Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Week 7 Preview
By Stiofán Mac Fhilib
Halfway through his fifth season as Notre Dame Head Coach, Marcus Freeman is 6-0 for the first time and has a #2-ranked team that is currently one of the very best in college football on both sides of the ball. This is good timing, as the Irish head to Utah this weekend for their toughest task of the season to date, #8 BYU, in a statement game for both programs.
Looking Back at Last Week
If you want perhaps the starkest insight into the decline of Stanford football, it’s their rivalry with Notre Dame for the Legends Trophy. Between 2009 and 2017, the Cardinal went 7-2 against the Irish. The last four meetings, however, have averaged 53-14 in favour of ND, culminating in Notre Dame’s record victory last week, 58-7. And they still managed to miss an Extra Point!
On a day when Notre Dame had a strip sack on the very first play from scrimmage, it took the Irish less than two minutes to take the lead on Nolan James Jr.’s first TD run, and it was 37 more points and almost three full quarters later before the visitors notched their solitary consolation score.
What ought perhaps to be most concerning to future ND opponents is that the Irish almost reached sixty points without ever seeming to often get out of second gear. CJ Carr only had 181 yards passing but at a 70% clip and still with three TD passes.
The defense allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards and 300 total yards for the sixth straight game this season. In fact, they allowed just 44 plays and 202 yards, as well as generating two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
The highlight, however, was of course true freshman Jonaz Walton, who not only registered his second consecutive 100-yard game and ran in a pair of TDs, but also set the freshman rushing record at Notre Dame, with 181 yards on the day, beating Josh Adams’ 168 from 2015, also set against Stanford.
Remarkably, Walton amassed 209 total yards from scrimmage, more than the entire Cardinal roster. And even without his 97-yard TD run, he averaged 7.0 ypc. In fact, even without both his 97- and 40-yard TDs, he STILL averaged 4.0 ypc. The Irish won’t rush for 361 yards every week, but after the early season concerns around the run game, the improvement in the OL, the switch to a greater emphasis on gap run schemes, and the emergence of Walton have all been very reassuring for ND fans.
Notre Dame seemed to avoid any new significant injury worries in the game and will expect to welcome Leonard Moore and Kyngstonn Villiamu-Asa back when they take the field in Provo this weekend.
The Week Ahead
BYU COUGARS (LAVELL EDWARDS STADIUM, PROVO, UT); 7.30PM EST; 12.30AM IST/BST
Well, here we all are. Less kind people than I, might refer to this as the start of Notre Dame’s 2026 season, after a prolonged pre-season warm-up campaign. I, however, suspect Wisconsin and North Carolina will belie that analysis by Thanksgiving, but there is no doubt that the trip to the mountains and one of the most beautiful settings in all of college football is the most difficult task the Irish will have faced so far this year.
It is a matchup in a series that is less than 40 years old, and the Irish lead it 7-2, having won each of the last four. It will be only the third time ND has played them in LaVell Edwards Stadium, with both sides having a win apiece.
The Cougars are still salty about the most recent meeting in 2022 being played in Las Vegas rather than Provo and even more annoyed at ND skipping the Pop Tarts Bowl last December, where BYU were waiting. Saturday evening will be their chance to express their displeasure on the field and in the stands. With College GameDay in attendance, it is the biggest Cougars home game, since ever?
It certainly ought to be quite a challenge for the Irish. BYU are 28-4 in their last 32 games and 41-4 in their last 45 home night games. Add to that it’s 14 years since ND beat a top 10 team in a true road game (Oklahoma 2012). Though as a counterbalance, it’s 36 years since the Cougs beat a top 2 team at home.
With the injury to their top RB, LJ Martin, much of the burden of moving the ball on the ground will fall to BYU’s sophomore QB, a player Irish fans will be familiar with, Bear Bachmeier. Bear almost committed to Notre Dame on a visit to campus only for Deuce Knight to beat him to the punch. Of course, Knight went on to decommit, and the Irish signed Blake Hebert.
At 230 lbs, Bachmeier is well able to carry some of the running game load, but ND will likely try to force him to beat them with his arm. He had 329 yards and a pair of TDs in his last outing against Iowa State, with the help of speedy freshman WR Legend Glasker, though he has yet to face a secondary like Notre Dame’s.
The Cougs rely heavily on screens and quick passes; the challenge for Chris Ash’s defense is to get them into obvious passing downs often enough to be able to unleash his pass rush.
Conversely, ND will face their toughest defense so far this year, especially the BYU secondary. The Cougs may have their best LB, Isaiah Glasker, back from injury, and that would strengthen them further. The Irish are averaging 300 yards rushing in their last two games. Even half that may be a very good, and game-winning, total on Saturday night.
They also have a dangerous return man in Cannon DeVries, who already has a 100-yard kick-off return to his name this season. At this altitude, hitting every kick-off out the back of the end zone is highly advisable.
Notre Dame have only given up one turnover in six games, while liberally recovering fumbles and picking off opposing QBs. BYU’s most likely path to victory would see a deafening home crowd prompt penalties, errors and turnovers from the visiting Irish in a low-scoring affair where special teams also favour the Cougars.
For Notre Dame, the focus has to be on playing a clean game to Marcus Freeman’s ‘Gold Standard’ and making sure they really do leave no doubt.
Game Prediction
NOTRE DAME 27-20 BYU
Irish fans who had forgotten what a close, tense game against a talented opponent in a hostile environment feels like will get more than their fill by the end of the evening. ND’s run game will start slowly, and Carr will have to take the team on his back until they finally wear the Cougs down in the fourth quarter and pound the ball to seal a narrow but hugely important victory.
Where to Watch
DAZN, Disney+; coverage starts at 12.30am IST/BST
ABC (in the USA)
Playoff Picture
In a season that has largely gone according to chalk for the top teams, last week finally saw some significant drama as #1 Texas threw away the Red River Rivalry to the Sooners, and #13 Oregon lost their second game of the year at home to 5-0 UCLA. Irish fans were also delighted to see Bill Belichick notch his first-ever Top 25 win as the Tar Heels edged out Pitt.
Further wins for both UNC and Wisconsin would be helpful to the Irish’s strength of Schedule, and the Badgers will face a real test in the Rose Bowl against the Bruins this week. There are a slew of Top 25 matchups, with the Ohio State @ Indiana kicking the day off.
The Third Saturday in October then sees Alabama head to Knoxville, while elsewhere in the SEC, Ole Miss hosts Missouri and Mississippi State head to Baton Rouge. The playoff hopes for the losers of these three games will be on very thin ice.
STIOFÁN MAC FHILIB
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST
A VERY LONG-DISTANCE SUBWAY ALUMNUS OF NOTRE DAME, COUNTY ANTRIM-BASED STIOFÁN HAS BEEN A FAN OF THE FIGHTING IRISH SINCE 2000. FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @SMACFHILIB.
