(Fighting Irish Athletics)

NOTRE DAME .- The University of Notre Dame and the University of Georgia will face each other twice on the football field in upcoming seasons in the first-ever regular-season meetings between the two institutions.

The Irish and Bulldogs will play Sept. 9, 2017, in South Bend — and Sept. 21, 2019, in Athens.

“As our football schedules evolved with the start of our Atlantic Coast Conference competition in 2014, we had future games slated with top-drawer opponents in virtually all the major conferences,” said Notre Dame vice president/athletics director Jack Swarbrick.

“One exception was the Southeastern Conference, so we are pleased now to be able to check that box. These will be two contests that will have great national appeal, in part because our only previous matchup came in a bowl game.”

The sole prior meeting between Notre Dame and Georgia came in the 1981 Sugar Bowl at the Superdome in New Orleans where the top-rated Bulldogs carved out a 17-10 victory over the seventh-ranked Irish to maintain their unbeaten season and claim the consensus national championship. Georgia freshman Herschel Walker ran 36 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns on an afternoon in which the winning team completed only one pass. The Irish defense limited Georgia to 10 first downs and 127 net yards, with running back Phil Carter accounting for 109 ground yards and the only TD for Notre Dame.

“These are two very attractive football games against a Georgia program that also has impressive history and tradition. Mark Richt has done an excellent job keeping that program at the forefront, both in the SEC and nationally,” said Irish coach Brian Kelly.