Florida State vs. Georgia Tech Live Stream, Where to Watch, TV Channel, Prediction, Pick, Spread, Odds
The 2024 college football season gets underway with a bang Saturday with a top-10 team in action as No. 10 Florida State takes on Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus Classic in Dublin, Ireland. The conference showdown also marks the start of an unprecedented year of ACC football after the league expanded to 17 full-time members with the addition of Cal, Stanford and SMU over the summer.
So in a year of change, it’s fitting that the reigning ACC champions will embark on their quest for another conference crown in a most unique setting. Ireland has hosted games at Aviva Stadium, the home ground of the Irish national rugby and soccer teams, in each of the last two seasons and has future dates set for 2025 and 2027. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for players, coaches and fans, but it comes at a cost in terms of an accelerated fall camp schedule to accommodate travel.
While the pomp and circumstance of college football abroad will make for a spectacle of magnitude, at the heart of this game are two teams hoping to build on last season’s success. Florida State is gunning for another ACC title and with it a spot in the College Football Playoff after last year’s snub. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has plenty of returners from a team that tied for fourth in the ACC standings and reached a bowl game for the first time since 2018. Either of their goals is still attainable with a win Saturday, which brings a midseason urgency to this early-season showdown.
Follow with Live Updates of the 2024 season opener between No. 10 Florida State and Georgia Tech of Ireland.
How to watch Florida State vs. Georgia Tech live
Date:Saturday August 24 | Time: 12:00 PM ET
Location: Aviva Stadium — Dublin, Ireland
TV: ESPN | Live Stream: fubo (Try for free)
Florida State vs. Georgia Tech: What you need to know
DJ Uiagalelei returns to ACC and debuts at Florida State: A new year brings a new wave of fresh faces for Florida State, as Mike Norvell has once again tapped the transfer portal for some instant-impact additions. There are some familiar names in the group of newcomers — including several players from last year’s SEC championship team at Alabama — but no player is going to garner the attention quite like quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Once one of the Seminoles’ biggest rivals at Clemson, Uiagalelei arrives after a one-year stint at Oregon State that featured career-highs in yards per game (219.8) and yards per attempt (8.4) as well as the best passer rating since becoming a full-time starter. The offense has a great foundation thanks to an experienced offensive line and solid running back talent, but being as dynamic as Florida State was last season will require Uiagalelei to help elevate the offense with the passing attack.
Georgia Tech hopes for better defense: Brent Key’s breakthrough season with the Yellow Jackets was fueled by an offense that led the ACC in rushing and ranked third in the conference (and among the top 30 nationally) in total offense, averaging 424.6 yards per game and 6.34 yards per play. That group returns its starting quarterback, Haynes King, leading rusher Jamal Haynes, four of its five starters along the offensive line and three of its top four receivers. The biggest question mark for the Yellow Jackets in 2024 is the defensive side of the ball, which underwent a change in direction after finishing last in the ACC in total defense. Fixing that side of the ball is the challenge for new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci, who arrives after a successful stint as defensive coordinator under Mike Elko at Duke. If Georgia Tech is going to turn its fortunes around on the road, its defense will need to show more than a few jumps in performance.
International travel is a time of intense competition:Notre Dame’s 42-3 win over Navy in last year’s Aer Lingus Classic ended a streak of single-score games when college football was played in Ireland. Each of the three previous times an early-season game was hosted in Ireland produced thrilling finishes, including Northwestern rallying from a double-digit second-half deficit to beat Nebraska 31-28 in 2022, Georgia Tech beating Boston College 17-14 with two fourth-quarter scores and Penn State winning with a late field goal over UCF in 2014 for the first victory of the James Franklin era.
Florida State vs. Georgia Tech Predictions and Predictions
I see this as a matchup game where the strengths and weaknesses of both teams could end up creating stalemates. Georgia Tech’s new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci was part of Duke’s defenses that did a tremendous job of limiting the score the last two years, and I think he’ll have some things to prepare schematically to make life difficult for DJU. Florida State will respond by relying on the run game, which I think will be their strength, and will move the clock forward rather than a pass-oriented attack. On the other side of the ball, I think Georgia Tech’s offense will have a tough time with one of the best pass rush duos in the country in Florida State’s Pat Payton and Marvin Jones Jr. Their impact on the game will make it difficult for Haynes King to convert on third-and-long situations. Choice: Less than 55.5
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