The Panthers will open the season with four straight home games against Miami (Ohio), Central Florida, Syracuse, and Bucknell.<\/p>\n
On Friday, October 2, Pitt will travel to Virginia Tech and face former Penn State head coach James Franklin<\/a>, who has taken over the Hokies’ program in Blacksburg.<\/a><\/p>\n The following week, Pitt will return home to host North Carolina and former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick<\/a>, who will be entering his second season in the college ranks.<\/p>\n Pitt will then hit the road for games against Boston College and Miami (FL), who were this season’s runner-up in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Georgia Tech and Florida State both will come to Pittsburgh, the latter of which is also a Friday night game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pitt will then wrap up its season with road games against Louisville and California.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kickoff times and broadcast information for all of Pitt’s games will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n The Panthers head into the 2026 season having finished their 2025 campaign<\/a> with an overall record of 8-5 and an ACC record of 6-2.<\/p>\n At one point in the season, Pitt was 7-2 and won their first five games with true freshman Mason Heintschel at quarterback, who took over for Eli Holstein after back-to-back losses early in the year against West Virginia<\/a> and Louisville.<\/p>\n Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel celebrates after beating NC State on Oct. 25th, 2025 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n Mike Darnay \/ KDKA<\/p>\n Since Pitt’s season ended, Holstein entered the transfer portal and transferred to Virginia.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"b50r6118.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/b50r6118.jpg#.jpeg\")
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