Tennessee football schedule 2022: TV, first 3 kickoff times set. Pittsburgh game gets top billing

Adam Sparks, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read
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Tennessee football's key road game against Pittsburgh is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 10 at Heinz Field on ABC.

Pitt shares the stadium with the Steelers, and the Vols will be the first SEC team to play the Panthers there.

It will be UT's first appearance on ABC since beating Virginia Tech in the Battle at Bristol in 2016. And the Pitt game will get premier billing among national networks, as CBS will air Colorado-Air Force in the same time slot.

The game will be the second installment of the Johnny Majors Classic, which celebrates the coach at the helm of UT and Pitt for a combined 24 years. Last season, Pitt beat the Vols 41-34 at Neyland Stadium en route to winning the ACC title and finishing the season ranked No. 13.

On Thursday, the SEC announced game times for the first three weeks of the season for every school.

UT's opener against Ball State will be at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 1 in a renovated Neyland Stadium on SEC Network. That game time had been previously announced.

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The early start to the season won't give the Vols a head start for their second game against Pitt. The Panthers also will play their season opener on Sept. 1 against West Virginia.

UT's home game against Akron will be at 7 p.m. ET on Sept. 17, aired digitally on SEC Network+ and ESPN+. Game times for the Vols' remaining games will be announced at a later date.

UT returns eight starters, including record-breaking quarterback Hendon Hooker, from the most productive offense in school history. The Vols scored 511 points and 6,174 yards of total offense, both single-season team records, in Josh Heupel's first season as coach.

The defense has bigger holes. But the Vols still return their leading three tacklers in linebackers Jeremy Banks and Aaron Beasley and safety Trevon Flowers, as well as top pass rusher Byron Young.

2022 Tennessee football schedule

Sept. 1: Ball State (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network)

Sept. 10: at Pittsburgh (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC)

Sept. 17: Akron (7 p.m., SEC Network+/ESPN+)

Sept. 24: Florida

Oct. 8: at LSU

Oct. 15: Alabama

Oct. 22: UT Martin

Oct. 29: Kentucky

Nov. 5: at Georgia

Nov. 12: Missouri

Nov. 19: at South Carolina

Nov. 26: at Vanderbilt

Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football 2022 schedule: TV, kickoff times first 3 games set