ATLANTA (April 9) – Georgia Tech’s football game with Maryland has been moved to Thursday, Oct. 11, and will be nationally televised on ESPN, the Atlantic Coast Conference office announced April 9. Kickoff will be at 8 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field.
Tech, coming off a 9-3 record an its fourth straight bowl appearance in 2000, now has two Thursday ESPN games on its schedule for the upcoming season, including Nov. 1 against North Carolina, also at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The game between Clemson and NC State which was originally scheduled for that Thursday night has been moved to Saturday, Oct. 13.
The Maryland game marks the return of former Tech offensive coordinator Ralph Friedgen. Friedgen was hired as the head coach at his alma mater in December of 2000 after four seasons as the chief offensive coach for Tech’s George O’Leary and five seasons as offensive coordinator under Bobby Ross at Tech from 1987-91.
A popular television draw, Georgia Tech has played 11 Thursday ESPN games, equalling Texas A&M for the most for any school. The Yellow Jackets are 6-5 in previous Thursday games, including a 30-23 loss at NC State and a 35-0 win over Virginia last year. Tech has made two Thursday appearances in the same season twice before, in 1996 and 2000.
In addition to the 11 ESPN dates, Tech has played two other Thursday prime-time games in recent years, including Virginia in 1983 on TBS and Arizona in 1995 on the Prime Network, which is now Fox Sports Net.
Tech’s complete 2001 schedule:
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| Aug. 26 | Syracuse, Kickoff Classic (East Rutherford, NJ) [ABC] | 2 p.m. |
| Sept. 1 | THE CITADEL | TBA |
| Sept. 8 | at Navy | TBA |
| Sept. 15 | at Florida State | TBA |
| Sept. 29 | CLEMSON | TBA |
| Oct. 6 | at Duke | TBA |
| Oct. 11 | MARYLAND [ESPN] | 8 p.m. |
| Oct. 20 | NC STATE | TBA |
| Nov. 1 | NORTH CAROLINA [ESPN] | 8 p.m. |
| Nov. 10 | at Virginia | TBA |
| Nov. 17 | at Wake Forest | TBA |
| Nov. 24 | GEORGIA | TBA |
