Notre Dame adapts on the fly to its longest season and changing schedule as CFP semifinal arrives

Notre Dame receiver Beaux Collins will remember this College Football Playoff run for several reasons and one of them is how he sprinted through the team’s New Orleans hotel hallways like a fun-loving child.

That is how some of the Fighting Irish coped with an unexpected day off before last week’s Sugar Bowl, a timeline driven by tragedy after a man used his speeding truck as a weapon in the nearby French Quarter, killing more than a dozen people.

Collins, his Notre Dame teammates and their coaches are now in Florida, about to face Penn State in the Orange Bowl for a trip to the national championship game. They have deftly navigated a number of challenges in their march through the postseason.

“It was wild,” Collins said. “Hearing the news was definitely sad, hearing about the people who lost their lives. So we had to take the time to reflect on how fortunate we are to still be alive, breathing, being able to play a game called football. There are people out there, putting their lives on the line for us; we have to acknowledge that.”

While each school selected for the first 12-team playoff has its own tales of overcoming adversity, Notre Dame’s playoff journey has been historic.

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The Irish (13-1) have already played — and won — more games than any team in the program’s illustrious history and have moved within two wins of snapping a 36-year national championship drought, the school’s longest since claiming its first title in 1924.

The playoff semifinal Thursday night against the Nittany Lions (13-2) will mark the deepest into January that Notre Dame has ever played; one more win would extend the Irish’s longest season to 16 games. Coach Marcus Freeman responded by reducing the amount of contact at practice to keep players fresh, good training for the NFL’s 17-game schedule.

Players took their finals before the first-round victory over Indiana, At least classes don’t resume until next Monday.

Notre Dame’s challenges stretch far beyond football and include family, faith and fate.

The Irish split their first-round practice week balancing finals and football, something near and dear to cornerback Christian Gray’s mother, who still tracks his grades. Notre Dame spent the following week planning for second-seeded Georgia while taking time off to celebrate the Christmas holiday that is so sacrosanct at this Catholic institution.

Then last Wednesday everything suddenly was put on hold by what unfolded in the French Quarter. Inside the team hotel, players started reflecting on life while contemplating what they could do to help.

That’s when center Pat Coogan and right guard Rocco Spindler decided somebody needed to lead Notre Dame onto the field with an American flag. Coogan did.

“It was me and Rocco just talking in our room, we shared a room in the hotel and then I went to (associate athletic director) Katy Lonergan and our equipment manager and asked if we could find one,” Coogan said after again sending condolences to the grieving families. “That was really special, and football is a game that can unite people in the midst of tragedy. no matter the color that they’re wearing.”

Back in the hotel, Notre Dame’s closely followed game-day schedule was in tatters.

Instead of playing a prime-time game Wednesday, organizers moved to the game to mid-afternoon Thursday, forcing coaches to adapt on the fly and costing the winner a day of prep for this week’s semifinal.

While all that was taking place, Collins and his teammates found other ways to cope.

“We had a few extra team meetings. We ran like sprints in the hallway of the hotel,” Collins said. “It was a fun experience, getting to spend some extra time with your guys down there. The biggest thing was just keeping the focus of why we were down there in the first place, which was to win a game.”

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