Pat Higgins | Asst. Sports Editor
Early Saturday morning while most students were probably sleeping the day away, Notre Dame’s football team held a walk-through practice on Rooney Field in preparation for their nationally televised matchup against the University of Pittsburgh that night.
Around 10:30 a.m., Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly tweeted, “Thanks to @GoDuquesne for letting us use your facility. Played my first college football game here and had 7 tackles.”
According to Paul Hightower, an associate athletic director of facilities and operations on the Bluff, Kelly used the field “when he was a coach at Cincinnati and remembered the field we had here.”
“He wanted to do a walkthrough at the beginning of the day to get the players out of the hotel,” he said. “They came in, they got set up and the players were here for 45 minutes to an hour.”
Following their morning walkthrough at Rooney, the Fighting Irish saw their BCS hopes likely dashed at Heinz Field, falling to Pitt, 28-21.
