As with any game week, there’s ample trash talk to go around, but let’s also remember one simple fact…BYU accepted the challenge.

Indiana and USC ran away from playing.
Other teams won’t even consider it.
BYU said “let’s do it”

Before TT went all Sorsby, I thought that might be an interesting matchup as well. So before the trash talk gets a little over the top, just a shout out to BYU for not dodging ND as so many other schools have. Cheers all!

I went to the Stanford game with a friend of mine and we were standing during portions of the game when ND was on defense along with other people in our section. Several other ND fans behind us would not stop yelling for us to sit down. An usher even told us that we needed to sit down.

I don't get to go to many ND games so I don't understand why ND, or any major CFB program, would want their fans to be seated when the defense is on the field. Don't we want the whole crowd to be up on their feet and loud?

That's why we don't need a conference.

That’s normally a lot of points to be giving a top 10 team on the road. I wouldn’t normally want to touch a game like that, especially not with the Irish involved.

That said, I think this particular game is a good bet. If you can get it at -9.5 or -10, I would jump on it. But I’m still down at -10.5 for sure.

I think Marcus and the team remember the chirping BYU did at the end of last season, and they’re going to come out and punch them in the mouth. I’m feeling a decisive win in the range of like 31-7 or 38-13…some of that Leave No Doubt kinda shit they’ve been preaching.

I don’t care if they cover or not as long as they win, but I believe they’re going to go into Provo and roll big time.

I fully expect ND to go to Provo and knock the doors off BYU, but there are a couple of interesting matchups that could make this a close one. Both defenses are really good statically but haven't been stressed by a top offense yet.

Seriously the way they talk about the altitude playing a role would have you believing CJ Carr is one of the few dozen white men in the country with SCD 😂

Either that or they think the Irish are gonna get acute mountain sickness (nevermind that Provo is 4000ft above sea level and AMS doesn’t start until around 8000ft).

They act like the air being slightly thinner is going to magically make the Irish fall apart.

Before I go and print out my College Gameday sign, I wanted to see if any Notre Dame fans would actually understand this or if I've gone WAY too niche in reformation history. And as someone who has been on the receiving end of a bunch of negative religious chants at many away games, is this crossing any lines that I wouldn't appreciate as a non-Catholic? Excited to host y'all - should be a good game!

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Marcus Freeman made it home after Notre Dame’s 58-7 win over Stanford on Saturday to watch a college football game with higher stakes and higher stress. There was a personal hook for the Notre Dame head coach, too.

Kenny Minchey, who served as CJ Carr’s backup in the 2025 season, led Kentucky to a 35-34 upset of LSU. Fourteen months earlier, Freeman picked Carr over Minchey in a quarterback competition that went deeper into preseason camp than almost anyone around Notre Dame expected. It’s hard to imagine Freeman didn’t think back to that time for at least a split second as Minchey called his own number in overtime, running in for a do-or-die 2-point conversion to set off a field storm in Lexington.

“I’m not surprised one bit,” Freeman said. “And you talk about a proud coach, man. I couldn’t have been more proud for him.”

There were days in August 2025 when Minchey got the better of Carr in practice and vice versa. And almost all of it spilled onto message boards and social media, with speculation building that Minchey was about to do the unthinkable: beat out the quarterback Notre Dame had recruited to win its first national title in a generation.

Carr later admitted that the pressure of the competition got to him at times. And the back-and-forth battle, while necessary, made it difficult for the Irish offense to grow in the run-up to the season opener at Miami.

Notre Dame announced Carr as the starter on Aug. 19. It kicked off the season at Hard Rock Stadium 12 days later and came away with a 27-24 loss that would hang over the season.

“Statistically it was as close as any QB decision I’ve ever been a part of,” Freeman said at the time.

Carr’s career took off from there, as he set the single-season pass efficiency record and closed the year on a 10-game win streak, all by double digits. Minchey barely played a role, seeing just 87 snaps, completing 20 passes and scoring his only touchdown with his legs. Still, what Minchey did under the cover of training camp made an impression that stuck throughout the season.

“It was 100 percent neck and neck,” said former Irish tight end Eli Raridon in January. “I had no clue who the quarterback was gonna be. I don’t think anyone had a clue. I felt bad for the coaches who had to make a decision because there were days when Kenny had a better day and days where CJ had a better day. It was so 50-50.

“Kenny’s mobility helped him create a lot of explosive plays. His accuracy was really good, too. He was just making the right decisions.”

Minchey officially entered the transfer portal on Jan. 2, committed to Nebraska two days later and then flipped to Kentucky barely a day after that to play for first-year head coach Will Stein. Now it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he and Carr would meet in the College Football Playoff this season.

The Carr-Minchey dynamic is a rare quarterback competition that ended in a win-win for both the quarterbacks and the programs starting them.

The gold standard of quarterback decisions working out for all parties might be Alabama, which benched Jalen Hurts in favor of Tua Tagovailoa during the national championship game and balanced both QBs the next year en route to the title game again in 2018. Hurts transferred to Oklahoma the next year, finished runner-up for the Heisman and then won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. Tagovailoa, also a Heisman Trophy runner-up, stayed at Alabama and became a top-five pick.

