BYU Football Has a Major Opportunity Against Notre Dame
· Yahoo Sports
The BYU Cougars football program has a golden opportunity on Saturday.
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The practical issue with playing several teams beneath you is the inability to create readiness when you do play someone significant. Earlier this week, in an unrelated interview, Utah head coach Morgan Scalley put this into context while commenting on the Big 12.
“I keep tabs on all the Big 12 teams, because the better the Big 12 is, the better it is for us,” Scalley said on Sirius XM. “It would be dumb for me to want teams to just tank because it’s a disadvantage for us. I want everyone to be as good as they can be when we play them. Then, if we win, it’s better for us.”
No. 8 BYU has an opportunity to be the first team this season to challenge No. 2 Notre Dame. Out of the six games the Irish have played, the closest game was a 37-26 win over North Carolina. The Tar Heels are currently 11th in the ACC in Bill Belichick's second season in Chapel Hill. Purdue and Wisconsin are the only teams they’ve played who are even in the top third of their conference. Both are Big Ten teams.
Digging a little deeper, Notre Dame is the worst loss for three of the teams they have already played. Two of those teams have had their best wins against the same team. It was Eastern Michigan. Eastern Michigan are atop the MAC standings with a 4-3 record. Those two teams who had their biggest wins against Eastern Michigan are two teams that gave Notre Dame no challenge at all.
ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show utilized an interesting graphic this week. While broadcasting live from LaVell Edwards Stadium, the graphic was a tale of the tape and the 2026 margins between the Irish and the Cougars were minimal. Notre Dame scores nine more points per game.
Twenty-three more yards of offense per game. Two fewer points allowed per game. Forty fewer yards allowed defensively per game. Yet BYU ranks significantly higher in strength of schedule (BYU-37, Notre Dame-56). Making this an almost coin flip of a game projection.
If BYU can pull what realistically should only be a ‘minor’ upset, the Cougars could do something they have not done in 40 years. Earn a top five ranking in the AP Top 25.
BYU hosts Notre Dame on Saturday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.