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.
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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
ATHENS, Ga. – Designated hitter Daniel Jackson and centerfielder Rylan Lujo combined for nine RBI Sunday, leading fifth-ranked Georgia to a 12-1 win over LSU at Foley Field.
Georgia improved to 41-11 overall, 21-6 in the SEC, while LSU dropped to 29-24 overall and 9-18 in conference play.
The Tigers return to action at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday when they play host to Florida in Game 1 of a three-game SEC series in Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field. Thursday’s game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SEC Network +.
“Georgia won the moments in this series,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “They’re going to score, so you’ve got to capitalize against them when you have scoring opportunities on offense.”
Georgia starting pitcher Caden Aoki (8-0) was the winner, limiting LSU to one run on four hits in 5.0 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
LSU right-hander Casan Evans (2-3), making his first appearance since April 17 versus Texas A&M, started the game Sunday and was charged with the loss, working 1.2 innings and allowing four runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
“I thought Casan’s stuff looked great, and that’s good for him from a health standpoint,” Johnson said. “He’s a guy that the more he pitches, the better he is, so there might have been a little bit of rust, but I thought he competed fine.”
Georgia struck for four runs in the bottom of the second inning in an outburst highlighted by Jackson’s two-out, two-run single and an RBI single by second baseman Ryan Black.
The Tigers narrowed the gap to 4-1 in the third when designated hitter Omar Serna Jr. delivered an RBI single.
Georgia extended its lead to 7-1 in the fourth as Jackson launched a two-run homer and centerfielder Lujo lined a run-scoring single.
Lujo unloaded a grand slam in the fifth, giving the Bulldogs an 11-1 advantage.
The Georgia baseball team had long since poured out of the Foley Field home dugout and the water bottles that were thrown on the field in jubilation had been cleaned up.
The Bulldogs celebration that carried into center field after a 13-8 victory on Saturday night over LSU on May 9 had ended and players had doused coach Wes Johnson with blue sports drink.
Now, some 20 minutes later, it was postgame photo time for the freshly minted 2026 SEC regular season champions.
They gathered in front of the spot on the right field wall where the previous seven seasons of Georgia SEC championships were listed, the last in 2008. Above them on the video board was a graphic that recognized this year’s team as SEC champions.
“Watching the program grow in such a shot amount of time, it’s awesome,” said pitcher Paul Farley, who has been with the Bulldogs for all three seasons with Johnson and got the win in relief Saturday. “We’ve got four SEC games left and to be able to hang that up there the SEC champs already it’s amazing.”
Farley was speaking figuratively because the 2026 numbers weren’t on the outfield fence just yet.
Fifth-ranked Georgia (40-11, 20-6 SEC) still has a chance to put a College World Series trip up there in left field for the first time since 2008 and in a best case scenario add another national championship year in right field with the 1990 season.
“SEC champs is great, but obviously we want to do bigger and better things,” Farley said.
LSU, the team that won it all last season, was still around having a postgame talk on the artificial turf field long after the game ended.
Johnson was with LSU in 2023 as pitching coach when it won another College World Series.
“It’s massive,” Johnson said of this latest championship. “Anytime you can win this league, man, it’s so hard. Then win it outright. It’s something you want to check off on your list of things you’ve ever accomplished. It’s 10 weekends of just meat house grinding.”
Johnson said he didn’t know that the dominoes had fallen Saturday to set up Georgia being able to clinch except that he saw that Texas lost at Tennessee as the result flashed on the scoreboard.
Texas A&M also lost twice at Ole Miss to set up the clinch for Georgia.
“I’m calling pitches, I’m locked in,” Johnson said.
He said assistant coach Will Coggin told him when the game ended that ‘We’re champs.’”
Many of the players knew.
“We had a few inside operatives, I’d say, tell us,” Farley said.
Shortstop Kolby Branch said he didn’t know “until the water bottles started flying.”
Branch said another Georgia team loaded with transfers grew closer in the fall and built relationships that have turned into wins this season.
Johnson said winning the regular season title in his third season as coach in the age of the transfer portal and NIL “means a lot.”
Johnson mentioned Farley, Branch and Tre Phelps being at Georgia for all three of his seasons.
“Seeing where we were in the first fall, we forget this used to be dirt and grass,” Johnson said standing on on turf field. “And we didn’t have the cool building and we only had one batting cage, all the stuff we’ve been able to do since we’ve been here. The other side is just understanding true belief and understanding what guys can do.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. –Georgia Tech softball (30-27, 10-14 ACC) collected its second postseason conference honor as first baseman Addison Leschber was named to the 2026 ACC All-Tournament Team, as was announced by the conference following the 2026 ACC Softball Championship game on Saturday.
Leschber is Tech softball’s first All-Tournament honoree since Emma Kauf during the 2023 season. During the First Round of the ACC Championships, Leschber was nothing short of exceptional as she went 2-for-4 with one home run, one double, and five RBI. Leschber’s first-inning home run brought her to 13 home runs this season, the third most of any Yellow Jacket this season. In Tech’s fourth meeting of the season with Notre Dame, Leschber saw her 12th multi-RBI game and ninth multi-hit game of the season. The senior finished the season with 26 runs, 37 hits, seven doubles, 13 home runs, 42 RBI, and 83 total bases.
2026 ACC Softball Championship All-Tournament Team
Jessica Oakland, Duke
Addison Leschber, Georgia Tech
Bri Despines, Louisville
Madison Pickens, Louisville
Bree Carrico, Virginia Tech
Michelle Chatfield, Virginia Tech
Emma Mazzarone, Virginia Tech
Jasyoni Beachum, Florida State
Ashtyn Danley, Florida State
Jazzy Francik, Florida State (MVP)
Isa Torres, Florida State
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will await their fate in the NCAA Tournament Selection show on Sunday, May 10, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
For the latest information on the Georgia Tech softball team, follow us on Twitter (@GaTechSoftball), Facebook, Instagram (@GaTechsoftball) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
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