Notre Dame made tickets available to students, faculty, staff and players' familiesNOTRE DAME
Notre Dame drew 10,097 for its opener against Duke on Saturday, and 90% of that "were students," according to Teddy Greenstein of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The school made tickets "available to students, faculty, staff and players' families," and those who attended were "required to wear face masks and were asked on the stadium PA to stay in their 'assigned seats.'" However, the fact Notre Dame "even played was an accomplishment." And "save for the ACC logos on the field" and "officials wearing masks, the game itself looked normal" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/13). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Laine Higgins wrote the usual "raucous sea of 80,000 fans in gold and green, was instead sprinkled with a smattering" of students, faculty and family members of players "sitting in groups of three or four." Total attendance was only "about 62% of the 16,000 that Notre Dame would have allowed." Tailgating and other gatherings "were banned," and the "barren swaths of parking lots gave the impression of a ghost town rather than a college-football game day" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/13). In South Bend, Eric Hansen noted the threat of severe weather might have "tamped down the numbers" of attendees. But Notre Dame QB Ian Book said, "When I got out there I was pretty happy with the crowd that we had. They did a great job. It felt like more people than I thought it would be" (SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE, 9/12).
DIFFERENT FEEL: In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel wrote being inside Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday "felt like being part of a public service announcement." Doyel: "This was a COVID-19 PSA, and let's keep things real: This is what gameday needs to be at Notre Dame, and at college campuses around the country." In the third quarter, the in-stadium entertainment staff "devoted an entire timeout to scanning the crowd for appropriate -- and inappropriate -- examples of physical distancing." Doyel: "This is college football, in 2020" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 9/13).
MOMENT IN HISTORY: SI.com's Pat Forde wrote the two "uniquely jarring things" about Notre Dame's season opener were the "ACC" logos painted onto the field at each 25-yard line and the in-game announcement of coach Brian Kelly's contract extension through '24. For Duke-Notre Dame, there were two things "truly historic, as a pair of academically elite institutions persisted in playing -- and playing the parts of football factories -- in a basketball conference that continues its tilt toward the gridiron." For the "first time in its 133-year football history, Notre Dame played a conference football game" (SI.com, 9/12).
