August 30-Utah State (Friday) September 7- @Rice September 12-North Carolina (Thursday, NOT a conference game) September 21- Elon September 28- @Boston College October 12- Louisville October 19- Florida State November 2- NC State November 9- @Virginia Tech November 16- @Clemson November 23- Duke November 30- @Syracuse So, a few things jump out at me here. For one, that UNC game is really weird in pretty much every way. Two, I'd say there's a pretty decent chance we start 4-0 going into our first conference game at BC. Three, we have no home games during the Dixie Classic Fair, which brings me untold joy. Also, it's nice having a bye before the State game. I see a LOT of potential for 6 wins here. That's a good thing. I don't really know what to make of Syracuse, Florida State, or Louisville, because I don't see those teams having repeats of this season, for better or worse. I think the bad will get better and the really good will come down to earth a little bit. Either way, it's a good schedule with plenty of interesting matchups. What do you guys think? Bowling again? Any schedule quirks you hate? Do you agree with my assessments? Sound off in the comments and as always, thanks for reading and Go Deacs. --SF<doc-sep>Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach Dave Clawson hoists the trophy after defeating the Memphis Tigers 37-34 in the Birmingham Bowl at Legion Field. Mandatory Credit: Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson often says one of his goals every season is to have his team playing meaningful games in November. If the 2019 schedule is any indication, that’s likely to be the case as the Deacs have five games scheduled in November for the first time since the EagleBank Bowl Championship winning season in 2008 under Jim Grobe. Also. . .Thursday night football inexplicably returns for the Deacs this coming season. The ACC released the 2019 football schedule Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a look at the slate, followed by a few quick thoughts. Aug. 30 - Utah State (Friday) Sept. 7 - at Rice Sept. 12 - North Carolina (Thursday) Sept. 21 - Elon Sept. 28 - at Boston College Oct. 5 - Open Oct. 12 - Louisville Oct. 19 - Florida State Oct. 26 - Open Nov. 2 - North Carolina State Nov. 9 - at Virginia Tech Nov. 16 - at Clemson Nov. 23 - Duke Nov. 30 - at Syracuse *It’s pretty shocking that the ACC would seemingly dictate a Thursday-night kickoff for a non-conference game between Wake and UNC. No disrespect to any other team, but it’s not like moving that game up really helps the Deacs prepare for the following week against Elon. Aside from exposure, this is a killer for Wake Forest. They will experience a long trip back from Texas the previous week and will potentially lose the huge Saturday crowd environment. The Heels will be at home the week before the quick five-day turnaround. *That finish is brutal, meaning it’s going to be vital for Wake to accumulate wins early and stay healthy as they enter the month of November. *There are two byes weeks in 2019, and having an extra week to prepare for Louisville under first-year head coach Scott Satterfield is a great advantage. It’ll give the Wake Forest staff time to dig into what he’s changed with the Cards, even though there should be some level of familiarity with Satterfield coming from Appalachian State. *This needs to be the year Wake finally tops Florida State again. Clawson has yet to post a win over the Noles, with the last Wake Forest win in the series coming at BB&T Field in 2011. Wake needs to grab at least four-to-five wins out of its first seven games, and on paper all seven of those contests should be wins or extremely competitive for the Deacs. *Arguably the three most difficult games are all in a row to start off the month of November. But Wake has the potential to enter that series healthy, confident and coming off the second bye week. While the Wake Forest Athletic program is proving to be a thorn in the proverbial side of the Wolfpack, Wake hasn’t won at Virginia Tech since 1983 or at Clemson since 1998. Plus, in case you forgot, Clemson is the defending College