Epic Battles For The Old Leather Helmet
2008: #24 Alabama vs. #9 Clemson – Alabama’s 34-10 victory over No. 9 Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game moved the Crimson Tide up 11 spots in the polls and helped propel them to an eventual No. 1 national ranking and a BCS bowl berth.
2009: #5 Alabama vs. #7 Virginia Tech – The No. 5 Crimson Tide’s 34-24 victory over No. 7 Virginia Tech solidified their position as the nation’s top team and started their national championship run. It also provided national exposure for Mark Ingram on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy.
2010: #16 LSU vs. #18 North Carolina – No. 16 LSU’s 30-24 win over No. 18 UNC gave the Tigers a boost in the national rankings, started a 7-game winning streak for an eventual 11-2 season that ended with a win in the Cotton Bowl.
2011: #5 Boise State vs.#19 Georgia – No. 5 Boise State defeated No. 19 Georgia 35-21, leading the Broncos to an eventual 12-1 finish and top-10 final ranking for the fourth-straight year.
2012 (Game 1): Tennessee vs. #25 NC State – In the first matchup of these two teams since 1963, Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Volunteers past the Wolfpack, 35-21.
2012 (Game 2): #24 Auburn vs. #14 Clemson – No. 14 Clemson defeated No. 24 Auburn 26-19 in front of a record 75,211 fans, jump starting an 11-win season, including a victory against No. 8 LSU in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
2013: #1 Alabama vs. Virginia Tech – In their first meeting since the 2009 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, two-time defending National Champion and No. 1 ranked Alabama defeated Virginia Tech 35-10.
2014 (Game 1): #18 Ole Miss vs. Boise State – No. 18 Ole Miss defeated Boise State 35-13 in an offensive battle that broke or tied more than 20 records and led the Rebels to a 9-3 regular season and No. 9 ranking heading into a Chick- fil-A Peach Bowl matchup vs. No. 6 TCU.
2014 (Game 2): #2 Alabama vs. West Virginia – In the teams’ first-ever meeting, No. 2 Alabama defeated West Virginia 33-23, kicking off a 12-2 season that included an SEC Championship and College Football Playoff appearance.
2015: #25 Louisville vs. #6 Auburn – In only the second-ever meeting these two teams, Auburn built a 24-0 lead and held on for a 31-24 victory.
2016: #13 Georgia vs. #19 North Carolina – Georgia’s 33-24 win over UNC secured Kirby Smart’s first victory as Head Coach at Georgia.
2017 (Game 1): #3 Florida State vs. #1 Alabama – In the highest-ranked season-opening matchup of all time and the first-ever college game to be played in the new state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Alabama defeated Florida State 24-7 to secure its fifth Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game win.
2017 (Game 2): #25 Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech – Tennessee triumphed over Georgia Tech 42-41 in a double overtime thriller that broke 22 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game records.
2018: #9 Auburn vs. # 6 Washington - Tigers held on to win the game’s first-ever SEC vs. Pac-12 showdown 21-16 over Washington.
2019: #2 Alabama vs. Duke - The Tide rolled to its record-setting sixth Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game win with a 42-3 victory over Duke.
2020: Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Weekend was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and conference policies.
2021 (Game 1): #1 Alabama vs. #14 Miami – A top-15 showdown that featured the first meeting between the two teams since the 1992 National Championship Game, Alabama came out firing in all three phases of the game and carried that momentum to a 44-13 victory to stay undefeated (7-0) in Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games.
2021 (Game 2): Louisville vs. #25 Ole Miss – On Labor Day night, Ole Miss racked up 569 total yards of offense and held off a 24-point second half from the Cardinals to win 43-24 in the first-ever meeting between the programs and second Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game appearance for each.
2022 (Game 1): #11 Oregon vs. #3 Georgia - The Bulldogs began their back-to-back CFP title campaign in dominating fashion with a 49-3 victory over the Oregon Ducks.
2022 (Game 2): #4 Clemson vs. Georgia Tech - The Tigers defeated the Yellow Jackets in the game's first-ever all-ACC affair.
2023: Louisville vs. Georgia Tech – The Cardinals defeated the Yellow Jackets 39-34 in the official ACC conference opener.
2024: #14 Clemson vs. #1 Georgia – The highest-ranked matchup of Week One between two eventual CFP teams resulted in an impressive 34-3 victory for the Bulldogs over the Tigers.