Notre Dame Prepares For Heat In Season Opener At Texas
There are still several questions facing Notre Dame as it prepares for the season-opener at Texas on Sept. 4.
There is one thing Irish coach Brian Kelly already knows.
It’ll likely be very hot, and it has the potential to be one of the most scorching games in Notre Dame history.
"We're going to have to play a lot of guys against Texas," Kelly said. "They are a tempo team; it's going to be hot."
According to weather service wunderground.com, the average temperature on Sept. 4 in Austin, Texas, is 88 degrees, which would ranked among the hottest games in the last 20-plus seasons.
Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium seats over 100,000 people and a sellout is expected for the primetime matchup (6:30 p.m. CT). While not the hottest time of the day, temperatures in Austin don’t normally drop to below 80 degrees until 10 p.m.
In four of the past five years, the temperature in Austin has reached at least 100 degrees on Sept. 4. The one year it didn’t (2014), it was only 99. The record high temperature in Austin on Sept. 4 was 110 degrees in 2000.
The Irish are doing their best to prepare for the Longhorns, who practice in those temperatures on a daily basis and will have a new look, uptempo, spread offense on Sept. 4.
Notre Dame uses global positioning system trackers on all its players to monitor how much exertion goes into each practice. Kelly put the Irish through a 23-period practice Saturday, which lasted just under two hours, and said he'll adjust the practice plan accordingly.
“It’s hard to duplicate your summer workout and try and transition into your first day,” Kelly said after practice. “The emotions are high, everyone is moving quickly. Our GPS numbers were probably a little high, we’ll have to tweak some things (Sunday) and back off a bit. We want to work this thing up the hill instead of the other way around.”
It was hot Saturday at Culver Academies, the site of five Irish preseason workouts. Temperatures reached the mid-80’s and temperatures have reached the 90s this week.
Several players battled the heat in the opening practice. Sophomore running backs Josh Adams (cramps) and Dexter Williams (stomach) had abbreviated practices, while several others like tight end Nic Weisher and receiver Kevin Stepherson all got varying levels of treatment and rest.
Thursday’s practice — the first of four two-a-days for the team — begins with a 9:45 a.m. workout on campus. It's expected to be about 80 degrees at the start of the first practice.
On Sept. 7, 1991, Notre Dame hosted Indiana to open the season. For the 1:30 p.m. kickoff, the temperature was 90 degrees. By comparison, it was 82 degrees at kickoff for last year’s opener against the Longhorns at Notre Dame Stadium. The game kicked off at 7:42 p.m.
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