The Notre Dame football team is playing its first Friday night game in program history. However, the more noteworthy issue is that the Fighting Irish are playing their first home playoff game in program history.
Most people wouldn’t blame the Blue and Gold if they were nervous about Friday’s game. However, the team and its coaches have been clear. They’re not feeling any extra playoff pressure.
It’s not that they’re being tough or trying to act like the game does not shake them. It’s more than that. The Notre Dame football team says it’s not feeling any added playoff pressure because the pressure level has been the same all year. Since Week 2, the Irish have been playing under the threat of elimination from the playoffs.
No added Notre Dame football pressure thanks to threat of elimination all season
“Yes, there’s pressure,” said defensive tackle/captain Rylie Mills earlier this week. “Everybody’s really locked in now and it’s more magnified, but for us, it’s still the same feeling. That’s what I’ve really taken to heart – we've been playing playoff games since after NIU.”
Safety Adon Shuler echoed his teammate’s comments. “We’re taking it the same way we took every game since NIU. No game is bigger than the next. This is big because it’s the next opportunity that we have.”
The Irish head coach has the same stance. “We’ve been in playoff mode since September,” Marcus Freeman said on Wednesday. “We understand that. Every game that we play is a version of a playoff game in our minds. Don’t have any added pressure for this one that you haven’t had the previous 10.”
ND has had to convince the country that they deserved to make the playoffs after that Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois. They’ve not only had to win the rest of the their games but look good doing it. And they did it to the point where they’re hosting the Indiana Hoosiers.
While IU is in uncharted territory, the Notre Dame football team has been in situations like this before. And they’ve been in a playoff feel all season long.