Three Night Games Highlight Recently Announced 2020 Notre Dame Home Kickoffs
NBC officially announced the start times for all seven of the Notre Dame football games on the 2020 schedule they will broadcast in 2020 – six at Notre Dame and one off-site at Lambeau Field on Friday. Fans of the Fighting Irish should get used to some late nights this fall with three Notre Dame home games officially kicking off in primetime.
The three primetime matchups for the Irish include the Shamrock Series contest against Wisconsin on October 3 (at Lambeau Field), Stanford’s October 10 biannual visit to South Bend, and Clemson’s first trip to Notre Dame Stadium since 1979 on November 7. All three kickoff at 7:30 PM ET.
Only one Notre Dame game televised on NBC in 2019 was in primetime – Notre Dame’s 30-27 victory over USC on October 12.
Interestingly enough, three Notre Dame games will also kickoff in the 2:30 time slot in 2020 – another increase from most years for Notre Dame on NBC. Arkansas on September 12, Western Michigan on September 19, and Louisville on November 21 all get the earlier 2:30 kickoff.
That leaves just one of the seven home games in 2020 kicking off at the traditional 3:30 timeslot – Duke on October 31. As someone currently planning on running the NYC Marathon again this year on November 1, I am just thankful that there isn’t a primetime game the night before like there was two years ago when I ran it after staying up to watch Notre Dame beat Northwestern.
The three primetime kickoffs are sure to ruffle some feathers amongst the Notre Dame fan base. Primetime kickoffs are another one of those topics that generally triggers many in the old guard. Considering Notre Dame only reintroduced primetime games in 2011 for the USC game, three in 2020 is a bit excessive.
From a pure football standpoint, having the Clemson game at night could help Notre Dame a bit if the weather cooperates and delivers a dose of cold weather for a team from the south. The Wisconsin game was always going to be a night game considering it’s Notre Dame and Wisconsin’s first meeting since 1964, and the game is in Lambeau Field. These two games will likely define the 2020 season for Notre Dame.
Having Stanford as a night game in 2020 is a bit of a questionable call, though. The Cardinal have not been the same program they’ve been the last couple of years, and with the mass exodus of Stanford players that entered the transfer portal this off-season, it’s hard to imagine they will return to their recent status as an elite program in 2020. Notre Dame has beaten Stanford by 21 points in each of the last two seasons. Next year’s contest is now the third straight meeting between the two in Notre Dame Stadium treated to a primetime kickoff.
Depending on how Pitt’s season shakes out, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Notre Dame’s trip to Pittsburgh on October 17 gets a primetime kickoff. If it does, Notre Dame will play in primetime.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
just a quick response to the assumed advantage for ND in the cold weather. the Irish laid an egg against Michigan in a down pour. it didn’t seem to affect UM, but you could tell ND players did not want to be there after the first quarter….
Will never understand this apparent disdain (by some) for night games. There’s a reason why it’s called Prime Time! Can’t wait for the season to get here….especially the night games!
These are very elite kickoff times.
America is truly great again.
A night game for Clemson…as if it’s not cold enough in November during the afternoon. I love it so much! Now if only we get some sleet in their faces we can pay them back twice over for the monsoon we had to play in against them in 2015.
Let’s make it a “Blue Out” (matching the color of their faces)…and then turn our “Blue Out” into a well deserved blowout. Notre Dame 33, Clemson 20. GO IRISH! You know, they used to say the road to a National Championship goes through Notre Dame. Today, it seems to go through Clemson, to their credit. Time for the pendulum to start its swing back.
BGC ’77 ’82
Your keyboard to God’s ears.