Gary Stokan, master of acronyms, spent the summer calling it “The GOAT game.” He wasn’t kidding.
Officially known as the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, “The Greatest Opener of All Time” occurs Saturday night in Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, matching top-ranked Alabama and No. 3 Florida State.
Stokan, a 1978 N.C. State grad in business management, insists “statistics are wonderful” and that “every number eats, sleeps, breathes for a reason.” His research confirms this is the highest-rated pair ever to meet to inaugurate a football season.
Duly impressed, USA Today declared the contest “one of the most anticipated season openers in recent memory, if not in the long history of college football.