Marcus Freeman almost always loses the week after a long-distance night game, including against Northern Illinois; This year’s early bye week is a stroke of luck for the Irish
During his brief head coaching tenure, Marcus Freeman has gone 2-4 the week after a long-distance night game, 1-3 against unranked opponents. More than a third of Freeman’s total career losses as a head coach have come the week after a long-distance night game, 4 losses out of 11.
Curiously enough, the only opponent he has beaten the week after a long-distance night game is Southern Cal.
One wonders if the university might still be “ignoring the science” by having red-eye flights back in the middle of the night. There have been multiple studies over the years showing sleep deprivation after-effects persisting a number of days, even after someone thinks they have “caught up” on their sleep.
One of the biggest strokes of luck for the Irish in 2025 has been an early bye week after their lackluster nighttime showing in Miami Gardens. In contrast, last year, after grinding out a nighttime win at Texas A&M, back home a week later they had their infamous loss to Northern Illinois.
Another stroke of luck is that their game with Arkansas in Fayetteville is the same day Georgia hosts Alabama in Athens. So instead of the SEC-hosted game with the Irish being in primetime, it is Alabama-Georgia in primetime. The Irish and Razorbacks help kick off the day at 11 a.m. local time, 12 noon Eastern.
The following week the Irish host Boise State. Even though Boise State seems a bit less daunting than their playoff team last year, that matchup still would have meant even bigger trouble if the Irish were taking them on the week after a red-eye flight.
Multiple studies, including by the military, have shown that the physiological effects of sleep deprivation can linger on for days, even after someone imagines that they have caught up on their sleep.
According to the Sleep Foundation:
Of added concern would be whether the players ever really do actually get “caught up,” given both academic and athletic demands upon their time, and whether those suffering from sleep deprivation do not realize its full effects.
(emphasis added)
The situation presumably could be even more precarious for college-aged student athletes facing academic demands, social demands, noisy dorms, and a young-guy feeling of invincibility, while also playing in sport that traditionally valued “shrugging things off.”
Yet the issue is not simply whether or not the players and coaches finally get back into form in time for a game a week later. There also is the question of squandering valuable, limited practice time with sub-par practices throughout the week. That is especially the case, if the intensity of practices has to taper off closer to game day, making the practices earlier in the week even more valuable.
2022 – losing twice in a game coming one week after a long-distance night game
In 2022, Marcus Freeman’s first year as head coach, the Irish led off with a night game at #2 Ohio State. Even though ‘Notre Dame’ lost by 11 points, 21-10, they still played well enough to look reasonably competitive.
But the week after the long-distance night game, the Irish lost at home to unranked Marshall 26-21.
At mid-season, ‘Notre Dame’ had a night game against a good #16-ranked BYU team, at a neutral site in Las Vegas. The Irish played well and won 28-20.
But the week after the long-distance night game, the Irish lost at home to unranked Stanford, 16-14.
2023 – going 1-1 the weeks after long-distance night games
In 2023, the Irish had an unusual three-week sequence at mid-season, all involving night games.
First, they played well in a night game at Duke, winning 21-14.
But the week after the long-distance night game, they had to play a Louisville team barely ranked #25. The Irish trailed 24-13 early in the fourth quarter, falling to 33-13 with a few minutes to go.
They had to rally, not to win, but just to mitigate the humiliation, scoring with a minute-and-a-half to go, to close the gap to two touchdowns instead of three, 34-20.
Yet the game at Louisville was itself a long-distance night game, followed by another game a week later. This time the Irish did temporarily break out of their pattern, beating a then-#10-ranked Southern Cal 48-20.
Although it did turn out that Southern Cal would finish the season unranked. Strangely enough, it was Louisville that Southern Cal beat by two touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl.
2024 – loss to Northern Illinois the week after a long-distance night game; holding off Southern Cal
In 2024, the Irish returned to their losing ways the week after a long-distance night game, with seismic repercussions.
They opened the season playing well in a grinding nighttime win at Texas A&M.
But the week after the long-distance night game, back home the Irish had their infamous to unranked Northern Illinois.
That loss loomed large in later attempts to estimate where they really deserved fit in amongst the upper echelons of the rankings.
At the end of the regular season, Freeman very nearly lost again to an unranked opponent the week after a long-distance night game.
The Irish played a night game against Army in the Bronx, which they played well and won.
If they did, presumably, take a red-eye flight back, they at least had a few logistical advantages. The game started a half-hour earlier than some night games, and, even though service academy Army had been trying to diversify their offense, the game still ran about a half-hour shorter. Although Freeman himself squandered that half-hour, by talking for a half-hour at his press conference. Thankfully at least it can be a quick bus ride from Yankee Stadium to LaGuardia.
Nevertheless, a week after that long-distance night game in the Bronx, the Irish had difficulties facing an unranked Southern Cal struggling to stay above .500.
Despite winning by 14 points on paper, the Irish easily could have been taken into overtime, or lose in regulation, giving up four medium-to-long drives in the fourth quarter that totaled more than 230 yards.
Two individual big plays by two Irish defensive backs, historic proportions, caused a 28-point swing.
Instead of Southern Cal scoring 28 points off the four drives, they scored only 14, while the Irish defensive backs had two pick-six interceptions returned for touchdowns, one for 99 yards and the other rounded down to 100 yards. The latter tied a nearly-century-old school record and the first one missed the record by a yard.
