Feb. 25, 2013
PDF of #ACCFB13 composite schedule
PDF of #ACCFB13 team-by-team schedule
THE FLATS — Seven home games, including dates with both ACC newcomers, and two nationally-televised Thursday night games highlight the 2013 Georgia Tech football schedule, released Monday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In what will be a season-long celebration of 100 seasons of football on Grant Field, the Yellow Jackets will host Pittsburgh and Syracuse, the two newest members of the ACC. Georgia Tech;s other two home ACC games come against Coastal Division rivals North Carolina and Virginia Tech. The Jackets will close the regular season against in-state rival Georgia in the 108th meeting between the two schools.
The Yellow Jackets’ five road games include a return trip to Clemson and games at BYU, Miami, Duke and Virginia. Tech will play at Clemson for the second straight year.
Two Tech games — vs. Virginia Tech (Sept. 26) and at Clemson (Nov. 14) — will be ESPN Thursday night affairs.
Georgia Tech opens the season at home Aug. 31 against Elon from the Southern Conference. The Yellow Jackets have an open date the following Saturday, then begin a stretch of playing four consecutive ACC Coastal Division opponents — at Duke (Sept. 14), vs. North Carolina (Sept. 21), vs. Virginia Tech (Thursday, Sept. 26) and at Miami (Oct. 5) — including three games over a stretch of 13 days. The Jackets’ Thursday night game against Virginia Tech comes just five days after playing North Carolina.
Since 2005, when the ACC initiated a conference championship game, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech are the only teams to represent the Coastal Division in the title game.
Following the Virginia Tech game, the Yellow Jackets play back-to-back road games at Miami (Oct. 5), where Tech has not won since 2007, and at BYU (Oct. 12).
After the game at BYU, Tech will play just two road games after October 12th, including just one outside of a two and a half-hour drive from Atlanta.
Syracuse visits Georgia Tech for the first time ever Oct. 19 in the first ACC game between the Yellow Jackets and Orange. Tech travels to Virginia Oct. 26 looking for just its second win in Charlottesville since 1990. Pittsburgh comes to Grant Field Nov. 2 for the first time since 1976, when Tony Dorsett was enjoying a Heisman Trophy season for the Panthers.
After Tech’s second open date on Nov. 9, the Yellow Jackets will travel to Clemson for the second straight year, this one coming on a Thursday night (Nov. 14), wrapping up the ACC season.
“There is always a sense of excitement when the schedule is finally released. From a fans’ perspective, our home schedule is a good one, with four ACC opponents and Georgia coming to Atlanta,” head coach Paul Johnson said. “The two Thursday night games give us an opportunity for great exposure against two really good opponents.”
Tech’s final two regular season games come at home against non-conference opponents — Alabama A&M (Nov. 23), which the Jackets will play for the first time, and Georgia (Nov. 30), which will play Georgia Tech for the 108th time.
Because Tech plays two FCS opponents — Elon and Alabama A&M — the Yellow Jackets will need to win a minimum of seven games to become bowl-eligible for the 17th consecutive season.
Game times will be determined later.
The Yellow Jackets begin spring practice March 25. The annual spring game will be held on Friday night, April 19th.
Football season tickets for 2013 will go on sale to the general public Wednesday and start at just $190. Visit ramblinwreck.com/tickets for more information.
Schedule Notes:
— Ten of Georgia Tech’s 12 opponents won six games or more last season.
— The Yellow Jackets’ first three games come against teams from the state of North Carolina.
— Georgia Tech played in an ESPN Thursday night game for 19 consecutive years before that streak was snapped last season (the Yellow Jackets played in an ESPN game on Labor Day night at Virginia Tech).
— The Yellow Jackets have played two games with a short turn-around before, including last season when Tech played at Virginia Tech on a Monday, then hosted Presbyterian on Saturday. Tech, however, has not played two conference games with a five-day turn-around since 2001.
— Georgia Tech’s ACC opener comes against Duke for the first time since 1994 and the Jackets will play their first ACC game in Durham for the first time.
— Games 2-5 all come against ACC Coastal Division opponents.
— When Tech plays back-to-back road games at Miami (Oct. 5) and BYU (Oct. 12), the Yellow Jackets will fly a combined 4,342 miles. Tech will go from playing at sea level (at Miami) to playing at 4,500 feet above sea level the following week (at BYU).
— Tech will play on the road just once after October 26th and that game — at Clemson (Nov. 14) — is within driving distance of the Flats.
— The Jackets’ game against Clemson (Nov. 14) falls later in the calendar than any season since 1945.
— With two Thursday night games on the schedule, there will be four Saturdays this fall when Georgia Tech does not play.
— The Yellow Jackets have won six straight and 13 of their last 14 home openers.
— The Yellow Jackets will play two nationally-televised Thursday night games in the same season for the first time since 2009 when they beat visiting Clemson (30-27) and lost on the road against Miami (17-33).
GEORGIA TECH 2013 SCHEDULE
Date Opponent
Aug. 31 ELON
Sept. 7 (open date)
Sept. 14 at Duke
Sept. 21 NORTH CAROLINA
Sept. 26 (Thur.) VIRGINIA TECH
Oct. 5 at Miami
Oct. 12 at Brigham Young
Oct. 19 SYRACUSE
Oct. 26 at Virginia
Nov. 2 PITTSBURGH
Nov. 9 (open date)
Nov. 14 (Thur.) at Clemson
Nov. 23 ALABAMA A&M
Nov. 30 GEORGIA
OPPONENT NOTES
Alabama A&M (home)
A late edition to the schedule after the ACC trimmed the conference schedule from nine to eight league games… Georgia Tech will play Alabama A&M for the first time… the Yellow Jackets will play a team from the SWAC for the first time… the Bulldogs posted a solid 7-4 overall record in 2012, including a 6-3 mark in the SWAC.
