Virginia Football releases 2020 Schedule

The Virginia Cavaliers announced their 2020 football schedule Wednesday morning. The season opens in Atlanta, GA as the Hoos are the featured Chick-Fil-A Labor Day Kickoff Game, taking on a Georgia team that finished fourth in the final AP Poll.

In addition to Georgia, Virginia’s out of conference schedule includes UConn and two in-state matchups, an early contest against VMI and a November contest against Old Dominion. Within the ACC, the Hoos travel on the road Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech, while playing host to Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, and Pitt.

Take note, the Virginia-Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg this season is back on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, instead of Black Friday.

The only ACC team to finish in the Top 25 this past season was Clemson at No. 2. Other than Virginia, no other ACC team even received votes. Virginia received enough votes to rank No. 29, if the poll went that far.

Here’s what the schedule looks like:

September 7 (Monday) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game, Atlanta, GA)

Virginia and Georgia have faced each other 19 teams, with the Bulldogs holding a narrow advantage, 7-9-3. Georgia took the last meeting between two, back in the 2000 Jeep O’ahu Bowl, with a commanding 37-14 win. The Bulldogs finished last year with a whopping 12-2 record, losing to LSU in the SEC Championships but beating Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. Their only regular season loss with a 2OT heartbreaker to South Carolina.

September 12 vs. VMI Keydets

VMI is an FCS school that finished 5-7 last season, including 4-4 in the Big South conference and dropping four of their last five games. In a series that dates all the way back to 1893, Virginia has a 57-23-3 record against the Keydets. The two last faced each other in 2013, a 49 shutout victory for the Hoos.

September 19 vs. Connecticut Huskies

All four of the matchups between UVA and UConn have been in relatively recent history, and the teams have split the series record, 2-2. Virginia won in 2007 and, most recently, in 2017 (38-18 at home), while UConn took the two in the middle, in 2008 and 2016. The Huskies finished last year with a 2-10 record, including 0-8 in their conference.

September 26 at Clemson Tigers

Well, it hasn’t been very long since Virginia last played Clemson. As you recall, the two teams battled it out for the ACC Championship in 2019, although “battling it out” might be a stretch of a descriptor. Clemson handily won the hardware for the conference over which they’ve been so dominant with a 62-17 over the Coastal Division champions. Clemson’s sole blemish to their 2019 record of 14-1 was, of course, to the national champion LSU Tigers.

October 3 vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

Last year, Virginia came away with a 38-31 victory over the Heels, a team that would go on to finish 7-6 overall with a 55-13 win over Temple in the Military Bowl. The Heels finished even in the conference, and now hold a 63-54-4 lead over UVA in the South’s Oldest Rival.

October 10 - Bye

October 17 at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

One of only a couple ACC teams not to make a bowl game last year, Georgia Tech finished just 3-9 on the season, including 2-6 in the ACC. Virginia beat the Yellow Jackets at home, 33-28. The lone wins for GT last year were over South Florida, Miami (OT) and NC State. They lost their other two out of conference games, to The Citadel (OT) and Temple.

October 24 at Old Dominion Monarchs

This past year was the first-ever meeting between these two programs, as ODU’s program was only recently founded in 2009, with Virginia coming away with a 28-17 win.. They joined the CAA in 2011, and then reclassified to FBS, joining Conference USA in 2014, where they started pretty competitively, making the Bahamas Bowl back in 2016. Last year, though, they finished just 1-11 overall, winless in their conference. In its first 11 years of existence, ODU has only ever had one head coach in Bobby Wilder. But after an abysmal and downward-trending performance last season, Wilder resigned, making way for ODU’s second-ever head coach, Ricky Rahne, previously the OC/QB Coach from Penn State. This will be Virginia’s first trip down to Norfolk to play the Monarchs.

October 31 vs. Miami Hurricanes

Miami eked its way into the Independence Bowl before getting shut out by Louisiana Tech, 14-0. The Hurricanes finished under .500 with a 6-7 record last season, though they were 4-4 with a puzzling win over the then-No. 20 Hoos, 17-9.

November 7 vs. Louisville Cardinals

Virginia’s “rival” counterpart in the Atlantic Division, Louisville finished 5-3 in the conference last year, including a 28-21 win over Virginia that still annoys UVA fans. The Cardinals finished 8-5 on the season, including a win over Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl. Since joining the conference, Louisville holds a 4-2 lead over the Hoos, only losing in 2014 and 2018.

November 13 (Friday) at Duke Blue Devils

Virginia has now won five straight games against Duke, which is relieving for fans who just came out of an era where the Hoos managed to lose six of seven to the team that used to be perennial bottom-dwellers in the conference. Overall, Virginia still owns the series, 38-33-0. Last year, Duke finished just 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the conference, though two of those losses were by a field goal.

November 21 vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

Virginia opened last season with a 30-14 win over Pitt on the road, a great way to kick off the 2019 campaign. Pitt would go on to show some real flashes of brilliance, winning five of the next six before finishing the regular season dropping three of five. The Panthers finished 8-5 overall (4-4 ACC), with a 34-30 win over Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl.

November 28 at Virginia Tech Hokies

We definitely remember how this one played out last season as the Hoos finally overcame their demons to break a 15-year curse to the Hokies with a 39-30 win in Charlottesville. The Hokies took what was supposed to be a pretty crummy season and turned it around to a solid 8-5 record overall, and 5-3 in conference. They would go on to lose to Kentucky in the Belk Bowl (RIP). This series record now stands at 38-57-5 in favor of the Hokies.

The season kicks off on Labor Day, September 7, 2020. As always, stay tuned to Streaking the Lawn for the latest and greatest across all sports.