Notre Dame!

[byufan4ever]

Put your predictions here! Who will win and why?

Yahoo Sports Pete Fiutak put up a good article looking at both teams. He picked BYU 27, Notre Dame 23.

Notre Dame vs BYU Prediction, Game Preview

I think this is either another Baylor game where we slug it out and win it late or another Oregon game where we get behind quickly and can't recover. What kind of defense will we employ? We will be able to run the ball in the first half? Notre Dame is good, but very beatable. They have an advantage coming off a bye week, but a good coaching staff should at least have us being competitive in this game. If we have offensive and defensive run issues again for the 4th game in a row I'm going to be very disappointed. I think we win, but I would definitely not bet on this game!

[TulaneVandyRiceCoug]

I think we have a shot today, but the last team that had an extra week to prep was Oregon, and they made us look silly. Thar's the key factor in this game, because I think both sides have strengths. Notre Dame is not a dominant team, but they do have just enough weapons and time to prepare to look the part.

Things that matter:

We have to get +2 on turnovers. Our D must find some ways to get off the field. I want Kaleb Hayes and Robinson and others to get a big play INT and run it back to the house. If we can get just 1 pick six, that will be the game changer.

We must stop the run. Enough said. If we keep it under 150 yards, that should do it, but if the Irish go buck wild and we see a bunch of chunk plays and missed tackles, it's game over.

We need to capitalize on every trip to the red zone. (Do we call it blue zone?) Notre Dame does not have good defense in this area, so this means we have got to have touchdowns, and if we try a field goal, we actually have to make it. I think even 1 empty handed trip inside the 20 will be a problem.

We need the ball to bounce our way for a special teams play. Maybe Nyberg can get a nice return, that would be swell. Maybe muffed punt that we recover, something, anything really.

Going with BYU 34 to ND 31, where we do just enough to pull through. This one will hopefully be tight like Baylor, and less like Oregon. I have learned to never bet against the Cougs. This game is a huge opportunity on a national stage, let's goooooo Cougs!!!!!

[byufan4ever]

Here are some independent previews of the game. Enjoy! Go Cougs!

[byufan4ever]

This is NOT a knee jerk reaction, but despite how Arkansas looks after losing 3 games in a row (all to ranked teams) and it being a home game I'm only putting us at 50% at best to beat them.

Thoughts on the ND game:

*Both uniforms looked great. Too bad it was a one time use. I was thinking how maybe football should do what European soccer does (maybe the MLS does it I don't follow it) and have 3 set uniforms for each season: home, away, and a 3rd kit. This blackout would be our third kit and could be used more than once. Also, as in soccer, white should be the standard the away team, not the home team.

*This team starting slow and having horrible second quarters is now just not a trend, but a hallmark of this team. It's a trait at this point. And 100% on the coaching staff. I also think that we are really in need of a bye week, but the schedule is what it is.

*I'm honestly convinced that BYU didn't know who ND's TE Michael Mayer was and did zero scouting on him. After like his THIRD wide open catch I was just as flabbergasted as the commentators that BYU was not covering him. We did a better job of at least trying to cover him in the second half, but something like this should not take until HT. He was their SECOND ALL TIME TE RECEPTION LEADER coming into the game. But you'd be hard pressed to find a Cougar within 10 yards of him in the first half. And it wasn't like he was running some super awesome routes breaking the DB's ankles. The first BYU defender would lightly touch him and then leave him alone. I believe he was trying to pass him off to another defender. But there never was another defender on him. Not in the first half.

*Passing game was horrible. I guess Hall had a sore shoulder or something, but this was definitely his worst game this season if not in his college career. Interception on the first play? Several passes that were just nowhere near their receiver. Just not like him. One of the preview videos that I posted here the guy said that with both Puka and Gunner back on the field at the same time for the first time this season it might take them some time to gel. I didn't believe it, but I guess I do now. Just 1 reception between the two of them!

*We actually had more rushing yards (160) than passing (120)! Brooks actually looked good. I think I saw him make TWO cutbacks, something that had been missing from his game previously.

*Play-calling. The short yard TD pass to Epps was a great play call. The run on 3rd & 17 seemed stupid, but Katoa somehow got the first down. The run straight up the middle on 4th & 1 with Katoa was stupid. Brooks HAS to be the better back in that situation. Katoa just is not a power back. Maybe a play-action with Hall on the move? But we used a TO for that play?

*Only two total penalties the entire game, one against each team. I really liked that aspect and it allowed the game to go smoother and faster taking less time. I think total TV time was barely three hours! My only gripe was a missed hold on Puka, but I think we still scored on that drive ( but I could be wrong).

[nuk13]

BYU forgets how to play every other game.

[byufan4ever]

The 10 Highest-Graded Players from BYU's Loss to Notre Dame

1. Kody Epps - 91.7
2. Ben Bywater - 75.9
3. Blake Freeland - 75.7
4. Tyler Batty - 74.0
5. Caden Haws - 71.0
6. Gabe Jeudy-Lally - 69.9
7. D'Angelo Mandell - 69.3
8. John Nelson - 66.0
9. Game Summers - 65.6
10. Lopini Katoa - 64.6

Not surprised that Hall didn't make it. But no Brooks or Tooley? Epps came to play!

[BoiseBYU]

Watched the game again. My takeaways:

Hall was off too many times. We’ve come to take for granted his near flawless play. He threw badly, held on to balls too long. The very first play of the game was as poor a pass as I seen him throw.

Nacua and Romney were non factors. Nacua almost made a great catch on a play where the Notre Dame player held him. On another pass he dropped what would have been a first down catch. He did have a jet sweep for a first down. Still Roderick for some reason was not able to call their number or get them involved.

We had zero pass rush whether we rushed 3, 4 or five. You can’t play pass defense when the quarterback has a long enough time to survey the field.

What is up with our kicking game?

Hall was pressured more often than I cared to see. Several times Brooks got trucked by the rushing defender, something I would not have expected from him.

Roderick’s fourth and 2 goal line call was a great call. His fourth and 2 call near the end of the game still mystifies me.

Notre Dame only scored 28 points and five of them you can charge to the offense, but the time of posession was absolutely out of whack and simply not a formula for winning a game. We could not get Notre Dame off the field.

I hate to say this but I was not that impressed with Notre Dame and I am now very worried about Arkansas and Boise State at BSU.