Football Playoff Champions. *This is not a great spot to see Duke on the schedule. This is a game both programs every year believe they should win, and the Deacs throttled the Blue Devils 59-7 just a couple months ago at Wallace Wade Stadium. But this game will be the fourth game in four weeks and will come after playing successive contests against North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Clemson. Tough sledding indeed. The Deacs salvaged an injury-riddled season in 2018 to claim it’s third-straight bowl victory by topping Memphis 37-34 in the Birmingham Bowl. Wake will return 11 regular starters in 2019, looking to earn bowl eligibility for a fourth-straight season for the first time in program history. Spring camp will begin in late-February.<doc-sep>RALEIGH -- The complete 2019 NC State football schedule has been announced with seven home games scheduled at Carter-Finley Stadium and the home opener against East Carolina on Aug. 31. NC State's schedule includes matchups against notable opponents like West Virginia, Clemson, Boston College, Florida State, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Coastal Division crossover Georgia Tech. Of the Wolfpack's 2019 seven scheduled home games, two are ranked in the ESPN "Way too early" rankings with Clemson and Syracuse listed at No. 1 and No. 15, respectively. As for the road games, a trip to Morgantown, W.V. to take on West Virginia looms in week three. The Wolfpack will also have to travel to Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. ACT NOW: BUY 1 MONTH OF PACK PRIDE, GET 5 FREE. COME ON AND JOIN PACK PRIDE! SIGN UP HERE! The bye week comes in week 9 before the Pack's road game against Wake Forest and is part of a tough five game division stretch that includes in order -- Syracuse, at Boston College, at the Demon Deacons, Clemson and Louisville. Georgia Tech, State's Coastal Division crossover game, follows Louisville, and will be the Pack's second Thursday night game of the season. Once again, North Carolina is the Wolfpack's season finale at home on Nov. 30. The Pack returns four starters on offense, including wide receiver Emeka Emezie, tight end Cary Angeline, offensive tackle Justin Witt and offensive guard Joshua Fedd-Jackson. Dynamic playmakers receiver Thayer Thomas and running back Ricky Person are also back. Defensively, seven starters are back, including defensive tackle Larrell Murchison, defensive end James Smith-Williams, linebacker Isaiah Moore, cornerback Nick McCloud, cornerback Chris Ingram, safety Jarius Morehead and nickel Stephen Griffin. Veteran safety Tim Kidd-Glass, linebacker Brock Miller and 247Sports Freshman All-American defensive tackle Alim McNeill also return. After winning nine games in back-to-back seasons, the Pack hopes to continue its ascension in the ACC in 2019. However, seventh-year head coach Dave Doeren and NC State faces an always-difficult Atlantic Division slate and Clemson is the heavy favorite. All dates for games are listed below times for each is TBA. Schedule 8/31/19 (Saturday) vs. East Carolina 9/7/19 (Saturday) vs. Western Carolina 9/14/19 (Saturday) vs. @West Virginia 9/21/19 (Saturday) vs. Ball State 9/28/19 (Saturday) vs. @Florida State 10/10/19 (Thursday) vs. Syracuse 10/19/19 (Saturday) vs. @Boston College 11/2/19 (Saturday) vs. @Wake Forest 11/9/19 (Saturday) vs. Clemson 11/16/19 (Saturday) vs. Louisville 11/21/19 (Thursday) vs @Georgia Tech 11/30/19 (Saturday) vs. North Carolina Click Here for the full ACC schedule.<doc-sep>Trevor Lawrence and the reigning College Football Playoff national champion Clemson Tigers will kick off their 2019 campaign at home against a conference rival as the premier game on Thursday night of the first weekend of the season. Cross-division rival Georgia Tech comes to visit Death Valley on Aug. 29 for the on-campus kickoff weekend special, which also serves as the college football launch for the league's new ACC Network, which officially goes live a week earlier on Aug. 22. All of these details, along with dates for every ACC college football game in the upcoming season, were finalized this week with the release