No. 25/24 Tennessee at Georgia Tech
Monday, September 4th, 2017 | 7:00pm CT
Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta, GA | TV: ESPN
Knoxville, TN – No. 25/24 Tennessee will open its 2017 season on Monday, September 4th, 2017 against Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
The game will feature an 7:00pm CT kickoff on ESPN with Rece Davis (play-by-play) and Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) in the booth and Maria Taylor reporting from the sidelines. Vol Network radio affiliates will have a live audio broadcast with Bob Kesling, Tim Priest and Brent Hubbs. Sirius and XM satellite radio will also carry the game on Channel 80.
On August 9th, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game announced that the Tennessee-Georgia Tech game is sold out.
Tennessee head coach Butch Jones enters his fifth season at the helm of the program and has led the Vols to four-straight wins in season openers. Monday’s game will mark the second time under Jones that the Vols will have opened the season at a neutral site.
Tennessee took a 59-30 win over Bowling Green in the 2015 opener at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
Chick-fil-A Kickoff Monday
On August 31st, 2012, the Vols defeated NC State, 35-21, in their only other appearance in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
The Big Orange will be one of the first teams to play in the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The stadium will host another Chick-fil-A Kickoff game on Saturday as No. 1 Alabama takes on No. 3 Florida State. The SEC currently holds a 7-1 advantage over the ACC in those games. Overall, the SEC is 9-2 when playing for the Old Leather Helmet.
UT’s Labor Day meeting with the Yellow Jackets will mark the 25th time that the Vols have played on a Monday. UT is 12-11-1 all-time in Monday games.
Tennessee is officially 107-59-4 (.630) all-time in night games (those beginning after 6:00pm local time).
Renewing An Old Rivalry
Tennessee and Georgia Tech have squared off 43 times and the Vols lead the all-time series 24-17-2. UT has won the past five games between the teams, including their last meeting in 1987 when the Vols took a 29-15 win in Neyland Stadium.
Both schools have a rich college football history as Tennessee begins is 121st season of football and Georgia Tech has been playing on the gridiron since 1892. The Yellow Jackets’ greatest coach was Bobby Dodd, who coached GT from 1945-66. Before that he starred as a player for Tennessee, lettering from 1928-30 and earning All-America honors in 1930.
Tennessee is 117-65-2 all-time against current members of the ACC. Georgia Tech is 210-216-4 against the current members of the SEC.
The Boys Are Back
Tennessee returns 16 starters with seven on both offense and defense and two on special teams, including four offensive linemen and four defensive backs.
In total, the Vols have 49 lettermen returning, losing only 16 players following the 2016 season.
