Come Saturday, the wait is over for Bulldog fans and Yellow Jacket fans, while Eagle fans must wait one more week for Georgia Southern to kick off its season.

Georgia Tech gets things started at 3:30 p.m. in South Bend, Ind. against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who played in the Sugar Bowl last season.

Notre Dame beat Tech 14-10 last year on the Flats, but superstar quarterback Brady Quinn is now in the NFL as is Georgia Tech’s All-American wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Tech coach Chan Gailey said his team has a different mindset going into the season-opener this year.

“I think it has as much to do with our team and its seniors, guys that have been places and been in tough venues before,” he said, “more than it does who we are playing and what they are doing.”

Meanwhile, Georgia kicks off at 6:45 p.m. against Big 12 foe Oklahoma State.

“I’m excited to start the season, it won’t be long now,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “We all know we are playing a great team. There is a lot of buzz around Oklahoma State for a lot of reasons, number one being that their offense has been so tremendous over the last season. They are well-coached. They have a lot of momentum going right now.

They finished strong last year and improved their record from the year before and now they are looking to make a splash nationally.”