The Tennessee Volunteers are set to open the 2017 season against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sept. 4.
WJLE will have LIVE coverage on the VOL Network starting with the Kick-Off Call-In Show at 5:30 p.m. The game gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Listen LIVE on WJLE AM 1480 and FM 101.7
The Labor Day Monday night game follows the Florida State-Alabama clash at the same venue two nights earlier as part of the Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game doubleheader.
“I can’t think of a better way to officially open the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium than with an ACC-SEC rivalry game in a sold out atmosphere in the Capital of College Football,” Gary Stokan, CEO and president of Peach Bowl, Inc., said in a release.
“To host two great traditional football powers in Georgia Tech and Tennessee, while also honoring Hall of Famer Bobby Dodd, who was an All-American at Tennessee and a national championship coach at Georgia Tech, is a very special way to end the first weekend of college football.”
Tennessee holds a 24-17-2 series lead against Georgia Tech, but the two former SEC rivals haven’t played since 1987.
The Vols beat N.C. State in their only other appearance in the opening-week game in 2012, when the game was played in the Georgia Dome.
The SEC has won seven of the eight meetings against the ACC in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game, which has sold out 10 of its 13 matchups. According to the release, the game has averaged an attendance of 67,645 and features an average payout of $4.7 million. The capacity for the new stadium in Atlanta is 71,000.
The 2017 Tennessee schedule is as follows:
*Tennessee vs Georgia Tech: September 4 (Atlanta)
*Tennessee vs Indiana State: September 9 (Knoxville)
*Tennessee at Florida: September 16 (Gainesville)
*Tennessee vs UMASS: September 23 (Knoxville)
*Tennessee vs Georgia: September 30 (Knoxville)
*Tennessee vs South Carolina: October 14 (Knoxville)
*Tennessee at Alabama: October 21 (Tuscaloosa)
*Tennessee at Kentucky: October 28 (Lexington)
*Tennessee vs Southern Miss: November 4 (Knoxville)
*Tennessee at Missouri: November 11 (Columbia, Missouri)
*Tennessee vs LSU: November 18 (Knoxville)
*Tennessee vs Vanderbilt: November 25 (Knoxville)
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