ATLANTA - Alabama's 24-7 win over Florida State on Saturday night was just the tip of the college football iceberg this season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"This will be the greatest year for college football in Atlanta's history," said Gary Stokan, the CEO of Peach Bowl, Inc. "We've started with this GOAT game as we've called it, the greatest opener of all-time, and then we have Georgia Tech-Tennessee on Monday night, which is an old SEC rivalry.
"This is the 50th anniversary season of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and it will be played on Jan. 1 leading into the Rose Bowl. Who would have ever thought that would have happened? A week after that, we've got the national championship game. It's going to be a heck of a year."
Saturday's announced crowd of 76,330 was the largest for a Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium was completed last month at a cost of $1.6 billion - AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington was completed in 2009 at a cost of $1.3 billion - and the new home of the Atlanta Falcons has a retractable roof.
The Falcons used to play in Fulton Country Stadium, which they shared with the Atlanta Braves, and the Peach Bowl was held each December in almost always less-than-desirable situations.
"Our old title sponsor was 'weather-plagued,' because every article would start out with the 'weather-plagued Peach Bowl,'" Stokan said. "We're much happier to have Chick-fil-A as our title sponsor now."
Mercedes-Benz Stadium will house college football's national championship in January 2018, Super Bowl LIII in February 2019, and the NCAA Final Four in April 2020. It also will host a college football semifinal in December 2019, and Stokan doesn't want to stop there.
"If we can extend that contract through 2025 and get two more semifinals in there, that's on our plate," Stokan said. "That will probably happen next spring or next summer. That's the next thing facing us.
"We'll also keep pursuing Chick-fil-A Kickoff Games. We're thinking about doing three games in 2020. We just think we're the epicenter of college football."
Freshman showdown
Saturday night featured the nation's top two tailbacks in the 2017 signing class, Najee Harris of Antioch, Calif., and Cam Akers of Clinton, Miss.
Both freshmen entered the game early in the second quarter, with Harris getting in first and rushing for 3 yards before Akers ripped off a 9-yard run on his initial carry. Harris finished with three carries for 5 yards, while Akers had nine rushes for a team-high 24 yards.
"Both are really, really good players," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "We're excited about the guy we've got, and we would have been very excited if we had gotten Cam Akers. We think he's a fabulous player, and I'm sure he'll have a great career there."
Harris was the top-rated tailback nationally according to Rivals.com, Scout.com and 247Sports.com, with Akers ranking second in all three services.
Tide tidbits
Earning their first career starts for Alabama on Saturday were tight end Irv Smith and right tackle Matt Womack on offense, and lineman Isaiah Buggs, outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings and cornerback Trevon Diggs on defense. JK Scott had a 9-yard punt in the second quarter but came right back with a 53-yarder. With seven catches for 82 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown, junior Calvin Ridley now ranks among the top five in program history in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.