The UNC football team released its 2021 schedule Thursday, after the ACC announced football schedules for all of its member schools.
After the schedule changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic last season, the 2021 season will be played largely as it was originally scheduled. Barring further health and safety complications, the conference will return to having Atlantic and Coastal divisions, with UNC playing six Coastal division games and both one permanent and rotating opponent from the Atlantic division, respectively.
Notably, after spending last season in the ACC, Notre Dame football will return to its independent status.
The Tar Heels’ schedule begins with a road conference match against Virginia Tech, set for either Thursday, Sept. 2, or Friday, Sept. 3. What comes next is a non-conference matchup at Kenan Stadium against the Georgia State Panthers on Sept. 11, followed by a conference home-opening game against the Virginia Cavaliers on Sept. 18.
The conference schedule continues on Sept. 25 in Atlanta against Georgia Tech, after which UNC will play a three-game home stand. It kicks off on Oct. 2 against the Duke Blue Devils in the Battle for the Victory Bell, which the Tar Heels have won the last two years. The Florida State Seminoles will then visit Chapel Hill on Oct. 9, followed a week later by their fellow Floridian Miami Hurricanes on Oct. 16.
After a two-week break, the Tar Heels will travel to South Bend, Indiana, on Oct. 30 for a non-conference matchup against the Fighting Irish, who defeated head coach Mack Brown’s men 31-17 last year. They’ll then return to Kenan Stadium for a game against Wake Forest on Nov. 6, before jetting out again just five days later to face the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Steel City.
In its final non-conference game, UNC will take on the Wofford Terriers at home on Nov. 20. The end of both its conference and regular season schedules comes on Friday, Nov. 26, in Raleigh against Triangle rival N.C. State. This matchup previously closed out UNC’s regular season from 2014 to 2019, and will now return to its normal place after the changes of last season.