of the 2019 schedule. Many of the schedule's highlights -- like the four neutral-site Week 1 kickoff classic appearances -- were already announced, but that hasn't lessened the excitement of seeing games like Duke vs. Alabama in Atlanta, Florida State vs. Boise State in Jacksonville, Miami vs. Florida in Orlando and North Carolina vs. South Carolina in Charlotte on the schedule for Saturday, Aug. 31. The ACC will get to not only start the first weekend of the 2019 season but finish it, taking the Labor Day Monday spotlight with Notre Dame's visit to play Louisville. That's one of the five contractually-obligated ACC opponents for the Irish, a full ACC member in all other sports, along with home games against Virginia (Sept. 28), Virginia Tech (Nov. 2) and Boston College (Nov. 23) as well a trip to Durham to play Duke on Nov. 09. The 2019 ACC schedule also features one of the most unique scheduling quirks in modern Power Five football. On Thursday, Sept. 12, Mack Brown and the North Carolina Tar Heels will make the short drive west on I-40 to play against Wake Forest. Only that game won't count towards either teams ACC record, but instead as a non-conference game that satisfies the ACC's requirement that every team play one Power Five opponent in addition to its eight conference games. The deal between UNC and Wake has been on the books since Jan. 2015. The return date is set for 2021 when the Demon Deacons will visit Chapel Hill under similar circumstances. Check out the full team-by-team breakdown of the 2019 ACC schedule below , via the ACC. Boston College Aug. 31: VIRGINIA TECH Sept. 7: RICHMOND Sept. 14: KANSAS Sept. 21: at Rutgers Sept. 28: WAKE FOREST Oct. 5: at Louisville Oct. 19: NC STATE Oct. 26: at Clemson Nov. 2: at Syracuse Nov. 9: FLORIDA STATE Nov. 23: at Notre Dame Nov. 30: at Pitt Clemson Aug. 29: GEORGIA TECH (Thurs.) Sept. 7: TEXAS A&M Sept. 14: at Syracuse Sept. 21: CHARLOTTE Sept. 28: at North Carolina Oct. 12: FLORIDA STATE Oct. 19: at Louisville Oct. 26: BOSTON COLLEGE Nov. 2: WOFFORD Nov. 9: at NC State Nov. 16: WAKE FOREST Nov. 30: at South Carolina Duke Aug. 31: vs. Alabama (Atlanta) Sept. 7: NORTH CAROLINA A&T Sept. 14: at Middle Tennessee Sept. 27: at Virginia Tech (Fri.) Oct. 5: PITT Oct. 12: GEORGIA TECH Oct. 19: at Virginia Oct. 26: at North Carolina Nov. 9: NOTRE DAME Nov. 16: SYRACUSE Nov. 23: at Wake Forest Nov. 30: MIAMI Florida State Aug. 31: vs. Boise State (Jacksonville) Sept. 7: LOUISIANA-MONROE Sept. 14: at Virginia Sept. 21: LOUISVILLE Sept. 28: NC STATE Oct. 12: at Clemson Oct. 19: at Wake Forest Oct. 26: SYRACUSE Nov. 2: MIAMI Nov. 9: at Boston College Nov. 16: ALABAMA STATE Nov. 30: at Florida Georgia Tech Aug. 29: at Clemson (Thurs.) Sept. 7: SOUTH CAROLINA Sept. 14: THE CITADEL Sept. 28: at Temple Oct. 5: NORTH CAROLINA Oct. 12: at Duke Oct. 19: at Miami Nov. 2: Pitt Nov. 9: at Virginia Nov. 16: VIRGINIA TECH Nov. 21: NC STATE (Thurs.) Nov. 30: GEORGIA Louisville Sept. 2: NOTRE DAME (Mon.) Sept. 7: EASTERN KENTUCKY Sept. 14: at Western Kentucky Sept. 21: at Florida State Oct. 5: BOSTON COLLEGE Oct. 12: at Wake forest Oct. 19: CLEMSON Oct. 26: VIRGINIA Nov. 9: at Miami Nov. 15: at NC State Nov. 23: SYRACUSE Nov. 30: at Kentucky Miami Aug. 31: vs. Florida (Orlando) Sept. 7: at North Carolina Sept. 14: BETHUNE-COOKMAN Sept. 21: CENTRAL MICHIGAN Oct. 5: VIRGINIA TECH Oct. 11: VIRGINIA (Fri.) Oct. 19: GEORGIA TECH Oct. 26: at Pitt Nov. 2: at Florida State Nov. 9: LOUSVILLE Nov. 23: at FIU Nov. 30: at Duke North Carolina Aug. 31: vs. South Carolina (Charlotte) Sept. 7: MIAMI Sept. 12: at Wake Forest (Thurs. )(non-conference) Sept. 21: APPALAHICAN STATE Sept. 28: CLEMSON Oct. 5: at Georgia Tech Oct. 19: at Virginia Tech Oct. 26: DUKE Nov. 2: VIRGINIA Nov. 14: at Pitt (Thurs.) Nov. 23: MERCER Nov. 30: at NC State NC State Aug. 31: EAST CAROLINA Sept. 7: WESTERN CAROLINA Sept. 14: at West Virginia Sept. 21: BALL STATE Sept. 28: at Florida State Oct. 10: SYRACUSE (Thurs.) Oct. 19: at Boston College Nov. 2: at Wake Forest Nov. 9: CLEMSON Nov. 16: LOUISVILLE Nov. 21: at Georgia Tech (Thurs.) Nov. 30: NORTH CAROLINA Pitt Aug. 31: VIRGINIA Sept. 7: