No. 8 BYU vs. No. 2 Notre Dame: How to watch, listen to or stream Saturday’s matchup
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
No. 2 Notre Dame (6-0) at No. 8 BYU (5-0, 3-0 Big 12)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. MDT
- Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium (capacity: 62,073)
- TV: ABC
- Livestream: espn.com/live or Disney+
- Radio: KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM/BYU Radio Sirius XM 143
- Series: Notre Dame leads, 7-2
The trends
For BYU: The Cougars are 5-0 for the third straight year and will now face one of their biggest challenges in program history. Never before has BYU hosted a top-10 matchup. A win over the Irish would be program-altering in Provo.
BYU is scoring 34.6 points per game and allowing 13.4 points per game defensively.
Perhaps most importantly, the Cougars are 36-4 in night games since 2019, including a 21-3 mark in late kickoffs at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
For Notre Dame: Hunting for their first national championship since 1988, the Fighting Irish roll into Provo with a 6-0 record and arguably the most talented roster in the sport.
Notre Dame is scoring 44.0 points per game and allowing 11.0 points per game defensively as the nation’s No. 4-ranked defense.
Player to watch
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Bear Bachmeier, quarterback, BYU: It’s quite simple. A BYU upset over Notre Dame would need to come on the back of Bachmeier.
The Cougars’ star sophomore is fresh off a 300-yards passing, 100-yards rushing performance a week ago and has established himself as a dynamic dual-threat force.
With no LJ Martin, BYU will rely heavily on Bachmeier in the run game, along with him having to test Notre Dame’s vaunted secondary with his arm.
Bachmeier is 17-2 as a starter for BYU — and getting win No. 18 this weekend would cement his place as a Cougars legend and legitimate Heisman contender.
Quotable
“This week is a different beast, obviously, and we know we’re facing a great Notre Dame team, ranked No. 2 for a reason. They could easily be No. 1 … So I think these games get the sense of urgency up a little bit quicker.
“I’m really excited for the opportunities and the things that we can accomplish this week, because it’s such a talented and prestigious program we are facing.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“You want to play against the best, and (BYU) is going to be, on paper, the best opponent we’re going to see to date. I think the approach we probably have each game is that the opponent is the best we’ve seen, but this one shows you with the record, it shows you with the ranking. So let’s go play against the best on their home field, right?
“You can tell that they have a culture, they play hard, they’re physical, and they take a lot of pride in what they do … They play really well at home, and they play well at night. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”— Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman
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Credit Image: © Christopher Trim/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire) (Cal Sport Media via AP Images
Next up
- BYU: at UCF Notre Dame on Oct. 24
- Notre Dame: vs. Navy on Oct. 31
BYU schedule
- Sept. 5 — defeated Utah Tech, 63-7
- Sept. 12 — defeated Arizona, 28-17
- Sept. 19 — defeated Colorado State, 41-23
- Oct. 3 — defeated TCU, 17-10
- Oct. 9 — defeated Iowa State, 24-10
- Oct. 17 — vs. Notre Dame
- Oct. 24 — at UCF
- Oct. 31 — Arizona State
- Nov. 7 — at Utah
- Nov. 14 — Baylor
- Nov. 21 — at Kansas
- Nov. 28 — Cincinnati
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