Someone’s perfect record is going down in Week 7 when No. 2 Notre Dame heads on the road to face No. 8 BYU in a top-10 showdown that already has the feel of a separator game.
For Notre Dame, this is the first real checkpoint on a schedule that also includes ranked matchups with No. 3 Miami on November 7 and No.
24 SMU on Nov. 24.
The winner here won’t just leave with a win; they’ll walk away looking like a genuine National Championship contender.
CJ Carr is part of the reason Notre Dame has climbed into that conversation. He’s now sitting third in the Heisman Trophy race at +1200, behind Jeremiah Smith (-210) and Darian Mensah (+1000).
Through the air, Carr has been sharp: 70.8% completions, 1,378 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and only one interception. Saturday gives him his first major test against a BYU defense that will be asked to slow him down.
The advanced numbers point to Notre Dame being the stronger team overall. The Fighting Irish lead the nation in net adjusted EPA per play, while BYU sits 16th in that category.
The area that should worry the Cougars most is their defense. BYU ranks 29th in opponent success rate and has had real trouble against the run. That’s a rough matchup against a Notre Dame defense that ranks ninth in rush success rate and 15th in EPA per rush.
That’s why the unbeaten run ends here - both straight up and against the spread - with Notre Dame leaving Saturday night with the edge.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Already Faces One Annoying BYU Narrative Before Kickoff
With kickoff still ahead, Notre Dame is already dealing with the kind of side conversation that tends to follow a high-profile nonconference game. BYU will be without leading running back L.J. Martin because of a lower-body injury, and the Cougars have leaned even more heavily on quarterback Bear Bachmeier since Martin went down. For the Irish, the betting line has them favored by 10.5 points, which only adds to the early chatter about how the matchup will be framed.
Notre Dame knows the result will be judged well beyond the box score, especially if the conversation shifts toward strength of schedule after the game. If BYU looks short-handed on offense, it could become another talking point for a team that is trying to make every quality opponent count. The irony is obvious enough: before either side takes the field, one of the main debates already has little to do with who wins and everything to do with how the game gets remembered. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame's Blowout May Have Revealed The Offense's New Identity
Notre Dames rout of Stanford on Saturday was the kind of performance that can reshape how a team sees itself. The 58-7 win was the most lopsided in series history, and it came with a season-high 361 rushing yards, the sort of output that usually says as much about identity as it does about execution. Freshman running back Jonaz Walton looked like the player driving that conversation, piling up 181 rushing yards, 28 more through the air and two touchdowns while giving the offense a clear downhill edge.
CJ Carr did not need to carry the same weight he has in some earlier games, but he still managed 181 passing yards, 41 rushing yards and three touchdown throws, which is its own sign of balance. Jaden Greathouse has also started to look like a more consistent piece of the passing game, finding the end zone in consecutive contests, and together those developments suggest Notre Dame may be settling into an offense built less around one star turn and more around a series of dependable answers. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Got A Big Secondary Boost At The Right Time
When Leonard Moore was sidelined with a concussion against Stanford, Jayden Sanders stepped into the starting lineup and gave Notre Dame exactly the kind of steadiness it needed in the secondary. Sanders wound up tied for the team lead in defensive snaps and came out of the game with an 86.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, a strong indicator that he handled the increased workload without the defense taking a step back.
Sanders also made his presence felt on the ball, finishing with two pass breakups and helping keep completions down on his side of the field. For a Notre Dame defense trying to stay settled in the back end, getting that kind of performance from a replacement starter was a timely development, especially with Moores status still part of the bigger picture. [Read more 🡒]