Marcus Freeman and the 11th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish are set to play away from home in Week 8, kicking off a two-game road stretch. This Saturday, they will face Georgia Tech not at the Yellow Jackets’ Bobby Dodd Stadium, but rather at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which is approximately two miles away from the college’s home ground.
This matchup marks the first encounter between Notre Dame (5-1) and Georgia Tech (5-2, 3-2 in ACC play) since 2021. The game is part of a series of neutral-site games for the Irish, which reflects their ongoing agreement with various partners.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, has a capacity of 71,000 and has been utilized for college football matchups due to a five-year agreement made in 2019 between Georgia Tech athletics and AMB Sports & Entertainment. This deal allows Georgia Tech to host one game each season at the stadium from 2020 to 2024. The 2020 game between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech was initially meant to kick off this agreement, but it was relocated to Bobby Dodd Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury expressed enthusiasm over the opportunity, emphasizing the benefits of playing in such a modern facility to enhance the program’s visibility in Atlanta’s sports culture.
Notre Dame has a history of engaging in neutral-site games, with four played in regular-season action from 2021 to 2023, compared to 12 traditional road games. This flexibility is partly due to Notre Dame’s status as an independent team, which does not mandate a specific number of home and away games.
In 2024, the Irish will continue to participate in neutral-site games, commencing with the match against Georgia Tech. Following this, they will play Navy at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, marking the eighth meeting between the two teams at that venue but the first since 2010. Additionally, they will face Army in the Shamrock Series at Yankee Stadium on November 23.