SOUTH BEND — Monday’s Notre Dame football scheduling announcement brought with it a question of great intrigue: Does a vat of mayonnaise get dumped on the winning coach of a regular-season Duke’s Mayo Classic as it does in bowl season?
Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame could find out in 2027 after it was announced the Irish will face Wake Forest at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, home of the NFL’s Panthers. The neutral-site game is set for Oct. 9 that year as part of the annual ACC scheduling partnership with Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is perfect in six all-time meetings with the Deacons, including a 47-7 thrashing on quarterback Sam Hartman’s Senior Day in 2023. The Wake Forest graduate transfer played his first three high school seasons in the Charlotte area.
The game also projects as a potential homecoming for several Charlotte-area products on the current Irish roster, including a trio of sophomores: defensive end Bryce Young, wideout Micah Gilbert and tight end Jack Larsen.
Offensive lineman Sullivan Absher, a third-year sophomore, is from Belmont, N.C., while freshman safety JaDon Blair is from Winston-Salem, home of Wake Forest.
Notre Dame’s highly regarded 2026 recruiting class includes four key defensive prospects from the Tar Heel State: defensive ends Rodney Dunham (Charlotte) and Ebenezer Ewetade (Garner, N.C.); linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. (Matthews, N.C.), and safety Nick Reddish (Charlotte).
The only previous visit to Charlotte for Notre Dame football came in the ACC Championship game in December of 2020, a 34-10 loss to Clemson.
Notre Dame is 28-15 in current NFL stadiums, dating to 1980, including the postseason. Since 2014, the Irish lead all FBS teams with appearances in 17 different NFL stadiums, seven more than the closest program.
Since 2016, Notre Dame has played 18 games in NFL stadiums, including eight postseason games. The Irish have gone 11-7 in those outings, including 7-2 with Freeman at the helm.
A seven-game winning streak for Notre Dame in active NFL stadiums ended with the loss to Ohio State in the CFP national championship game in Atlanta.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Hold the mayo? Notre Dame football, Wake Forest agree to meet in Charlotte in 2027
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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