Earlier in the week we found out that unless you’re a Notre Dame student, part of the faculty and staff at the University or the parent of a Notre Dame football player or their opponent, that you wouldn’t be seeing a game at Notre Dame Stadium this fall.
That could be changing though, for one afternoon at least.
Might I add the keyword being “could”.
And might I add that “could” can’t be put in bold enough letters.
As pointed out by the South Bend Tribune’s Eric Hansen, the Notre Dame game against Syracuse will be played on December 5, after students will have been sent home for break that goes through the new year.
So would it be possible to fill the empty seats currently reserved for students with fans from the general public?
Here’s what Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick told Hansen:
“We don’t know yet,” Swarbrick said of the ticket policy for the first scheduled Irish home game in December since a 40-14 rout of SMU in 1953. “We’ll need to see how we do and how this works, and we’ll work with (St. Joseph County deputy health officer) Dr. (Mark) Fox as we get closer to that to see what might be acceptable.
“A lot of it is going to depend on how Indiana and St. Joe County are doing (with their COVID-19 metrics) when we reach that point in time. If we’re doing really well, I’m hopeful that we might be able to offer the opportunity to lots of area people to attend a game. But it all depends on factors that we can’t control right now.”
To quote the iconic film Dumb and Dumber, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?!?!”
I wouldn’t count on it by any stretch of the imagination but it’s at least possible. Like I’ve said since March, this thing has been so incredibly unpredictable from week to week that thinking we know what will be happening three months from now is unrealistic.
But there is at least a chance of seeing the Irish at Notre Dame Stadium this season if you’re not a student or staff member.
Even if it is against what should be a poor Syracuse team in Notre Dame’s first December home game since the Eisenhower administration.
Related: Predicting Notre Dame’s 2020 game-by-game schedule results