Notre Dame notebook: GameDay’s presence adds to weekend excitement
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent
Notre Dame will be the epicenter of college football on Saturday.
It’s matchup with Stanford provides one of four games this weekend that features two top-25 teams squaring off, but the main reason the national spotlight will shine even brighter on the Golden Dome and the House that Rockne built is that ESPN College GameDay will set up shop on campus. The popular pregame college football show will broadcast live this weekend in front of Touchdown Jesus.
College GameDay is making its first appearance at Notre Dame since 2005. It will be the program’s eighth visit overall to Notre Dame in its 26-year existence with the Irish holding a 3-4 record in the previous seven visits from the show.
College GameDay will air live at 9 a.m. on ESPNU and 10 a.m. on ESPN with host Chris Fowler, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and host/reporter Samantha Steele and Tom Rinaldi.
Cause for concern
While listening to Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly address the media during his weekly press conference in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex Tuesday, it became very apparent that the third-year Irish boss is concerned about this week’s opponent.
No. 17 Stanford will enter Notre Dame Stadium Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 record. Sure, the Cardinal team that has beaten the Irish in three straight games no longer has Andrew Luck under center. However, they are a very dangerous team. Just ask USC.
When the Trojans faced Stanford, they were ranked No. 2 in America and were picked by some to win the national championship this season. But those hopes were dashed when the Cardinal knocked SC off, 21-14, at Stanford.
The Cardinal rose to No. 8 in the rankings, but were upset at Washington, 17-13, in their next outing. In that game, Stanford led 13-3 in the third quarter and threatened to retake the lead late, but Josh Nunes’ pass was intercepted at the Washington 8-yard line with 1:46 remaining in the game.
Stanford did regroup to get back on the winning track with a dramatic 54-48 overtime win against Arizona last Saturday.
You could sense by Kelly’s words about 48 hours ago that he knows his team is about to face its most physically demanding test of the season.
They’re a well-coached team in all phases, Kelly said. They’re a physical football team. They play that way up front, in the back end, their running backs, tight ends. It’s apparent across the board the kind of team you’re going to play when you face Stanford. You put on the film and you see the kind of football team that they have become.
They have a number of match up issues.
Continue to stay grounded
Kelly continues to drill into his players’ heads to take one game at a time. Yes, the victories are piling up for the Irish, who have yet to suffer a defeat in 2012, but Kelly knows, looking too far into the future could be dangerous to say the least.
Kelly, his coaching staff and players can try and say all the right things about staying focused on the task at hand, but as Kelly points out these are young people we are talking about and as ESPN College Gameday invades the Notre Dame campus this week and the Irish are in even more of a spotlight than usual, it will be very challenging for Notre Dame to keep both feet on the ground.
We’re talking about 18- to 21-year olds that are easily distracted so the charge is to keep them focused on what they need to do to get better as a football player, Kelly explained. I’ve worked this plan for a number of years. I’ve had great success with it. If they choose to continue to follow it, they’re going to continue to have success.
It’s the trust element of staying focused on what we can handle and what we need to handle and we will be fine.
If Notre Dame takes care of business on Saturday against Stanford, it is projected to be a top-five team when the first BCS rankings are released Sunday.
Say ‘Cheese’
Fans will have a chance to prove they were at the Stanford game, when the Notre Dame Banking FanCam comes to Notre Dame Stadium.
During the first quarter, an ultra-high-def, 5 billion pixel 360 degree image will be taken.
Fans will be able to “step inside” the 360 gigapixel image and look around, as if they were standing on the field for a frozen moment of time.
The resolution of 5 billion pixels is so high that fans will be able to zoom in to find themselves or friends, “tag” themselves in the photo, and share via email, Facebook and Twitter. Fans can even cruise around the stadium to see who else was in the stands.
In addition, fans will have the chance to be entered to win a VIP In-Home Tailgate package featuring a 60″ LED TV, Gourmet 4-Burner Grill, $2,000 worth of furniture and a Home Theater System.
Fans will be notified on those sites once the FanCam is available for “tagging” on Oct. 14.
Notre Dame Nuggets
– The Irish are favored by seven over the Cardinal.
– According to The Weather Channel’s website, Saturday’s high temperature in the South Bend area will be 65 degrees with an 80 percent chance of rain, including the chance for potentially severe thunderstorms.
– After breaking from their normal attire last Saturday against Miami (Fla.), the Irish will be wearing their usual uniforms with their gold helmets. However, they will be adding some pink accessories: pink wristbands, gloves and socks to help raise awareness for breast cancer. October is breast cancer awareness month.
The coaching staff will wear navy hats/visors that feature pink accents.
Kelly’s wife, Paqui, is a two-time cancer survivor and the couple founded the organization Kelly Cares to help fight the disease. The organization will be selling 15,000 Brian Kelly face masks (for $5) for the game to raise money for the foundation. Students will be selling them on campus prior to the game.
– This week’s pep rally will be held in Purcell Pavillion at the Joyce Center at 6 p.m. Friday. The pep rally is free and open to the public.
– A new documentary from NFL Films called Onward Notre Dame: South Bend To Soldier Field will premier on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Follow Doug Griffiths on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ISLgriffiths.
