The college football season is short.
Games could drag on after the regular season ends, with roughly two months between USC's game against Notre Dame and the College Football Playoff national championship, but compared to other sports, it's truly a three-month sprint.
With big games coming up against Florida State and USC in November, this is when the Irish need to stay focused.
They should be able to take on Stanford if all goes well, and they should be fine against Navy a week later, but Georgia Tech has the potential to do something special if all goes well.
This will be Notre Dame's first game outside of Indiana in six weeks and should be an intriguing one, but that's not the norm between these two teams.
Notre Dame has a record of 30 wins, 6 losses and one tie all-time, including a 55-0 victory in their last meeting in 2021.
Here are five things to know about Georgia Tech.
This comes at an interesting time in Georgia Tech's season, as the team has already traveled to Ireland to face Florida State, has played Syracuse and Louisville on the road and is coming off a trip to North Carolina.
Things could get a little frantic when the Irish visit Atlanta, as they won't have back-to-back home games until mid-November.
The Yellow Jackets are a better team than they were last season when they went 7-6, but their record may not reflect that. Things could change with a few breaks, though…
Last year's team lost games they shouldn't have lost to Boston College and Bowling Green with three turnovers each. Again, they're a better team this season, but they're not Ohio State and they can't screw up and win. Last year they were 0-3 when they had three or more turnovers.
The points will come from the Yellow Jackets' defense, but with so many turnovers, the Irish are likely to come out victorious.
And they need to do it by moving the chain.
It's the midpoint of the season when these two teams meet, and of course things will be different from last year's Georgia Tech team and there will be tweaks, but the defense will need to be much better on third down and prove they can stop the run at this point.
They'll need to replace almost everyone who got a sack last year, and there will be new players by mid-October. The pass rush should still be a bit of an issue, and Notre Dame's offense will need to take advantage. But…
When everyone is healthy, Georgia Tech's front five will be one of the most effective in the ACC, and while it's not the best or the most talented (Florida State is really good), it will be a huge asset.
Notre Dame needs to be prepared to not put too much pressure on them. The Yellow Jacket line is good in pass protection and should pave the way for another year of big production in the ground game. The team leads the ACC in rushing in 2023. If the line is really that good…
The streak of talented quarterbacks that Notre Dame will have to face continues.
Every week the Irish are going to have a few guys who are in good form and making nasty passes. Well, maybe not for Northern Illinois. Haynes King won't get much attention on a national scale, but he's a veteran with his legs and a deep arm who could disrupt the Irish.
Again, the offensive line is strong and King is a concern, the receivers are deep and Jamal Haynes is averaging over six yards per carry, and the offense will keep the pressure on.
Notre Dame has plenty of reasons to be worried.
Georgia Tech may have a few games coming up where it needs to step up a gear, but this is the team's biggest home game of the season, at least until Miami and North Carolina State come to town in a few weeks.
Notre Dame should be a bit of an easy winner going into this one, but it will be a close game as the Yellow Jackets continue to hang in there in the second half, and it looks set to be the closest and biggest battle for the Irish since their season opener against Texas A&M.
Notre Dame 27, Georgia Tech 23
– Georgia Tech 2024 Preview
Five things you need to know
– August 31: Texas A&M
– September 7: Northern Illinois
– September 14: Purdue
– September 21: University of Miami
– September 28: Louisville
– October 12: Stanford
