Boston College to open 2016 football season in Ireland against Georgia Tech
Boston College will begin its 2016 football season across the pond.
The school announced on Thursday that their 2016 season-opener against Georgia Tech will take place in Dublin, Ireland in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The game will be played at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3, with BC serving as the home team for the neutral-site matchup.
The contest will mark the second time the Eagles will play in Ireland, as BC took on Army in November 1988 in the Emerald Isle Classic. In that visist, the Eagles earned a 38-24 victory at Lansdowne Road Stadium.
“I know the young men on our team will remember this experience for a lifetime, and I’m so excited for them,’’ BC head coach Steve Addazio said in a statement. “They will get to explore a new country, be immersed in a new culture, and then play the first game on the opening Saturday of the college football season. It’s great that we will get to share this experience with our conference friends from Georgia Tech.
“In BC and Georgia Tech, you have two outstanding academic institutions with great football traditions, and we are grateful for the opportunity to showcase our programs in Ireland.’’
“During my time in Ireland, I saw firsthand how sports play an incredible role in bridging communities,’’ said Boston mayor Marty Walsh. “I am thrilled that Boston College will have the opportunity to host Georgia Tech in Dublin next year, and look forward to rooting for my home team and alma mater.’’
The Eagles are coming off a 2014 season where they went 7-6 for the second consecutive year. Playing in their second straight bowl game, BC fell to Penn State in overtime, 31-30, in the Pinstripe Bowl played at Yankee Stadium.
BC and Georgia Tech have played each other eight times, with the Yellow Jackets having won six of the meetings. The two teams last faced off in 2012, a 37-17 win by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Georgia Tech is coming off a successful 2014 campaign, where they went 11-3 and beat No. 7 Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl.
This will be the sixth American college football game hosted on Irish soil. In addition to the aforementioned BC-Army matchup in 1988, Pitt played Rutgers in 1989, while Notre Dame took on Navy in 1996 and 2012. Penn State played UCF in Dublin last season, a 26-24 win for the Nittany Lions.
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