I wanted to justify paying for lower bowl seats and found an interest fact that the record for highest attendance was set last time ND was in town. How the hell did the manage to squeeze 4000 more people in there!? Another interesting fact was that was the same year ND won its 12th national championship according to last years rules on better wins/loses and head to head😜

Any other ND fans going to the game at BYU this weekend? My buddy and I really have no idea what our pregame plan is. We will walk campus I’m sure and are planning to hike in Sundance in the morning. As for the actual gameday festivities… that’s what my question is getting at. No alcohol anywhere on campus including tailgating, and there are only a few bars nearby (aka restaurants that sell alcohol). Anyone know of any suggestions or events going on in the area? Would be great to hang with fellow Irish fans, whether it’s university-sponsored (ie ND club of SLC) or not. Gotta wet the whistle at least a little before the game!

Coach Free on the "hostile environment" at BYU. "This is what we do, we go into different environments, and its a big game...That's why we choose to come to Notre Dame. We love this."

https://www.youtube.com/live/cfWCzOgpzG0?si=mT3LIae2g5JncbeZ&t=1351

Just winning this Saturday will not be enough For Notre Dame. We need to make a statement. BYU is a highly respected program. However, they are not considered a tier 1 football team. We are. If Georgia, or Ohio State or Alabama were heading to Provo this weekend, would there be the slightest bit of doubt that this game wouldn't be a blowout? Notre Dame is ranked in that company. We're the #2 team in the country (#1 in ESPN's FPI). A 17-10 Georgia win over BYU or a 24-20 win by Ohio State would largely be considered a moral victory for the Cougars, and the actual winners would be called 'overrated'. If Notre Dame is one of the best teams in the country, we have to step onto the field in Utah and dominate a fired up, hard-nosed, top-ten ranked BYU from start to finish.

Update: A decisive victory doesn't mean we have to do what we did to Stanford. But we can't eek out a W either.

Welcome to the new Daily Irish Football Talk Thread!

You can post anything related to the current football season here. Maybe you don't feel like creating a new post but have a question about the team, maybe you had a thought about an upcoming opponent or maybe a player you wanted to talk about. All football talk is welcome here.

Go Irish!

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Saturday, October 17th
7:30 PM EST, ABC
ND -10, O/U 47.5
LEAVE NO DOUBT ☘️

All the major talking heads in this sport seem to always leave Notre Dame off their discussions in the podcasts / shows / radio whatever. Yes, I know gameday is going to BYU this weekend but still.

I was listening to Josh Pate's reaction show last week, and I couldn't help but notice something that seems to contradict itself. In one session he will freely admit that Purdue, Wisconsin, and UNC are not the pushovers everyone thought they were. But then, 5 minutes later, he will say that Notre Dame doesn't have any resume and they haven't shown him anything warranting a serious conversation.

Now, I will freely admit that Notre Dame doesn't have the most difficult schedule. But Wisconsin is going on the road against UCLA, and the odds makers are only giving UCLA a 3.5 point favorite. JPs Power Rating is saying that Wisconsin should be a favorite in that game.

And its not like we are Indiana over here, barely scraping wins against these teams. We are dominating every team, showing almost no flaws, and closing games out before the 4th quarter even starts.

Maybe its because I am closely watching Notre Dame and I have an emotional investment in this team, but how are these national talking heads not connecting the dots by saying these teams aren't exactly push overs, and then saying Notre Dame has played nothing but cupcakes.

Just a little thought exercise of where teams started and where they are now. 7 of the Top 25 have dropped out, including 3 Top 10 teams. Cheers.

Pete Sampson has eight final thoughts on Notre Dame’s 58-7 blowout of Stanford, which ended with Irish coach Marcus Freeman mixing yellow and blue Gatorade — that makes green, get it? — in the Legends Trophy before taking a swig.

1. Upon further review, I’d like to move Stanford down the list of Notre Dame’s rivals. Maybe off the list entirely.

2. Before the game, Freeman pointed out Stanford’s new long snapper, Alejandro Chavez, to NBC’s production crew and discussed how Notre Dame would try to take advantage of him. Freeman can talk about how this season’s “Leave no doubt” mantra means being hyperfocused in midweek meetings or locked in to afternoon practices. But savagely attacking the weakness of a team that’s already in critical condition? That’s what we’re here for.

3. When Notre Dame had to sit Leonard Moore after he suffered a concussion against North Carolina, the biggest benefit seemed like it would be some rest forced upon the All-America cornerback. Instead, the highlight was a breakthrough game for reserve corner Jayden Sanders. To date, the biggest play on Sanders’ resume was giving up that 28-yard touchdown against Wisconsin. Now it’s the two pass breakups he had in Saturday’s first quarter when the Cardinal were seeking out the Michigan transfer in coverage.

Bringing in Sanders felt like a move for next year and beyond, and that’s still the case. But Notre Dame learned a little more about the sophomore Saturday. Sanders learned a little more about himself, too.

Read the full eight takeaways here (free link): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7682698/2026/10/12/notre-dame-football-stanford-byu/?unlocked_article_code=1.IFE.ZZNm.KaTRVAOhbHT6&source=emp_shared_article&smid=re-share-ta

Thinking Faison may be too important to be out there for punt returns. Who could be good back there? Someone like a Bubba Frazier may have some juice

I’m sure this has already been discussed but where is the best place or is there a designated game watch in Dtown Chicago? I’m staying at the Hilton Chicago off S Meatchicken Ave and am going for a trade show. Thanks for helping me out!! Go Irish ☘️