Pitt released its full schedule for the 2022 season, including the two dates for its early season home games against West Virginia and Tennessee. Pitt opens the season against the Mountaineers Thursday, Sept. 1 at Heinz Field and plays again on the North Shore of Pittsburgh the next Saturday, Sept. 10:
The 2022 Pitt Football Schedule 📝#H2P » https://t.co/zGSRdoPCIr pic.twitter.com/FUv08Q5s4n
— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) February 1, 2022
The official date for the return of Pitt's "Backyard Brawl" rivalry with West Virginia is the first football game between the programs since the Mountaineers' 21-20 victory over the Panthers in 2011. That eleven-year hiatus ended a streak of the teams playing each other every year dating back to 1919. Pitt currently leads the series 61-40-3 despite West Virginia winning the last three meetings. The Thursday night matchup will also serve as the first time the teams have played each other for their season openers since 1992.
Pitt's rematch with Tennessee after beating the Volunteers 41-34 in Knoxville, Ten. last year is the first Saturday home game of the season. It's also the first ever time Pitt will host an SEC opponent. Four of the Panthers' first five games of the season are at home as the Panthers end their non-conference schedule with a rematch with Western Michigan on the road, and a home game against Rhode Island.
Western Michigan was the team that upset Pitt 44-41 at Heinz Field in 2021. It was the most disappointing loss of the season as the Panthers would've finished with an undefeated non-conference record and with only one loss to Miami, could've put themselves further into consideration to make the program's first ever College Football Playoffs appearance. However, the loss also served as a catalyst for the Panthers' defense to focus on improving against run-pass-option based offenses like Wake Forest's offense that Pitt's defense played well against in the ACC Championship.
ACC play begins at home against Virginia Tech on Oct. 8, but after that the Panthers go on a stretch where four of their final six games are on the road with back-to-back road trips to face Louisville and North Carolina, then facing Syracuse at home, Virginia on the road, Duke at home, and then playing the regular season finale at Hard Rock Stadium against Miami.
The only confirmed night game of the season so far is Pitt's Thursday night season opener against West Virginia, as all other games are set for Saturdays. But with Pitt being the reigning ACC champions, expect some of those Saturday games to get pushed into primetime kickoffs if the Panthers follow up their historic 2021 season with a strong run to start the year and find themselves competing to win the conference again.