Brigham Young (away)
Georgia Tech and BYU finish up a two-year, home-and-home series in October… BYU leads the series, 2-1, following a 41-17 decision in Atlanta last season… the Yellow Jackets will play in Provo for the second time — the last coming on a Thursday night, Aug. 28, 2003, a 24-13 BYU victory… the Cougars finished 8-5 a year ago including a win over San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Clemson (away)
Georgia Tech and Clemson will meet for the 79th time… the Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 50-26-2… Tech will play at Clemson¡¦s Death Valley for the second straight year¡K the Jackets also played at Clemson in back-to-back seasons in 1993 and 1994… Tech is 6-11 all-time at Clemson and hasn’t won at Memorial Stadium since 2008… Overall, the Jackets have won five of the last seven meetings and seven of the last 10 meetings… Clemson went 11-2 (7-1 in the ACC) in 2012, including an impressive victory over LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Duke (away)
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 49-30-1… the Yellow Jackets are 21-18 against the Blue Devils in Durham… Overall, Tech has won nine straight meetings and 17 of the last 18 against Duke… the Blue Devils went 6-7 (3-5 ACC) last season, including a narrow loss to Cincinnati in the Belk Bowl.
Elon (home)
Elon will travel to Atlanta for Georgia Tech’s season opener… the Yellow Jackets and Phoenix will meet on the gridiron for the first time… Tech is 32-1-3 all-time against teams currently in the Southern Conference¡K the Phoenix are one of three North Carolina schools on Tech’s schedule (Tech does not play ACC foes Wake Forest and NC State this year)… the Phoenix finished 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the Southern Conference last season… Elon will play an FBS opponent for the sixth time and an ACC opponent for the fourth time… the Voice of the Yellow Jackets, Wes Durham, is an Elon graduate.
Georgia (home)
One of the nation¡¦s longest in-state rivalries, Georgia Tech and Georgia will meet for the 108th time… Georgia leads the all-time series, 63-39-5… Georgia has won the last four meetings and 11 of the last 12… Tech is 26-33-4 all-time against the Bulldogs in Atlanta… the Jackets have not beaten UGA at Grant Field since 1999¡K Georgia is coming off a 12-2 season (7-1 in the SEC) in 2012… the Bulldogs nearly beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game, then rebounded to beat Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.
Miami (away)
Georgia Tech will travel to south Florida for its 19th all-time meeting with Miami… the Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series, 10-8… Tech is 2-3 all-time when playing the Hurricanes at Miami… Overall, Miami has had the Jackets’ number recently, winning four straight… Tech is looking for its first win in the series since 2008 and its first win on the road against Miami since beating the Hurricanes in 2007 in the old Orange Bowl Stadium… Miami finished 7-5 (5-3 ACC) in 2012 after electing to self-impose a ban on postseason play.
North Carolina (home)
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 26-18-3… the two teams played a memorable 68-50 game last season in Chapel Hill… Tech has won four straight and seven of the last eight in the series… the Jackets have won seven straight against the Tar Heels in Bobby Dodd Stadium (last loss came in 1997)… the Tar Heels, ineligible for postseason play last season, finished 8-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC.
Pittsburgh (home)
ACC newcomer Pittsburgh will meet Georgia Tech in football for the first time since 1976 and for just the eighth time overall… the Panthers lead the all-time series, 5-2¡K Pittsburgh is 2-0 all-time against the Yellow Jackets at Grant Field, winning in 1974 (27-17) and in 1976 (42-14)… the Panthers went 6-7 overall, 3-4 in the Big East, in 2012¡K Pitt fell to Ole Miss in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
Syracuse (home)
Georgia Tech and Syracuse will meet for the third time, but for the first time in an ACC game… the two teams have never previously met at a campus site… Tech leads the all-time series, 2-0… the Yellow Jackets beat the Orange 13-7 in the 2001 Kickoff Classic in East Rutherford, NJ… Tech also beat Syracuse in the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl, 51-14, in Orlando, Fla… the Orange finished 8-5 overall, 5-2 in the Big East, last season… Syracuse whipped West Virginia, 38-14, in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
Virginia (away)
With the all-time series tied 17-17-1, the Georgia Tech-Virginia series is the closest in the ACC… Overall, Tech has won three of the last four meetings, but the two teams have split the last six meetings… the Yellow Jackets are just 3-10-1 against the Cavaliers in Charlottesville… Tech’s win at UVA in 2009 marked its first win in Scott Stadium since 1990… the Cavaliers completed the 2012 season with a 4-8 record (2-6 ACC).
Virginia Tech (home)
Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech remain the only two teams to represent the Coastal Division in the ACC Championship Game since the event began in 2005… the Hokies lead the all-time series, 7-3… Georgia Tech is 2-3 against Virginia Tech at Grant Field… Overall, the Hokies have won three straight in the series and five of the last six… the Yellow Jackets only win during that stretch was a 28-23 win over 4th-ranked Virginia Tech in 2009… the Hokies went 7-6 overall in 2012 (4-4 ACC) and defeated Rutgers in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
