Notre Dame fans ignore pandemic, storm field after Irish knock off No. 1 Clemson: 'There is pandemonium'

Tom Gatto

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Notre Dame fans ignore pandemic, storm field after Irish knock off No. 1 Clemson: 'There is pandemonium' image

Notre Dame and Clemson played a classic college football game Saturday night in South Bend, with the home team prevailing 47-40 in two overtimes. Had this game been played in normal times, the fans' immediate postgame reaction would have been accepted.

But these are not normal times, and so their response to the victory was rightly condemned.

Thousands of spectators sitting in the lower bowl of Notre Dame Stadium rushed the field after the Irish had stopped the Tigers' 39-game regular-game winning streak. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. After both schools have had to deal with outbreaks.

Expect the Atlantic Coast Conference to say something about this.

MORE: Highlights from ND's huge win

For what it's worth, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly seemed to expect something like this would happen. He told reporters after the game that he told his team to expect fans to storm the field and told them to get off it as soon as possible.

With millions in the U.S. staying up late to watch the outcome, the move earned a rapid rebuke on social media — led by one LeBron James.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.