Notre Dame bracing for invasion of Georgia fans Saturday

Notre Dame is used to playing in a home stadium full of its own supporters but Saturday is expected to be different.

"This has been the most difficult ticket I have seen during my years at UGA," Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton told Ralph Russo of The Associated Press.

The Bulldogs are set to make their first-ever trip to Notre Dame, and Georgia's faithful will do almost anything to witness it in person. The Dawgs sold all 8,000 of their allotted tickets almost immediately after they went on sale, leaving bundles of fans to travel without any assurances of seeing the game.

''There are large numbers of Bulldog supporters heading to South Bend with no tickets," Felton said. "They just want to be part of the experience.''

Flocks of them already have, and greeted Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly at the restaurant from which he hosts his weekly radio show.

"We know there's going be some black and some red in the stands," Kelly acknoweldged. "We get that."

On Friday, Delta Airlines struggled to bump a passenger from an overbooked flight full of Georgia supporters to South Bend. It took $4,000 before one passenger finally agreed to give up her spot and take a later arrival.

"I know our fan base is really excited," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "Our team is excited. I mean, it will be the first team ever from Georgia to get to go to South Bend and play and we are excited for that opportunity.''

Both teams will enter the contest with 1-0 records, looking to bounce back from disappointing 2016 campaigns. The only previous meeting between the two programs took place at the 1981 Sugar Bowl, where Georgia came out on top.