ND FOOTBALL: No. 7 Notre Dame enters season with tone-setter against No. 20 Texas A&M

Aug. 28—SOUTH BEND — Under the looming warnings of excessive heat, Notre Dame’s third year head coach Marcus Freeman refused to dread the incoming heat wave, instead, singing a different tune.

“[I] appreciate the good Lord almighty bringing the heat here,” Freeman said Monday. “What else would you want being here at Notre Dame? Our Mother on top of the Golden Dome will bring a little heat on Monday, Tuesday and probably into Wednesday.”

Northern Indiana, especially the South Bend area, experienced a dry warmth to begin this week as temperatures ran as high as the heat index reached 109 degrees. Freeman added, “it’s not to late” to take advantage of the weather, keeping in mind that on Saturday, his 7th-ranked Irish will be likely playing under the Texas sun (and possibly wet conditions) against the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies.

“It’s a great reminder for our players,” Freeman said. “You have your routines for hydration and refueling, but now you have to do it with the heat. It’s not just, hey, remind you to drink fluids and to have carbs during these breaks that we have. The heat will force you to do that too.”

Notre Dame begins the season away from home for the fourth straight season.

Freeman, who under his tenure is 10-6 in games played outside of South Bend, understands the underwhelming starts his teams have gotten out to in big road contests. In 2023, the Irish lost games at Louisville and Clemson by a combined 21 points. Notre Dame managed to salvage a score in the fourth quarter at Duke in an ugly offensive output.

“We’ve trained, really, being able to execute your assignment in crazy conditions with crowd noise and trying to do surprise situations in practice,” Freeman said about the preparation for Saturday’s opener. “But at the end of the day, they gotta do it when it matters, right? You can do it in practice….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nd-football-no-7-notre-021600144.html

Author : Goshen News, Ind.

Publish date : 2024-08-29 02:16:00

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