Behind the scenes of TSU football's special, historic experience at Notre Dame | Estes

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – What’s special in sports isn’t always a surprise.

Sometimes, the magnitude isn’t captured by a score.

Notre Dame’s 56-3 victory over Tennessee State on a sparkling Saturday went about how you’d have expected. Same as if they played a dozen more times. The Fighting Irish didn’t need luck. They didn’t need a sellout crowd, either, though they had one for this home opener against Notre Dame’s first-ever FCS – or HBCU – opponent.

One of college football’s iconic cathedrals was rocking anyway. Outside, they sold T-shirts to commemorate “ND vs. TSU.” On the back, that gold helmet was positioned opposite a blue one with three lowercase letters familiar mostly in Nashville.

Yes, TSU – our TSU – was on that T-shirt. It was in that stadium. It got to experience this. Its players. Its band. Its cheerleaders. And a whole bunch of its supporters sprinkled through the seats.

“This,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said afterward, “is what you want for college football.”

Appropriate words, and they hit differently these days. It’s such a tumultuous time for college football. A new season has started amid massive conference realignment that’ll forever change this wonderful game, and surely not for the better. That's historic, sure. But …

This Saturday at Notre Dame was historic for the right reasons. Felt good to be there, to be a part of something that had never happened in a stadium where so much else has over the years, a place that’s dripping in football tradition so thick you can sense it upon arrival.

The prelude in South Bend

“Can y’all feel that? Can y’all feel this energy right now?”

Minutes until kickoff, with Tigers players on a knee around TSU coach Eddie George, his shouts echoed off the walls of a quiet locker room.

It hadn’t been so quiet leading up to this. For much of the time, loud music filled two narrow passages of lockers and chairs. A cramped space, but George had navigated it neatly, working the room to touch base with players. He did the same when they were on the field stretching, making sure to greet and embrace each one. George, the coach, may not say much in team-wide settings. Tends to say plenty individually, though.

The best word to describe the former Tennessee Titans star in this pregame scene at Notre Dame: He was prowling. Like a great athlete who’d have loved to strap on pads once again and give it a go (and still looks like he could, honestly). George barely stayed still leading up to kickoff, moving from player to player and room to room, except for a few minutes in which he sat alone near the door and bowed his head.

“I'm praying,” he explained later. “Praying for guidance. Praying for success. Praying that we have a healthy day. Praying for our kids, our staff. Praying that we give our best. Praying that we find a shining light in all of us. … That's just me, always, introspective.”

A moment like this was new for pretty much everyone in that locker room. But it wasn’t for George. He'd seen Notre Dame before, and Notre Dame remembers him, too. In 1995, he ran all over the Fighting Irish, going for 207 rushing yards in a big victory for Ohio State.

But he didn’t mention any of that to TSU’s players in his pregame pep talk.

Nor did he delve into the meaning of the moment or the enormous challenge in front of those players.

He told them they were ready for it.

“Trust it!” he shouted. “Come out swinging! Come out fast and firing and physical!”

Waking up the home team

The Tigers did what George asked. They came out physical.

And because of it, they only trailed 7-3 and had the ball at the Irish 12-yard line with a chance to take the lead late in the first quarter.

Notre Dame’s Devyn Ford had just fumbled a kickoff on a vicious hit from TSU’s Zachery Drake. That was the moment when these Tigers stopped being a cute story to those wearing green in South Bend. They became the enemy.

Home fans booed lustily for what they viewed as an illegal helmet-to-helmet shot. The referees didn’t agree with their assessment. Neither did George, who watched the replay on the sideline and protested to no one in particular, “That’s just football!”

Once TSU was awarded the football, the stadium started roaring. Irish players, too, seemed to wake up and flex their muscles. The Tigers mustered no yards in three plays before a 29-yard field goal was blocked. And thus, the competitive portion of the game ended. TSU wouldn’t kick off again. Notre Dame scored touchdowns on its next four possessions and led 35-3 at halftime.

“Don’t worry about the (expletive) score,” George told the Tigers during intermission. “All I care about is how you fight. You finish strong. You give everything you have and you finish strong, no matter what.”

The rest was a slog to the finish line. But George concluded that TSU’s players did what he asked. A positive tone greeted them in the locker room before a flight back to Nashville.

“First of all, guys, I want to tell y'all how much I love y'all, man. I really do,” George told them afterward. “I'm so proud of y'all because y'all came out and y'all fought. Listen, the team y'all just played might play for a national championship. But y'all had some plays out there that we can really build on.”

In trying to project the rest of TSU’s season, there are few lessons to take from this game. Obviously, the Tigers won’t face another team near the Irish’s level.

That shouldn’t, however, dim the experience and the memory of this afternoon. And it won’t.

“This was an excellent experience,” said Drake, who’ll be able to tell his grandkids that he forced a fumble while covering a kickoff at Notre Dame.

“Hopefully, we'll see more opportunities like that for not just us but other HBCUs to play brands like this,” George said. “It's great exposure. It's a great environment. This is something that our kids will talk about for a lifetime.”

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSU football's historic experience at Notre Dame: Behind the scenes