No. 2 Notre Dame visits No. 8 BYU on Saturday, Oct. 17, at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. Central (7:30 ET) on ABC. ESPN's College GameDay will broadcast from BYU's campus from 7 to 10 a.m. Mountain, the show's first trip to Provo in 17 years and only its second to BYU. The Cougars have never won a game with GameDay in town.
Both teams are unbeaten
Notre Dame is 6-0 under fifth-year coach Marcus Freeman. The Irish beat Wisconsin 41-13 at Lambeau Field, Rice 52-0, Michigan State 27-10, Purdue 49-10 on the road, North Carolina 37-26 on the road and Stanford 58-7 last Saturday. Quarterback CJ Carr is completing 71 percent of his passes with 16 touchdowns and one interception.
BYU is 5-0 (3-0 in the Big 12) in Kalani Sitake's 11th season. The Cougars beat Utah Tech 63-7, Arizona 28-17, Colorado State 41-23 on the road, TCU 17-10 on the road and Iowa State 24-10.
Defense on both sides
Notre Dame leads the nation in total defense at 214.2 yards allowed per game, and gives up 11.0 points. BYU leads the Big 12 at 254.4 yards and 13.4 points. The Irish allow 2.1 yards per carry; the Cougars allow 2.9. BYU will be without running back LJ Martin, who is out until November with a lower-body injury, so sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier is expected to carry much of the run game.
The history
Notre Dame leads the series 7-2. The teams first met in 1992, a 42-16 Irish win. BYU's two wins came 21-14 in South Bend in 1994 and 20-17 in Provo in the 2004 season opener, the last time Notre Dame played in Provo. The most recent meeting was a 28-20 Irish win in Las Vegas in 2022.
This is the first time both teams have been ranked in the series, and the first top-10 matchup at LaVell Edwards Stadium. For BYU it is the highest-ranked home opponent since No. 1 USC in 2004. Both teams narrowly missed last season's 12-team playoff field.
Game day in Provo
The stadium holds 62,073, the largest in the Big 12, and sits at 4,649 feet, compared with under 1,000 feet in South Bend. The all-time crowd record is 66,247, set in 1993 when Notre Dame won 45-20.