According to a report on Irish Illustrated by Tim Prister, Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play the 19 Florida Bulls on September 19 in South Bend. The Irish were originally scheduled to play the Western Michigan Broncos, but their season was canceled following a decision by their conference, the MAC.
Notre Dame last named South Florida in 2011 as the season opener. It was a game that was delayed during regulation due to lightning from a thunder. It’s also the famous “Purple BK” game, as Brian Kelly lost his temper on the sidelines with Irish receiver TJ Jones. Notre Dame eventually lost the game 23-20, with the bad omens that began early when Kayvon Webster returned a Jonas Gray fumble at 96 yards for a touchdown. The Bulls were coached by Skip Holtz (son of Lou) and is still a major source of pain for Notre Dame fans.
This news comes just under a day after Notre Dame Football canceled its practice to address the situation of coronavirus on campus. That said, Jack Swarbrick and Notre Dame are very serious about getting as much football as possible in 2020, or this is just a “thing” that won’t matter in a few weeks.
At the moment – I could go either way.
It’s a bit strange given that Swarbrick has publicly talked about 8-10 games, but again … it’s 2020. Anything is apparently possible – except the taming of COVID-19.
