Brian Kelly Cites Pregame Meal as Cause for Notre Dame's COVID-19 Outbreak

A pregame meal prior to a 52-0 victory over South Florida on Sept. 19 was partially responsible for a COVID-19 outbreak within the Notre Dame football team.

Head coach Brian Kelly said, per ESPN's Heather Dinich:

"Throughout our entire time together, we had not had one meal where we sat down together. Everything was grab and go. We get into our game situation where we have pregame meal together, and that cost us. Big. We had somebody who was asymptomatic, and it spread like wildfire throughout our meeting area where we were eating and then it got guys in contact tracing."

Kelly also explained how a player vomited on the sideline during the USF game. Trainers originally thought he was suffering from dehydration before his COVID-19 diagnosis was discovered Monday.

Moving forward, the Fighting Irish will have their pregame meals in larger spaces that allow for social distancing. Kelly also said the team might have to broaden the scope of its antigen testing if signs of a possible COVID-19 infection arise on the sideline.

Notre Dame postponed its game at Wake Forest, which had been rescheduled for Saturday, after seven players tested positive and another 13 were placed into isolation. On Monday, it confirmed the most recent round of testing yielded 18 more positive results.

Per Dinich, Kelly told reporters he's planning to have around 90 percent of his roster to be available for Saturday's practice ahead of its Oct. 10 game against Florida State.

The Fighting Irish will resume practice Wednesday. They're looking to earn their third win of the season, having defeated Duke 27-13 prior to shutting out South Florida.