Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman will be spending his Friday night making the rounds in the team hotel, conducting bed checks the night before the BYU-Notre Dame game in Las Vegas.
When playing in Sin City, having the top boss personally knock on your door gives players extra incentive to stay away from trouble.
“I’ll be doing bed check at 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time,” Freeman said. “So I’m not too concerned.”
As for BYU, head coach Kalani Sitake was asked if he would do anything similar. But the concern barely even registered. Mostly because his players won’t even have the opportunity to see the bright lights of the Bellagio or Caeser’s Palace.
BYU’s team hotel will be stationed near Lake Las Vegas, a good 40-minute drive away from the temptations on the Las Vegas Strip.
“We will be fine,” Sitake said with a small smirk. “I trust our players. I think more than anything it is keeping our guys safe and knowing where they are at. I think that is key.”
Sitake said the team always has a bed check, but declined to say what time that was.
“I think the players are on [the room check] and it goes smoothly every night,” Sitake added.
Cornerback Kaleb Hayes played along with Sitake’s coy response, saying players don’t seem to care they are staying so far away from the Strip.
“We don’t got time to gamble and all of that,” Hayes said while laughing. “We are here to play ball. This is a business trip at the end of the day. It is good to be in the area. It is fun and all that. You see a lot of things. But we are not really here for the Strip or the lights. We want to play football. We all got jobs to do and this is our job. We have to take care of business.”
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