OHIO Sept. 14: at Penn State Sept. 21: UCF Sept. 28: DELAWARE Oct. 5: at Duke Oct. 18: at Syracuse (Fri.) Oct. 26: MIAMI Nov. 2: at Georgia Tech Nov. 14: NORTH CAROLINA (Thurs.) Nov. 23: at Virginia Tech Nov. 30: BOSTON COLLEGE Syracuse Aug. 31: at Liberty Sept. 7: at Maryland Sept. 14: CLEMSON Sept. 21: WESTERN MICHIGAN Sept. 28: HOLY CROSS Oct. 10: at NC State (Thurs.) Oct. 18: PITT (Fri.) Oct. 26: at Florida State Nov. 2: BOSTON COLLEGE Nov. 16: at Duke Nov. 23: at Louisville Nov. 30: WAKE FOREST Virginia Aug. 31: at Pitt Sept. 6: WILLIAM & MARY (Fri.) Sept. 14: FLORIDA STATE Sept. 21: OLD DOMINION Sept. 28: at Notre Dame Oct. 11: at Miami (Fri.) Oct. 19: DUKE Oct. 26: at Louisville Nov. 2 : at North Carolina Nov. 9: GEORGIA TECH Nov. 23: LIBERTY Nov. 29: VIRGINIA TECH (Fri.) Virginia Tech Aug. 31: at Boston College Sept. 7: OLD DOMINION Sept. 14: FURMAN Sept. 27: DUKE (Fri.) Oct. 5: at Miami Oct. 12: RHODE ISLAND Oct. 19: NORTH CAROLINA<doc-sep>
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 17: The North Carolina Tar Heels take the field for their game against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Kenan Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) The 2019 UNC Football schedule has been released by the Atlantic Coast Conference as the Tar Heels will open up ACC play in early September While it’s still basketball season on the campus of the University of North Carolina, there’s some excitement surrounding the football program as well. Mack Brown is returning for another stint as head coach after the program announced the firing of Larry Fedora back in November. The hiring of Brown has brought some excitement to the program and he’s been able to turn a 2019 recruiting class that was ranked 90th into a Top 40 one during the Early Signing Period. Brown still has a lot of work to do to get this program back on the right track but he’s off to a great start. On Wednesday, the Atlantic Coast Conference released the 2019 football schedule for each team as we are just months away from kickoff. We already knew part of UNC’s schedule with the non-conference opponents set, but now we know when and where UNC will take on ACC opponents. The Tar Heels will open up the new Mack Brown era with a showdown against South Carolina in Charlotte on August 31st in the Belk College Kickoff. The game will be played at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. From there, UNC’s schedule gets tougher in September. They will open up ACC play by hosting Miami on September 7th, the first time they have hosted the conference opener in Week 2 since 2003. Following that game, they will travel down the road to take on Wake Forest in a Thursday night showdown. This will be a non-conference game for the two teams as they scheduled a home-and-home series a few years back. With ACC expansion, UNC and Wake do not play each other every season like they did in years past, so they were allowed to schedule a non-conference game against a conference opponent. The Tar Heels end September by hosting the defending national champion Clemson Tigers at Kenan Memorial Stadium on September 28th. UNC’s first game out of the state of North Carolina will come on October 5th when they play at Georgia Tech. That game is followed by a bye then a road game at Virginia Tech on October 19th. The Duke Blue Devils come to Chapel Hill on October 26th. Duke has won the previous three matchups with UNC dating back to 2016. UNC will end its season in Raleigh, taking on NC State on Nov. 30. Check out the full schedule below: Aug. 31 vs. South Carolina (Belk College Kickoff , Charlotte, N.C.) Sept. 7 MIAMI Sept. 12 at Wake Forest (Thurs.) (non-conference) Sept. 21 APPALACHIAN STATE Sept. 28 CLEMSON Oct. 5 at Georgia Tech Oct. 19 at Virginia Tech Oct. 26 DUKE Nov. 2 VIRGINIA Nov. 14 at Pitt (Thurs.) Nov. 23 MERCER Nov. 30 at NC State The Tar Heels will have two Thursday night games, playing both on the road at Wake Forest and Pitt. UNC’s lone two ACC wins over the past two years have come against Pitt. For more on the UNC Football program including the Spring Game, please check back with Keeping It Heel.