Marcus Freeman stressing change of noon kickoff vs. Syracuse

Notre Dame will be back in action this weekend against No. 16 Syracuse, hoping to hand the Orange its second loss of the season. It won’t be easy and it’ll require an adjustment for the Fighting Irish.

A noon kickoff will be a first for Notre Dame this season under first-year coach Marcus Freeman.

“The biggest thing I tried to hit them with yesterday is it’s going to be our first noon game,” Freeman told reporters on Monday. “You have to start getting your rest now, and you have to start hydrating.”

Going on the road to Syracuse will also come with some unique challenges.

Syracuse is one of the few college football teams that plays indoors, bringing an aesthetic change for the players — as well as a potential adjustment when it comes to game conditions.

“We’re playing indoors. I’ve never been to the stadium,” Freeman said. “I know it’s a new name, it used to be the Carrier Dome. But I’ve never been there. I’ve heard from different people it can be pretty warm in there. It’s gonna be loud. And so I’m trying to prepare them for the atmosphere, a 12 o’clock game, more than, ‘We’ve been great on the road.'”

But while Freeman is concerned with how players adjust to the start time, it’s not like it’s a drastic change for Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish have played three night games this season, but they’ve also played three games at 2:30 p.m. ET and another at 3:30 p.m. ET. It won’t be a wholesale change.

“That’s kind of how hopefully our itinerary, our structure and what we do on road games will take care of that, but just really preparing them for the atmosphere that’s going to present itself on Saturday,” Freeman said.

Marcus Freeman familiar with some ACC opponents

Notre Dame will play its second game against an ACC opponent on Saturday when it travels to Syracuse, but it won’t be the last this season.

Freeman’s team will also face Clemson and Boston College later this year. It helps that he was able to get a look at both Clemson and Syracuse over the weekend after going through their game tape.

“Really just crossover games. I was right in the middle of watching the Syracuse-Clemson game,” Freeman said. “You try not to look at the other team, but we know we play Clemson afterwards. I was watching the entirety of the game and watching both sides of the ball. You pay more attention as you get closer to that game week, but with our schedule and all the different conferences we play against, it’s hard to just focus on one league.”

Notre Dame and Syracuse will be televised on ABC on Saturday.