Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame's athletic director, said Thursday that it was an 'extraordinary burst of wind' that roared across the football practice fields Wednesday, toppling a video tower and killing Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old student manager for the team. Notre Dame will play its home game Saturday against Tulsa. Swarbrick said the university considered canceling it but decided instead to dedicate it to Sullivan, with a prayer and a moment of silence beforehand. A pep rally and several other events before the game have been canceled. Sullivan, a junior from Long Grove, Ill., had posted several messages to his Facebook page via Twitter while he was up on the tower, expressing his fear of the wind. He called the conditions 'terrifying.' Just before the practice, Sullivan posted a message in which he said, 'Gusts of wind up to 60 mph today will be fun at work ... I guess I've lived long enough.' Swarbrick said at a news conference Thursday that the university's investigation, which began Wednesday, would look into whether Sullivan had expressed his fear to the team's video coordinator, to whom he reported. Swarbrick said that he was attending the practice when he heard the crash but that he did not see it. He said he did not notice the weather to be unusual before the wind gust, although the National Weather Service had a wind advisory in effect. News reports said gusts reached 51 mph. Sullivan was filming football practice from the tower, which is commonly used for shooting video during practice. Swarbrick said he did not know how high the lift was extended, nor did he know its maintenance history. 'Every program makes its own decisions with regards to practices,' Swarbrick said. 'We're going to take a look at all of that in the investigation, the decision process that happened that day. It was not just one decision to practice outside. It was a series of decisions.' Until those questions are answered, Swarbrick said, there is little to do but honor Sullivan's memory and mourn. 'This is a time of extraordinary sorrow and grief,' he said. 'As a father of four with two of my children away at college, I can only imagine how difficult this is.' Swarbrick said he rushed to the scene and Sullivan appeared to be responding to commands from medical personnel. Swarbrick said that as Sullivan was being taken to a hospital in South Bend, Ind., he received a call that he had stopped breathing. Coach Brian Kelly did not attend the news conference, and Swarbrick said neither Kelly nor the players would be available for comment until after Saturday's game. He said he wanted them to be able to deal with Sullivan's death privately until then. The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which classified the death as a workplace fatality, arrived on campus Thursday to begin its investigation. The tower, a mobile hydraulic lift, remained where it fell until Thursday night. 