SOUTH BEND ― Howard Cross recalls the last time Notre Dame football played in a cold game fondly.
Late in the 2022 season, the Fighting Irish were hosting Boston College. Snow was in the forecast, but it wasn’t sure when it’d arrive. Seemingly out of nowhere, though, blizzard-line conditions came over Notre Dame Stadium. The green turf became a snowy, white, winter wonderland.
“It was one of the funniest games I’ve ever been in,” said Cross, now a graduate senior defensive lineman. “I was on the field when the snow started coming down. I’ll never forget they hiked the ball, I hit the center, the quarterback dropped back and threw it. I turned around and I couldn’t see anything outside of five yards. I turned to the center and said, ‘Where’d the ball go?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’”
It could be déjà vu for Cross and company during Friday’s College Football Playoff game for the No. 7 Irish (11-1) and No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers (11-1). The current forecast from WNDU-TV in South Bend calls for a 30% chance of scattered snow showers around the time the game kicks off (8 p.m., ESPN).
The low temperature will be 21 degrees, with wind chills pushing the feels-like figure into the teens.
“I feel like I have some of my best games in freezing weather,” Cross said. “It’s cold, you’re not going to get very tired or overheated.”
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Reminiscing on cold weather games
Multiple defensive players on the Notre Dame roster competed in that 2022 snow game against Boston College, a 44-0 Irish victory. Despite growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, two-time All-American safety Xavier Watts is not a fan of playing in freezing temps.
“I hate the cold,” Watts said. “… When you’re out there, you don’t necessarily feel it when you’re just playing. You’re too locked-in and you’re too hot that it’s usually not bothering you. But yeah, I’ll be bundled up.”
Sixth-year linebacker Jack Kiser has several years of experience playing in the cold. A two-time IHSAA state champion with Pioneer High School, the Irish captain can recall taping the earholes of his helmet during a postseason game against Triton in 2018 so the howling wind didn’t damage his ears.
“It seemed like we had all four seasons (in that Boston College game),” Kiser said. “I remember when the snow was coming down, you weren’t cold. Guys were excited to be on the field and play. So, bring on the snow, bring on the blizzard. We’re excited about it.”
While he has less experience playing in frigid temperatures, Irish quarterback Riley Leonard remembers a 2022 game against Pitt where the wind chill was in the lower teens. That’s when the Alabama native was still leading Duke, a game the Blue Devils lost, 45-24.
Leonard is OK with whatever Mother Nature throws at him this time around.
“I don’t really care ― that’d be pretty cool, right?” said Leonard when asked if he wanted snow Friday night. “It’d make for some cool pictures or something. I don’t really care, snow’s great.”
Preparing to play in the elements
While Kiser had to suffer through the cold in high school, everyone will have plenty of ways to stay warm Friday night.
Chief among them is the heated benches provided by Dragon Seats. The technology not only warms the benches but also the posts players put their helmets on.
Dragon Seats COO Franklin Floyd also touted another of its products, “Dragon ShadERs,” which can be hung over the benches as a shield from freezing rain.
“The line we hear the most is that our product is a game changer, especially in extreme weather environments like we’re expecting this weekend in South Bend,” Floyd said. “… I think our benches will really add to player safety and player performance, which is what we’re all about.”
Indiana isn’t foreign to the cold either. Its final game of the season was played in snowy conditions at home against Purdue. The Hoosiers beat their rival, 66-0, to clinch a CFP spot.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman doesn’t care how his team stays warm, just that they do throughout the game.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana-Notre Dame football ready for snow in College Football Playoff
