasons ago.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Virginia (2-0, 0-0 ACC) at #21 North Carolina (1-1, 0-1 ACC) 7:30 p.m.; ACCN
UNC leads series, 63-58-4
Last meeting: UVA, 44-41 (2020)
Head Coaches:
Virginia – Bronco Mendenhall (32-32 in sixth season at UVA; 131-75 in 17th season overall)
North Carolina – Mack Brown (85-57-1 in 13th season at North Carolina; 260-133-1 in 33rd season overall)
Notes: Following seven straight UNC wins from 2010 through 2016, Virginia has won the last four head-to-head meetings in “The South’s Oldest Rivalry,” which was first played in 1892 • Saturday’s game will mark the 126th meeting between the programs and the 52nd in Chapel Hill • UNC is 33-15-3 in previous home games versus the Cavaliers and holds an overall 35-31-1 edge in ACC play • QB Brennan Armstrong threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in last year’s meeting, and Virginia scored 28 consecutive points to build a 41-28 lead before holding off a UNC fourth-quarter comeback to win 44-41 • Every game between the schools since 1944 has been played at UNC or UVA • The earlier days of the series featured a combined 23 neutral site games in Richmond, Norfolk and Atlanta • Since the conclusion of World War I, the schools have met every year since 1919.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Florida State (0-2, 0-0 ACC) at Wake Forest (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
3:30 p.m.; ESPN
FSU leads series, 30-7-1
Last meeting: WFU, 22-20 (2019)
Head Coaches:
Florida State – Mike Norvell (3-8 in second season at Florida State; 41-23 in fifth season overall)
Wake Forest – Dave Clawson (42-45 in eighth season at Wake Forest; 132-125 in 22nd season overall)
Notes: Florida State had won seven straight in the series before Wake Forest’s 22-20 victory at home in 2019 • PK Nick Sciba connected on a field goal from 25 yards out with 4:18 remaining to supply the Demon Deacons’ winning points • Last year’s scheduled game between the teams was canceled • The Seminoles are 9-4 all-time versus Wake Forest in Winston-Salem and have won 23 of the 28 ACC meetings between the teams • The series opened with a 14-14 tie in 1956, and the programs played 10 games (nine in Tallahassee, one in Winston-Salem) over the next 17 years • This Saturday’s meeting closes out a three-game season-opening homestand for the Deacons and kicks off a run of four consecutive ACC games • It will be the first road game of the season for the Seminoles, who return home the next two weekends (Sept. 25 and Oct. 2) for ACC games versus Louisville and Syracuse.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Furman (2-0, 0-0 SoCon) at NC State (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
7:30 p.m.; RSN
Furman leads series, 8-5-4
Last meeting: NCSU, 49-16 (2017)
Head Coaches:
NC State – Dave Doeren (56-47 in ninth season at NC State; 79-51 in 11th season overall)
Furman – Clay Hendrix (27-18 in fifth season at Furman and overall)
Notes: NC State and Furman meet for the second time in five seasons in a series that was first played in 1902 • NC State won 49-16 at home in the most recent meeting in 2017 as Jaylen Samuels rushed for three first-half touchdowns • Prior to that game, the schools had not met since 1985, when the Paladins posted their second straight victory in the series and their third four meetings • That Furman team, which went on to reach the NCAA Division I-AA championship game, was coached by Dick Sheridan • Sheridan became the Wolfpack’s head coach in 1986 and guided NC State to a 52-29-3 overall record and six bowl game appearances over next the next seven years • The current Paladin squad is led by fifth-year head coach Clay Hendrix, who played at Furman under Sheridan and served on his NC State coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 1986 and 1987.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Northwestern (1-1, 0-1 Big Ten) at Duke (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
4 p.m.; ACCN
Series tied, 10-10
Last meeting: Duke, 21-7 (2018)
Head Coaches:
Duke – David Cutcliffe (75-89 in 14th season at Duke; 119-118 in 20th season overall)
Northwestern – Pat Fitzgerald (107-82 in 16th season at Northwestern and overall)
Notes: Duke’s 41-17 win in Durham in 2017, followed by a 21-7 road victory in 2018, reversed a trend in a series that had seen Northwestern win the previous three meetings and eight of the previous nine • QB Daniel Jones threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter of the 2018 game before leaving with a collarbone injury, standing out against the Wildcats for the second year in a row after accounting for 413 yards and four touchdowns in the Blue Devils’ home win in Durham one year earlier • This Saturday’s game will be the 21st between the schools on the gridiron since the series began in 1985 • This year’s game is the first of a four-year home-and-home set between the Blue Devils and Wildcats, who played a similar series from 2015 through 2019 • It will be the third of four consecutive non-conference games for Duke, which welcomes Kansas on Sept. 25 before opening ACC play Oct. 2 at rival North Carolina.
Saturday, Sept. 11
Georgia State (0-1, 0-0 SBC) at #10 North Carolina (0-1, 0-1 ACC)
7:30 p.m.; RSN
First meeting
Head Coaches:
North Carolina – Mack Brown (84-57-1 in 13th season at North Carolina; 259-133-1 in 33rd season overall)
Georgia State -Shawn Elliott (22-26 in fifth season at Georgia State; 23-40 in sixth season overall)
Notes: North Carolina’s first-ever meeting against Georgia State begins a stretch in which the Tar Heels will play five of their next six games at home • UNC seeks to win its home opener for the fourth consecutive season and for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons • Saturday night’s game will mark Georgia State’s first against an ACC opponent since a 41-7 loss at NC State in 2018 • UNC is scheduled to face Georgia State in Atlanta in 2022 in a home-and-home series return game • The Panthers are the only non-conference opponent on the Tar Heels’ schedule prior to Oct. 30, when they are scheduled to play at Notre Dame • After opening the 2021 campaign with last week’s trip to Virginia Tech for the ACC season opener, UNC is scheduled to play host to Virginia (Sept. 18) and travel to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech (Sept. 25) before facing Duke, Florida State and Miami at Kenan Stadium the first three weekends in October.
Saturday, Sept. 11
Jacksonville State (0-1, 0-0 AQ7) at Florida State (0-1, 0-0 ACC)
8 p.m.; ACCN
FSU leads series, 2-1
Last meeting: FSU, 41-24 (2020)
Head Coaches:
Florida State – Mike Norvell (3-7 in second season at Florida State; 41-22 in fifth season overall)
Jacksonville State – John Grass (68-22 in eighth season at Jacksonville State and overall)
Notes: Jacksonville State visits Tallahassee for the second consecutive season and the fourth time overall • The Seminoles won last season 41-24 as QB Jordan Travis came off the bench to lead five straight touchdown drives • FSU won in 2009 by a 19-9 score thanks to a pair of touchdowns in the final 35 seconds • Ty Jones’ 1-yard touchdown run with 35 seconds left put the Seminoles ahead, and teammate Kevin McNeil returned a fumble for a score 21 seconds later to seal the win • Jacksonville State won the first meeting between the programs 7-0 in 1947 • After a highly successful run in the Ohio Valley Conference, JSU announced in January that it would return to the ASUN, its first Division I conference affiliation • The ASUN announced has announced plans to add FCS football to the league’s list of sponsored sports for the first time in the conference’s 43-year history.
