ESPN’s College GameDay is making the trip back to Provo, and this one comes with real weight behind it.
For Week 7, the show will set up at BYU for the first time in 17 years, ahead of No. 3 Notre Dame’s visit to No.
8 BYU on Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
It’s a matchup between two unbeaten College Football Playoff contenders, and it gave GameDay a loaded stage on a crowded Saturday.
The announcement came Saturday night, with the show confirming it was headed to Provo and bringing its flagship pregame coverage to campus for the first time since 2009. That last visit, on Oct. 24, 2009, ended with TCU rolling past BYU 38-7.
“Cougar fans, it’s been awhile,” the show’s official account posted shortly after 7 p.m. ET, confirming the crew is “headed to Provo for the first time since 2009 for Notre Dame-BYU.”
BYU had been on the radar before the decision was final. On the Sept. 28 episode of the College GameDay podcast, ESPN host Rece Davis said Provo looked like a strong possibility, while making clear nothing had been locked in yet.
“I’m not trying to give away secrets, no decision has been made, but there’s a really good chance we’ll be at BYU,” Davis said.
He also pointed to the quality of the matchup itself.
Davis added that the game “might be the best game of the weekend.”
And it’s easy to see why the spot won out. The Oct. 17 slate also includes Ohio State at Indiana, a rematch of last season’s Big Ten title game, plus Florida at Texas and Alabama at Tennessee. Even so, Provo got the nod, and the timing works neatly for ESPN, with the game landing in ABC’s prime-time window.
Notre Dame’s home games are exclusive to NBC, so a trip to BYU gives ESPN a full Saturday built around the Irish. The network was just at Coleman Coliseum the previous week for Georgia at Alabama, and now it shifts to a marquee college football stage in Provo.
Both teams are still unbeaten heading into the matchup.
Notre Dame moved to 6-0 on Saturday with a 58-7 win over Stanford in South Bend, Indiana, where Marcus Freeman’s team had already opened up a 37-0 halftime lead.
BYU followed on Friday night with a 24-10 victory over Iowa State, improving to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play. Sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier delivered his best passing day of the season, throwing for 329 yards and two touchdowns, and he added a career-high 109 rushing yards. The Cougars’ 5-0 start also marked the third straight season they’ve opened with five straight wins, something that had never happened before in program history.
Kalani Sitake’s defense did its part too, holding Iowa State to 200 total yards and just 2 of 13 on third down. Still, BYU will take on Notre Dame without running back LJ Martin, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, who is reportedly out 4-6 weeks with an ankle injury.
The series history adds another layer to the game. Notre Dame leads the all-time matchup 7-2, but the Irish lost their last trip to Provo, falling 20-17 in 2004. The teams last met in 2022, when Notre Dame beat BYU 28-20 in Las Vegas.
This Oct. 17 meeting is also on track to be the first between two top-10 teams in LaVell Edwards Stadium history. The schools entered last season as the top two at-large teams left out of the expanded 12-team Playoff field, and the home-and-home arrangement replaced Notre Dame’s annual game against USC. BYU is scheduled to return to South Bend in 2027.
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Notre Dame Now Faces A Bigger BYU Test Than Expected
BYUs first full game without running back LJ Martin still produced a clear statement, as the Cougars handled Iowa State 24-10 and looked every bit like a team ready for another major stage. Bear Bachmeier powered the offense with a strong all-around showing, throwing for 329 yards and two touchdowns while adding 109 rushing yards of his own, a performance that reminded Notre Dame this trip is about more than just slowing down one part of the attack.
The Irish now head toward a game that suddenly feels even bigger than advertised, with BYU showing it can adapt and still keep pressure on a defense in multiple ways. With College Football Playoff implications expected to be in play, Notre Dame is preparing for a test that now comes with a little more confidence attached to the Cougars and a little more urgency attached to the Irish. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Has A Bigger Stanford Concern Than Stanford
Notre Dame heads into the Stanford game with a little more uncertainty on defense than usual, and it starts with Leonard Moore. The defensive back is listed as questionable after taking a concussion in the previous game, while linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa has already been ruled out with a left thumb injury. Even with the depth the Irish have built on that side of the ball, those are the kinds of absences that can change how the defense looks and force the staff to adjust its plan.
The bigger picture for Notre Dame is less about Stanford itself and more about making sure players are not pushed back too quickly. The coaching staff has been careful with injuries all season, and that caution matters here with Moore still in the evaluation window and Viliamu-Asa unavailable. For a defense that has leaned on its depth, the real concern is preserving it for the stretch ahead, not just getting through one Saturday night. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Showed Off Depth It May Soon Desperately Need
Notre Dames 58-7 rout of Stanford offered a reminder that the Irish are carrying more than just their headline names into the stretch run. True freshman Jonaz Walton turned a lopsided afternoon into something more memorable by rushing for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns, setting a school freshman record in the process, while defensive lineman Boubacar Traore flashed the kind of disruptive presence that can tilt a game in a hurry with a strip sack and an interception.
Noah Grubbs also got a little late work in the blowout, completing 5 of 7 passes for 56 yards, a small but useful sign that Notre Dames depth chart is not just theoretical. In a season where injuries and attrition can quickly reshape a teams outlook, performances like these matter because they suggest the Irish may have answers waiting if they need them. [Read more 🡒]