Notre Dame vs. Georgia

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Irish Take the Fight Down to Athens

Week four brings a top-10 matchup as the #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish head down to Athens, Georgia to take on the #3 Georgia Bulldogs. This Saturday will mark only the third matchup in the two schools’ storied histories. Georgia will add 500 additional seats to Sanford Stadium, which should result in a new record attendance of just over 93,000 fans. The teams last played in 2017, and it came down to the final seconds of Georgia’s 20-19 victory. That game also marked the first career start for current Georgia QB Jake Fromm. This game will be played under the lights with an 8 PM kickoff. Interest in the game extends well beyond Athens, as this is the first matchup of two teams often mentioned as probable College Football Playoff teams. ESPN College GameDay will broadcast from Athens much of the day.

Notre Dame is coming off an incredible season that ended on a somewhat sour note. Undefeated in the regular season, the Irish saw their hopes of a perfect season deflated by eventual National Champion Clemson 30-3 in the College Football Playoff semifinal. The Irish lost a lot of talent from that team to the NFL Draft, but reloaded with a stellar recruiting class that includes three players from the state of Georgia, including 4-star safety and Atlanta area native Kyle Hamilton. Georgia, meanwhile, was left on the outside looking in after losing a heartbreaker to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. The Bulldogs also saw a number of high-impact players move on to the NFL but once again landed one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Several recruits are already making an impact, and the Dawgs appear to have one of their deepest teams ever.

This week’s matchup shines the spotlight on two mid-sized college towns that have been transitioning away from traditional manufacturing and agriculture toward higher value-added, knowledge-based industries. The University of Georgia and Notre Dame are taking the lead in this transition by spurring innovation and attracting and retaining young talent. Football plays an important role in this process by deepening ties between alumni, the school and the region.

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Wells Fargo Research Team

Wells Fargo

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