Marcus Freeman doesn’t need BYU’s undefeated record or Top 10 ranking to understand what awaits Notre Dame on Saturday night.
The film tells the Irish head coach plenty about a physical, aggressive opponent with a dangerous quarterback, a disruptive defense and a considerable home-field advantage.
#2 Notre Dame (6-0) will travel to Provo to face #8 BYU (5-0) in a 7:30 p.m. matchup on ABC, with the Cougars presenting what Freeman considers the Irish’s toughest challenge so far this season.
“This is going to be, on paper, the best opponent we’re going to see to date,” Freeman said. “I think the approach we probably have each game is that the opponent is the best we’ve seen, but this one, on paper, it shows you with the record. It shows you with the ranking.”
BYU has won 28 of its last 32 games under head coach Kalani Sitake and has established a reputation for finding ways to win close games.
The Cougars’ success starts with quarterback Bear Bachmeier, whose ability to make plays with his arm and legs will create a significant challenge for Notre Dame’s defense.
Bachmeier has thrown for 1,033 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception through five games. He’s rushed for another 239 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s a special player, can hurt you in the run and the pass, sees it well, gets the ball out of his hands, puts his shoulder down if he needs to and runs you over,” Freeman said of Bachmeier.
“We got to make sure that we have a great plan for him.”
Bachmeier is dangerous when passing plays break down, but BYU calls many designed runs for him as well.
“They do some things schematically with how they utilize their quarterback in a run game that it’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.”
The Cougars however, will be without lead running back LJ Martin, who is sidelined with an injury. Bachmeier led BYU with 109 rushing yards on just nine attempts in this past weekend’s win over Iowa State. No other Cougar had more than 21.
BYU does have speed and size at receiver, with freshman Legend Glasker and Oregon transfer Kyler Kasper. Glasker has 19 receptions for 378 yards and three touchdowns, while the 6-foot-6 Kasper has 14 catches for 178 yards and three scores.
“They have some speed on offense, that freshman No. 1, the slot guy, he’s a good player,” Freeman said. “They got a wideout, I think he’s No. 3, tall, long and will go get it.”
On the other side of the ball, Notre Dame’s offense will face a BYU defense that emphasizes physicality, aggression and a variety of looks.
The Cougars rotate through their front seven, allowing them to maintain intensity.
That will place considerable responsibility on quarterback CJ Carr and Notre Dame’s offensive line to diagnose defensive alignments and communicate pre-snap.
“We got to be able to recognize different tells that they’re going to give us, communicate the different looks that we’ve seen on film and then execute, but if you just try to execute it as a reactive player, it’s going to be hard because they do a lot of different things and they play vertically,” said Freeman.
“They play across the line of scrimmage.”
So far this season, Carr has thrown for 1,378 yards, 16 touchdowns and just one interception.
Freeman has been pleased with his ability to recognize defensive adjustments, which will be especially important against BYU.
“CJ is going to have to help with that and make sure that we’re putting our offense in really favorable situations versus the looks they give us,” he said.
“We got to recognize, communicate and then we got to play physical.”
Per usual, Freeman emphasized establishing the running game will be crucial.
The Irish have received significant production from Jonaz Walton, Nolan James Jr. and Aneyas Williams, who have combined for 1,038 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Walton, especially, has come on in recent weeks.
“At the end of the day, you got to be able to run the ball,” Freeman said. “If you can run the ball, there’s only a certain amount of things you can do defensively to stop the run. That’s what we’re going to have to continue to do.”
Beyond the personnel and schemes, Notre Dame must prepare for an unfamiliar environment, especially at altitude.
Notre Dame’s sports performance staff discussed the challenges over the summer and will emphasize hydration, nutrition and recovery techniques this week.
“The biggest thing is reemphasizing the things we already educated them on,” Freeman said. “How you hydrate and how you fuel your body is even more crucial earlier.”
Crowd noise will be another factor, but Freeman sounded excited about the challenge.
“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 got to do this thing together.
“I love it. I mean, I love it. They love it because they’re competitors. We want to, we want to play against the best and if this is the best, let’s go do it.”
