Georgia
Why is Florida State vs Georgia Tech in Ireland? Game part of Aer Lingus College Football Classic
On Saturday, Florida State will kick off its much-anticipated 2024 football season.
Over the years, the Seminoles have started their season in a number of different locations. Usually, it’s at home, inside the sunny and steamy confines of Doak Campbell Stadium in late August or early September. In other instances, like against LSU each of the previous two seasons, it was at some sort of neutral site in the United States.
This year, Florida State will have to travel just a little farther to play its first game of the season.
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Nearly nine full months after winning the ACC and being snubbed by the College Football Playoff, the Seminoles will take on Georgia Tech in Dublin in what will be the first FBS college football game of the 2024 season.
Though the benefits of such a game are evident, particularly for players and fans, the arrangement isn’t without some questions — namely, why is a game between a pair of conference foes whose campuses are separated by a 4.5-hour drive being played 4,000 miles away?
Here’s what you need to know about the Seminoles’ Week 0 game against Georgia Tech, and why it’s taking place in Dublin:
Florida State vs Georgia Tech location
- Stadium: Aviva Stadium
- Location: Dublin
Florida State and Georgia Tech will be playing in Dublin at Aviva Stadium, the home of Ireland’s national rugby and soccer teams. The venue seats 49,000 for American football games.
The matchup between the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets will be the third college football game in as many years at Aviva Stadium, coming on the heels of Northwestern-Nebraska in 2022 and Notre Dame-Navy in 2023.
Why is Florida State vs Georgia Tech in Ireland?
it may seem odd to travel thousands of miles across an ocean for a game between two teams that have played 25 of their 27 all-time meetings on campus. Still, there are reasons for Florida State and Georgia Tech’s matchup taking place in Dublin.
Saturday’s contest is part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, with naming rights belonging to Ireland’s most prominent airline. The series was first announced in June 2015 and had its first game in 2016, when Georgia Tech beat Boston College 17-14.
For fans, it’s an opportunity to watch their beloved team play in person while using that game as an opportunity to travel to and explore a country they’ve perhaps never visited. For players and coaches, it’s a chance to immerse themselves in the culture of another nation.
“I am so excited for our student-athletes, coaches, staff, administration and fans for this opportunity,” Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said in a statement when the game was announced. “When this idea was first presented to me, I was immediately intrigued by a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the people in our program. The way the 2024 season lays out with a third open date, the trip made sense from a football perspective as well. Very few people have the chance to travel to a different continent and experience another culture, much less take an entire team, so I am appreciative of everyone’s hard work and support to make this game happen.”
For the university and its athletic department, there are self-interested reasons to make the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The game is a valuable opportunity for exposure, particularly with it being a standalone matchup that kicks off the 2024 season for a football-starved audience.
“Florida State is a global brand, and this game further enforces that,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement in March 2023. “This game allows us to provide an unmatched athletic and cultural experience for our student-athletes while representing Florida State on a global stage. I am looking forward to seeing our fans in Dublin while also making new fans across the Atlantic. We are appreciative of all the efforts that have already gone into the planning of this game and are excited for what is to come over the next year and a half.”
It’s the second trip to Ireland for Georgia Tech, which played against Boston College in the aforementioned 2016 Aer Lingus Classic. The Yellow Jackets had more than 12,000 fans make the trip that year, according to the university’s athletic department.
REQUIRED READING: ‘We will rise’: Marching Chiefs rehearse twice a day for FSU football opener in Dublin
What time is the Florida State game in Ireland?
- Date: Saturday, Aug. 24
- Time: Noon ET
The Seminoles and Yellow Jackets will kick off from Aviva Stadium in Dublin at noon ET on Saturday.
History of college football games in Ireland
Dublin — and Aviva Stadium, specifically — has become a fixture of the first week of college football in recent years.
Saturday’s game between Florida State and Georgia Tech will be the sixth in Dublin since 2012, with five of those taking place at Aviva Stadium. There are several more contests on the horizon, too, with Iowa State and Kansas State set to play there next year and Pitt and Wisconsin squaring off two years after that.
Though the past 15 years have represented a resurgence, a college football game being played in Ireland isn’t a particularly new concept. There were three games in Ireland between 1988-96, beginning with Boston College’s 38-24 win against Army in 1988.
Here’s a look at the history of college football games in Ireland, along with games scheduled for the ensuing years:
- 1988: Boston College 38, Army 24
- 1989: No. 24 Pitt 46, Rutgers 29
- 1996: No. 19 Notre Dame 54, Navy 27
- 2012: Notre Dame 50, Navy 10
- 2014: Penn State 26, UCF 24
- 2016: Georgia Tech 17, Boston College 14
- 2022: Northwestern 31, Nebraska 28
- 2023: No. 13 Notre Dame 42, Navy 3
- 2024: No. 10 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech
- 2025: Kansas State vs. Iowa State
- 2027: Pitt vs. Wisconsin
Georgia
“Operation Southern Slow Down” returns to target speeding drivers across Georgia and Florida
Heading out on the road for a little summer vacation? Law enforcement agencies across the South have a warning: Slow down or face consequences.
