Florida State will play its first game outside of the United Sates in program history as it travels to Dublin, Ireland, to face off against Georgia Tech to open the 2024 season, according to multiple reports. The matchup is part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium.
The conference matchup was originally slated to be a Georgia Tech home game but will likely move to Week Zero on Aug. 24, 2024, to adjust for travel. While the Yellow Jackets have struggled in recent years, Georgia Tech has won two of the last three games against the vaunted Seminoles. The Dublin game joins ACC Championship Games in 2012 and 2014 as the only matchups between these two teams outside of either Tallahassee, Florida, or Atlanta.
The announcement of this matchup comes right as Florida State is marching back to relevance under coach Mike Norvell. The Seminoles won 10 games for the first time since 2016 and edged out Oklahoma in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl. Conversely, Georgia Tech fired coach Geoff Collins and introduced Brent Key -- who served as interim coach after Collins was fired -- as its new coach heading into the 2023 season.
"I am so excited for our student-athletes, coaches, staff, administration and fans for this opportunity," Florida State coach Mike Norvell said in a statement. "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."
While Florida State has never played abroad, Georgia Tech beat Boston College 17-14 in its first ever game in Dublin in 2016. International college football games have become increasingly popular in recent years. In addition to the series in Ireland, Stanford and California both played games in Australia.
The Aer Lingus College Football Classic enters its second season in 2023 as Notre Dame travels to Dublin to play Navy on Aug. 26. In the first iteration, Northwestern shocked Nebraska 31-28 with 14 unanswered points for its only win of the season in 2022.
