After being outshone by Georgia fans in 2017, Notre Dame is making sure that they will have a bigger presence than Ohio State at their home stadium. The Athletic has noted that Fighting Irish fans are making sure that not a lot of Ohio State fans are at the game. AD Jack Swarbrick has been working for weeks in order to make sure that only Notre Dame fans are at the game.
For this game, only 5,000 tickets were allowed for Ohio State fans. Swarbrick has been making the decision about selling tickets to Ohio State fans something that is more about "economics." The entire staff has been leaning on Patrick Nowlin to change the ticketing process.
Two significant changes they made were any returned tickets not going up for public sale before the game and moving up the time to purchase season tickets a lot sooner. The progress on this has increased so much that Nowlin says the most "turnover" for the game has been in the Ohio State section.
How much will the crowd factor in into the winner of Notre Dame vs. Ohio State?
Due to the fact that these are teams with a lot of talent, this is a game that will most likely go down to the wire. Both of these offenses will light up the scoreboard for a night that will surely eclipse the 55-point over/under. Overall, Ohio State might have the better offense but the Fighting Irish have the better quarterback by a wide margin.
Most likely, Kyle McCord will be nothing more than a game-manager for the Buckeyes. Sam Hartman on the other hand will strongly enhance the offense for the Irish. This doesn't mean that McCord can't lean on Marvin Harrison Jr. and the playmakers to a college football victory but Notre Dame is the slight favorite heading into this matchup.
When both teams are as evenly matched as the two teams are, it is easy to see how whoever has the home crowd might win the game. While these things might seem small, they can move the needle to victory.
