Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 PRESEASON 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame's 2019 football sched‑ ule — one of the more difficult slates on paper for the Fighting Irish since the turn of the century — has been tweaked. Ken Sugiura of AJC.com reported on Aug. 10 that Notre Dame's sched‑ uled game at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta on Oct. 19, 2019 has been moved to Nov. 14, 2020. For Georgia Tech, it means a little better balance in 2020, because after hosting the Irish it has to play archri‑ val Georgia in Athens two weeks later (Nov. 28). Then the following year, the Yellow Jackets host Georgia but play at Notre Dame. The move especially makes sense for the Fighting Irish for several reasons: • In 2019, Notre Dame is already scheduled for a trip to Georgia Sept. 21. A second trip to the Peach State a month later is not an ideal balance for a national schedule. This way it can make trips to Georgia in consecutive years to keep a recruiting presence there. • In addition to that aforementioned trip to Athens Sept. 21, the Fighting Irish also have 2019 road treks to Lou‑ isville (Sept. 2, Labor Day), Michigan (Oct. 26) and Stanford (Nov. 30). One would be hard pressed to find a more challenging road slate that year. • There is now a little more flexibil‑ ity with the October 2019 schedule with Oct. 19 freed up — and it could provide a bye weekend the week be‑ fore playing at Michigan Oct. 26. That Oct. 19 weekend would co‑ incide with fall semester break (Oct. 19‑27), and both Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and direc‑ tor of athletics Jack Swarbrick have indicated that their ideal bye week is the middle of October when there is also a one‑week break from classes, giving the football players an oppor‑ tunity to go home for a few days. Previously, the Oct. 5 and Oct. 12 weekends would have had the Irish host USC and have a bye, one or the other for those respective weekends. However, now a 12th game could be scheduled either on Oct. 5 or 12, with the bye then possibly occurring Oct. 19. (The USC game moving to Oct. 19, the week before the Irish travel to Michigan, would not be favorable.) The Nov. 14, 2020 game is the first time Georgia Tech will play Notre Dame in Atlanta since the Sept. 2, 2006 opener won by the Irish 14‑10. The Irish hosted the Yellow Jackets last Sept. 19 and won 30‑22. As part of Notre Dame's agree‑ ment to play four to six ACC foes per year in football, the Irish will also face Georgia Tech at home in 2021 and then travel to Atlanta in 2024. Here is how the 2019 and 2020 Notre Dame schedules tentatively look: 2019 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Sept. 2 at Louisville (Labor Day) Sept. 14 New Mexico Sept. 21 at Georgia Sept. 28 Virginia Oct. 5 Bye, TBA or USC Oct. 12 Bye, TBA or USC Oct. 19 Bye, TBA or USC Oct. 26 at Michigan Nov. 2 Virginia Tech Nov. 9 at Duke Nov. 16 Navy Nov. 23 Boston College Nov. 30 at Stanford 2020 SCHEDULE Date Opponent Sept. 19 at Purdue Oct. 10 Stanford Nov. 14 at Georgia Tech Nov. 28 at USC The Navy game site and date is still to be determined. In addition to the trip to Georgia Tech, the other ACC games sched‑ uled for the 2020 season are Clemson, Duke and Louisville at home, and Pitt and Wake Forest on the road. Dates will be announced at a later time. Notre Dame topped Georgia Tech, which was ranked No. 14 nationally at the time of the game, 30-22 last year. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Notre Dame-Georgia Tech Agree To 2019-20 Schedule Change