‘This is exactly why we’re at Notre Dame’: Irish coach Marcus Freeman previews marquee matchup with No. 8 BYU

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Notre Dame has been quite impressive thus far in 2026.

The Irish are 6-0, ranked No. 2 in the country, and have won each game by an average margin of 33 points. Following last season’s College Football Playoff snub, Marcus Freeman’s team is on a revenge tour chasing the program’s first national championship since 1988.

“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.”

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman on BYU

“I thought this was a tough, talented football team, and it’s being confirmed every week,” Freeman told reporters Monday at his weekly press briefing. “I love how on offense we’ve found ways to move the ball, efficiently or through explosive plays.

“… Defensively, I love the way they responded to adversity after the North Carolina game. They didn’t play as well as they wanted to, and the week of prep (for Stanford) was intense, and they played well on Saturday. I’m glad our team has continued to get better.”

The next stop on Notre Dame’s quest for perfection is Provo, Utah, where the Irish will face No. 8 BYU this Saturday in one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire college football season.

BYU has never played a top-10 matchup at home before. Notre Dame hasn’t played a ranked foe in 331 days and last faced a top-eight team on the road in 2022.

“You want to play against the best, and this is going to be, on paper, the best opponent we’re going to see to date,” Freeman said of BYU. “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?

“I love playing at home, but there’s something about going on the road when it’s us against everybody, and it makes you say, ‘OK, we gotta do this thing together, alright?’ And I love it. (The players) love it because they’re competitors. We want to play against the best, and if this is the best, let’s go. Let’s go do it.”

Freeman commended the Cougars for their 28-4 record — and nine second-half comeback wins — since the start of 2024, calling Kalani Sitake’s crew a “great opponent.”

“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,” Freeman said.

“… They play really well at home, and they play well at night. It’s going to be a great challenge for us.”

While Freeman positively acknowledged receivers Legend Glasker and Kyler Kasper, along with BYU’s defense as a whole, his main Cougars-related praise was directed to quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who is fresh off a 300-yards passing, 100-yards rushing performance last week against Iowa State.

“They do some things schematically with how they utilize their quarterback in the run game that’s going to challenge you on defense to be very intentional about how you call different things,” Freeman said. “You have to understand that the quarterback running is a factor in any play, and so we have to make sure that we account for that.

“But man, (Bachmeier) is the real deal, right? He’s big, like try-to-run-you-over big. He also can throw, and so that’s what makes him good.”

As is typical for East Coast and Midwestern teams coming to Provo, adjusting to the higher elevation will be a factor Saturday for Irish.

While it’s something Freeman and his staff have been discussing since the summer, he feels that the preparation for playing at altitude isn’t too different from that of other unique settings.

“The biggest thing is reemphasizing the things we’ve already educated them on, and how you hydrate and how you fuel your body is even more crucial earlier, right?” Freeman said. “… They have to make sure that they really focus on recovery after each play, and how you take these deep breaths, and how you settle down and calm down your breathing.

“… No matter what environment we play in, we have to educate our guys. If we go down to Miami, it’s going to be hot and humid. What do we have to do? We have to hydrate earlier in the week. we have to fuel our bodies earlier in the week. So every away game environment, we educate our guys on.”

And Freeman will surely educate his team on the rowdy atmosphere awaiting them at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the largest and most hostile road venue the Irish will visit this season.

But rather than looking to survive the Provo crowd, Freeman is hoping his players will use the noise as fuel to motivate them to thrive in it.

“We’ve got to have a great plan for the crowd noise, we’ve got to prepare for it, we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready for it. But your execution really dictates how loud and not loud (the stadium) gets,” Freeman said.

“… This is what Notre Dame football does. We go into different places and there’s a big game, and that’s why we’re here. That’s why we choose to come to Notre Dame. We love this, I love it, they love it. This is exactly why we’re at Notre Dame.”

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