Literally speaking, the crowd in attendance at Notre Dame’s 90th Blue-Gold Game this weekend holds some sort of value. Otherwise, there would be no difference between it and the previous 14 practices in the last six weeks. Those tens of thousands of pairs of eyes add a bit of a pressure dynamic, not that any two of them hold more weight than Irish head coach Brian Kelly’s or offensive coordinator Chip Long’s, but such is how a young mind works.
“I want to see what they’re going to do Saturday with those lights,” Long said Thursday. “It’s one thing to go out there and practice in the indoor or outside, but what are you going to do when you walk into that Stadium now with people watching you?