For the second time this season, the Notre Dame-Wake Forest game is off the docket. This time for good.
Originally slated to be played Sept. 26 in the Tar Heel state, that contest was postponed until Dec. 12 — the designated makeup day for ACC football this year — because of a COVID-19 outbreak at Notre Dame.
Two months later, it’s the Demon Deacons who have experienced setbacks with the pandemic, first with not playing the scheduled Nov. 21 game with Duke and then this weekend’s clash with No. 10 Miami.
However, there was an assist elsewhere for the Dec. 12 cancellation. The dominoes began to fall when the postponement of the scheduled Nov. 21 Clemson at Florida State also was potentially designated for Dec. 12.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney indicated his Tigers would not return to play FSU after the Seminoles backed out a few hours before the Nov. 21 game because of concerns about a Clemson lineman testing positive for the coronavirus and making the trip to Tallahassee. This Tuesday, the ACC announced a reshaped schedule that indeed did not include Clemson at FSU on Dec. 12.
That meant the final league game for the No. 3-ranked Tigers will be at Virginia Tech this Saturday, and a victory would clinch their spot in the ACC Championship Dec. 19 at Charlotte, N.C. versus Notre Dame.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly received the news following this Tuesday’s practice that because Clemson would have a bye on Dec. 12, so would Notre Dame, and therefore no game with Wake Forest.
“Our earlier conversations were much in line with if we're playing Wake Forest [on Dec. 12], Florida State is playing Clemson,” Kelly said. “There needs to be balance. Everybody has to play everybody. It wasn't posturing of any kind of, 'Let's try to get out of this Wake Forest game.'
“I have no problem playing Wake Forest any time or any place, and our guys would be excited about that opportunity as long as everyone was playing the same amount of games.”
Notre Dame (9-0) and Clemson (8-1) have played nine games, but No. 10-ranked Miami (7-1) has played only eight. Should 22-point favorite Clemson suffer a major upset at Virginia Tech on Saturday for a second league loss, it was important for the ACC to give Miami a chance to earn its way with two more wins on Dec. 5 (at Duke) and Dec. 12 (North Carolina) for the right to play the Irish on Dec. 19.
“As long as all things were equal from that perspective and Miami understood they had a chance to get in … then why not protect the championship game?” Kelly said. “That was the conversation that we had. There was never a posturing from our end. We were prepared to play Wake Forest if that's what the ACC requested us to do.”
With both Notre Dame and Clemson idle Dec. 12 now, that is the “balance” the Irish were seeking. Traveling to North Carolina for weekend games on both Dec. 12 and Dec. 19 would not have provided equal footing.
“The only thing that we would have probably pushed back on was that we wanted equity on the same weekend if Clemson was going to push back,” Kelly said. “That never seemed to be the case."
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.
