Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host three high-profile college football games within a week in early September, with indications pointing to the games being played, but with reduced attendance due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Chick-Fil-A Kickoff series will bring together Florida State and West Virginia on September 5th, the Georgia Bulldogs and Virginia Cavaliers on September 7th, and the Auburn Tigers against Mack Brown’s North Carolina Tar Heels on September 12th.
Appearing on Atlanta’s 680 The Fan on Monday morning, organizer Gary Stokan said that scenarios being considered involve 25, 30, or 50 percent capacity.
The teams involved in the series of games hail from the Atlantic Coast Conference (FSU, Virginia, and North Carolina), the Big 12 Conference (West Virginia), and the Southeastern Conference (Auburn and Georgia). All three conferences have not made announcements concerning the upcoming football season. The Big 10 and Pac-12 Conferences are going forward with their seasons, but eliminating all non-conference games. A statement from the ACC, Big 12, and SEC is expected by the end of July.
In recruiting news out of the SEC, the Ole Miss Rebels continue to scuffle trying to rebound from recent penalties for violations doled out by the NCAA. The Rebels 2021 class, according to 247Sports, is last (14th) in the conference, and is now down to only six players. On Tuesday, high school kicker Jack Tannehill, a hometown talent from Oxford, Mississippi, decommitted from Ole Miss, announcing his decision on Twitter. Kohl’s Kicking ranks him a five-star prospect.
Photo credit – Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images / Atlanta, GA