Michael Mayer on opening the season at Ohio Stadium: 'I'm not worried about it'

Notre Dame has quite a task at hand to open the year. The Fighting Irish have to travel to No. 2 Ohio State to take on the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 3, which isn’t easy.

Michael Mayer sounds like he’s up to the challenge.

The Notre Dame star tight end offered his thoughts on opening the year at The Horseshoe, and he doesn’t sound intimidated. Since 2017, Ohio State has only lost one true home game — last season to Oregon in Week 2. That means the Buckeyes know how to defend their home turf, and the pressure is on with Notre Dame coming to town.

Mayer isn’t intimated.

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“I don’t think it’s any different than the other stadiums we’re going to be playing in this year,” Mayer said, via Blue & Gold’s Tyler Horka. “To me, it’s like, ‘home game, away game, just go play football.’ I’m not worried about it.”

The showdown is getting the prime time treatment, too, with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.

Urban Meyer gives dual view for Ohio State, Notre Dame season-opener

Former Ohio State head coach and former Notre Dame assistant Urban Meyer knows what it’s like to open the season in such grand fashion. He knows exactly what Ryan Day and Marcus Freeman are going through ahead of game week.

During the first installment of On3’s “Urban’s Take with Tim May,” Meyer said the top-five matchup will bring plenty of pressure. That’s why both teams have to pour their entire efforts into it, especially from the Ohio State perspective. The Buckeyes’ next games are against Arkansas State and Toledo before Big Ten play begins against Wisconsin.

“As a fan, as a Buckeye and as a fan of the Irish, I think it’s fantastic. As a coach, I think it’s tough,” Meyer said, in part. “You have to win that game. We opened up with an Oklahoma, a Virginia Tech on the road. When I was at Utah, we played A&M on the road.

“It changes your whole mentality because after Notre Dame, Ohio State’s got some easier games. Just being quite honest. Everyone knows that. You’ve got to shoot everything you’ve got at this game. The preparation is something else I’d like to talk about next week. It’s so different when you open with a game like this.”