Notre Dame receiver Beaux Collins will remember this College Football Playoff run for several reasons, and one of them is how he sprinted through the team’s New Orleans hotel hallways like a fun-loving child.
That is how some of the Fighting Irish coped with an unexpected day off before last week’s Sugar Bowl, a timeline driven by tragedy after a man used his speeding truck as a weapon in the nearby French Quarter, killing more than a dozen people.
Collins, his Notre Dame teammates and their coaches are now in South Florida, about to face Penn State in the Orange Bowl for a trip to the national championship game. They have deftly navigated a number of challenges in their march through the postseason.
“It was wild,” Collins said. “Hearing the news was definitely sad, hearing about the people who lost their lives. So we had to take the time to reflect on how fortunate we are to still be alive, breathing, being able to play a game called football. There are people out there putting their lives on the line for us; we have to acknowledge that.”
While each school selected for the first 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff has its own tales of overcoming adversity, Notre Dame’s playoff journey has been historic.