The ninth annual “Operation Southern Slow Down” will run from July 13 to 19 across Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
All five states and local law enforcement agencies will be taking part in the speed enforcement and awareness campaign, which officials say is designed to prevent crashes and save lives by reminding drivers of the dangers of speeding and reckless driving.
During the time period, drivers will see more law enforcement on roads across all five Southern states.
Last year’s operation ended with nearly 53,000 citations and warnings for speeding, 2,230 for reckless driving, and over 3,000 for violating distracted driving laws. Over 1,400 drivers were arrested on DUI charges, including 501 in Georgia.
“Operation Southern Slow Down” began in 2017 in an effort to reduce crashes and save lives. Federal crash data shows that speed was a factor in one out of five fatal traffic crashes in Georgia from 2020 to 2024. A 2023 report by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety found that over half of those killed or seriously injured in multi-vehicle crashes where speed was a factor were not the speeding driver.
“Unsafe driver behaviors like speeding are a major contributor to fatalities and serious injuries on our roadways,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue, P.E. “Remember that your actions behind the wheel can have life-altering impacts: slow down and drive responsibly to help get everyone to their destinations safely.”
Authorities say drivers should always wear a seat belt and make sure to give others who are traveling at high speeds on the roads plenty of space.
ATLANTA – At least ten police officers across Georgia have been arrested and charged with misusing the Flock camera database for personal reasons, adding to growing privacy concerns about the technology.
The cameras, usually mounted to a black pole, record license plates and other data of whoever passes them.
Georgia police database tracking
What we know:
A series of recent arrests has exposed the misuse of Flock license-plate-reading cameras by police officers throughout the state.
In Greene County, Deputy Quin’sha Goss was fired on Tuesday and charged with misusing the system.
The recent arrests include five police officers in Albany, who were also charged earlier this week.
That’s alongside a lieutenant, a sergeant and a deputy in Cherokee County charged last month with violating their oath.
System audits flag searches
What they’re saying:
Flock Co-founder Paige Todd stated that many recent arrests resulted from departments utilizing a new audit assistance tool that automatically flags unusual searches.
“In this case where misuse happened, the technology itself was not creating the misuse. It was it was human beings,” Todd told FOX 5’s Rob DiRienzo.
Todd argued that the public safety benefits of the technology heavily outweigh individual instances of human misconduct.
Todd explained, “best way to prevent misuse is now, every member of law enforcement out there knows that this audit exists,”
Todd added that the system has successfully helped track down thousands of individuals across the country.
“We, I believe, solve about a million crimes with our technology,” she said. “10,000 missing people have gone home because of it. This feels like pretty small in comparison.”
Privacy concerns trigger pushback
The other side:
The ACLU of Georgia called the incidents a critical wakeup call regarding constitutional protections and tracking limits. Christopher Bruce of the ACLU of Georgia said, “Jeopardizing your civil rights and civil liberties is never just an unfortunate event. You have constitutional rights, especially a right to privacy. And the question is who polices the police?”
Information security analyst Peter Tran noted that the network relies heavily on automated data collection.
“It uses AI,” Tran said.
Tran said many are uneased by the logging searchable personal data into a nationwide database.
“It becomes a privacy and security issue. So, you’re whereabouts where you shopped, your name, your address,” he said.
SEE ALSO: Dunwoody sets ‘guardrails’ for Flock surveillance cameras use
The blowback has prompted dozens of U.S. communities to end their contracts.
Videos have circulated on social media instructing people how to tear them down or disable them.
In Barrow County, the sheriff said three Flock cameras were recently damaged there.
The sheriff said damage to the devices could be considered a felony.
The Source: The information in this story is based on original reporting by FOX 5’s Rob DiRienzo, who interviewed Flock co-founder Paige Todd, ACLU of Georgia representative Christopher Bruce, and security analyst Peter Tran, as well as tracking data from local sheriff offices.
ATLANTA, Ga. — Positive mosquito samples for West Nile virus have been found in Fulton County, according to the Board of Health.
Officials say the samples came from the Grant Park area and that infected mosquitoes are suspected to be present in the city of Atlanta.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report this year’s West Nile infections are the highest since 2004. The disease has been transmitted by mosquitoes, with reported cases in 23 states. Most of the reported cases are considered severe.
Health officials suggest using an insect repellent registered with the EPA. Wearing long, loose-fitting clothing is also recommended.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
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