So, even though the Irish pulled out a win the week after their second long-distance night game of the year, they still struggled and could have had things turn out a lot worse without two plays of historic proportions. What was, in the Al Golden era, one of the best defenses in college football gave up 557 yards to a team hovering around .500, including four long drives in the fourth quarter. And that was while the offense also underperformed, being outgained and scoring the same points as the weaker opponent, without factoring in the defensive return touchdowns.
Longtime issue
The issue of having trouble after long-distance night games, of course, did not start with Marcus Freeman.
Brian Kelly had his issues as well, from time to time, including just a year before Freeman took the top job.
After beating Florida State in overtime in Tallahassee on a Sunday night, Kelly’s 2021 team struggled mightily the following week against Toledo, nearly losing. They had to come from behind multiple times, including in the fourth quarter.
This author wondered, at the time, if they would have pulled out the win if they did not, in a positive way, have an old warhorse of head coach who knew how to cobble together wins, whether his team deserved it or not.
The following year, of course, with a rookie head coach, the opposite happened. They did not pull out the win against an unranked team, the week after a night game on the road, losing the Marshall.
Charlie Weis era ends after long-distance night games
Yet the most consequential red-eye flight issues that originally drew this author’s attention were the red-eye flights that were pivotal in the Charlie Weis era coming to an end.
After going 6-2 and being ranked #19, Charlie Weis was fired after a 4-game losing streak that included going 0-2 to unranked opponents the week after long-distance night games. In one of those instances, a loss to unranked Navy, it was clear that they had, indeed taken a red-eye after the previous game.
In Weis’s final season, the Irish played well in a 40-14 win over Washington State in the Alamo Dome in San Antonio. That win pushed them to 6-2 and a #19 ranking.
After the game, players posted photos of the team sitting on a red-eye flight in the wee hours of the morning, flying back right away instead of sticking to a sound training regimen by returning to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.
The very next week, the Irish lost to unranked Navy 23-21 at home. They plummeted out of the rankings and dropped to 6-3.
Given Navy’s tenacity, and how they regard games with ‘Notre Dame’ as a test of character dovetailing with their military training, they are probably the last opponent one would want to face after a week of subpar practices trying to climb out of the ill effects of sleep deprivation.
The following week, the Irish played competitively against a #8 Pitt, albeit losing 27-22, dropping to 6-4.
But, even worse, that was a night game, on the road at Pitt. And the Irish had to play just a week later.
Coming a week after that long-distance night game, presumably with a red-eye flight back, the Irish lost yet another close game at home to an unranked opponent. This time it was Connecticut. That dropped the Irish to 6-5.
The week after that, of course, they lost a fairly close, competitive game at then-juggernaut Stanford. The athletic director reportedly told Charlie Weis before the game that he was recommending Charlie Weis’s firing regardless of the outcome.
After firing Weis, the school sat out the bowl season, despite being bowl eligible at 6-6.
When asked if there was one moment that tipped the balance, or something to that effect, the athletic director reportedly referenced the loss to Navy
So, with Weis’s job on the line, the Irish were sitting at 6-2 with a #19 ranking.
They then went on a four-game losing skid, going 0-2 to unranked opponents the week after long-distance night games. In at least one instance there was clearly a red-eye flight involved.
Lou Holtz
Broader sleep deprivation issues certainly came up back in the Lou Holtz era, when one of his losses to Stanford came about after some players reportedly were going on five hours of sleep some nights. The reason apparently was poor planning relating to mid-terms.
Squandering opportunities
One recalls an obscure in-house video interview with a positions coach years ago, who had a long string of All-Americans across multiple programs, as well as multiple future NFL players. That success continued with the Irish, even with a depleted roster, until he had to step down for health reasons,
He said that one reality that he stressed to his players was that they had to get everything they possibly could out of every single rep; that they only got a certain number of reps, and that once a rep was gone, it was gone forever. So they had to make sure that they learned everything they could, and make every effort, and get everything they could out of each and every rep.
Against that context, why would anybody want to squander multiple of days of limited practices on the after-effects of sleep deprivation, and perhaps even carry some of the ill effects into the next game itself.
2025
If ‘Notre Dame’ is still “ignoring the science” and using red-eye flights back from night games on the road, they still are potentially vulnerable on two occasions later this season.
Their road game at Boston College that still has not set a start time. The very next week they play, of all teams, Navy.
If the network tries to set the road game at Boston College for primetime, and the Irish take a red-eye flight back, that might bode well for their game a week later hosting Navy.
Then the Irish have another road game that has not set a start time, at, of all places, at Pitt.
If the network moves the road game at Pitt to primetime, the Irish would end up playing yet another game a week after a long-distance night game.
The week after Pitt, ‘Notre Dame’ plays a Syracuse team quarterbacked by Irish transfer Steve Angelli, who just threw for more than 400 yards against Connecticut.
So, if the Irish end up having to come off another long-distance night game, and perhaps a red-eye flight with lingering after-effects of sleep deprivation, they would be doing it against a solid Syracuse team. And they would be facing a quarterback who is a potential NFL prospect with special reason to put on a special show against the Irish. He likely thought he might be starting for the Irish in The House That Rockne Built, before being effectively nudged out by treating him as an equal two unproven rookies, despite his years of quality experience, including leading the Irish to a sub-major bowl win and contributing in last year’s playoff.
Time will tell, whether the Irish will end up with late-season road games in primetime, with potential red-eye flights back, followed by struggles the following week.