Oct. 02--Weather or not -- and it looks more like weather than not -- sixth-ranked Notre Dame's game Saturday at No. 12 Clemson was not expected to be rescheduled from its 7 p.m. CDT start as of Thursday.
As Hurricane Joaquin made its way from the Bahamas toward the East Coast, storm patterns became difficult to predict. Four to 6 inches of rain is expected to fall on parts of South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.
"At this time, everything is scheduled as planned and we intend to continue on that path unless authorities advise us otherwise," Clemson said in a statement.
The school said it will continue to monitor weather conditions and has been in contact with the National Weather Service and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Big Ten on Thursday moved up kickoff of Michigan's game Saturday at Maryland by eight hours to 11 a.m. CDT over concerns about the effects of Joaquin. Illinois' home game against Nebraska was pushed back a half-hour to 3 p.m. to accommodate the Big Ten Network schedule.
Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer said he wasn't too worried about weather affecting his play.
"Some of my best games in high school came in the rain," Kizer said. "It's something that I haven't experienced lately, but we'll prepare for that using wet balls in our practice and understanding that the wind is going to come into play and things like that."
Coach Brian Kelly said the Irish have booked extra hotel nights just in case.
Tricks no treat: Fool them once, shame on them. Fool them twice, shame on ... them.
The trick plays executed against Notre Dame's defense this season -- first by Virginia, then by Massachusetts -- have been no treat for the Irish. In lieu of excuses, Kelly offered advice for opposing coaches with gadget plays up their sleeves.
"I would continue to run them," he said. "We'll have to continue to pick up our keys and be more aware of them."
Kelly said, as a rule, his defense should be able to sense deception and defend it.
"Virginia, a little bit different, where we lost sight of a particular key that would have gotten us into the middle of the field to defend their reverse pass," he said. "The UMass trick play was a difficult play to defend, and we didn't have it on film. It's no excuse; we've got to do a better job."
To the Max? Kelly said safety Max Redfield and his cast-covered right hand (he broke his thumb in the opener against Texas) will start again this week and "will be a major part of what we're doing."
Redfield struggled to tackle after the cast was put on and didn't start against Georgia Tech in Week 3 before being recast in that role against UMass.
In other injury news, tight end Tyler Luatua, who missed the UMass game because of a concussion, won't play this week either but is expected back next week against Navy.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
