Florida State vs. Georgia Tech to open 2024 college football season with international game in Ireland

According to multiple reports, Florida State will play its first game outside the United States in the program’s history when it travels to Dublin, Ireland to take on Georgia Tech to open the 2024 season. The match is part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium.

The conference match was originally scheduled to be a Georgia Tech home game, but will most likely be rescheduled for week zero on August 24, 2024 to accommodate travel. While the Yellow Vests have struggled in recent years, Georgia Tech has won two of the last three games against the vaunted Seminoles. The Dublin game joins the 2012 and 2014 ACC Championship Games as the only matches between these two teams outside of Tallahassee, Florida or Atlanta.

The announcement of this matchup comes just as Florida State is returning to its prime under coach Mike Norvell. The Seminole won 10 games for the first time since 2016 and beat Oklahoma in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl. Conversely, Georgia Tech fired coach Jeff Collins and introduced Brent Key, who served as interim coach after Collins was fired, as their new coach for the 2023 season.

“I’m so excited for this opportunity for our student athletes, coaches, staff, administration and fans,” Florida State Coach Mike Norvell said in a statement. “When this idea was first presented to me, I was immediately intrigued by the fact that participants in our program are getting a unique experience. With the way the 2024 season is going with a third open date, the trip made sense right from the start. also from a football point of view. Very few people have the opportunity to travel to another continent and experience another culture, let alone the whole team, so I’m grateful for everyone’s hard work and support to make this game happen.”

Although Florida State has never played overseas, Georgia Tech beat Boston College 17–14 in their first game in Dublin in 2016. In recent years, international college football games have become increasingly popular. In addition to the series in Ireland, Stanford and California played games in Australia.

The second season of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic will begin in 2023 when Notre Dame travels to Dublin on August 26 to play Fleet. .