Notre Dame opens the second half of their season when they host now-independent BYU. The Cougars have risen back up under Bronco Mendenhall and represent a very tough football team. How will things shake out this season? And can the Irish get up for this one with a huge road contest on the horizon?
LAST YEAR
BYU finished off a terrific first year as an independent going 10-3 overall. Their losses were at Texas, at TCU, and against archrival Utah. They went on to beat Tulsa 24-21 in the Armed Forces Bowl.
STRENGTHS
Quarterback Riley Nelson solidified his spot as the starter last season beating out former highly ranked recruit Jake Heaps. With Heaps now at Kansas, Nelson returns as the clear #1 QB and a guy that can just make plays. He finished last season 6-1 as the starter, throwing for 1,717 with 19 touchdowns and seven picks. He'll be a force to reckon with every week this year.
BYU returns seven starters on a defense that ranked 13th in total defense in 2011. The Cougars defense gave up just 112.5 yards rushing a game last year and only averaged giving up 20.4 points a game. That includes two games where they gave up 54 and 38. Take those two games out and they gave up only 15.7 points a contest. This is a solid unit that will be tough to score on.
WEAKNESSES
While BYU's quarterback play is set, their rushing attack appears to be wide open. The Cougars were an average rushing team last season, ranking 55th nationally, and lose their top two running backs in JJ Di Luigi and Bryan Kariya. They do bring back Michael Alisa and welcome in freshman Adam Hine, but they'll need to find some answers sooner than later.
Going hand in hand with the lackluster rushing attack, BYU also loses their starting left tackle and center from a season ago. Both had been longtime starters and replacing your two most important offensive linemen while also trying to find a running back corps does not make for an easy transition.
BIGGEST QUESTION
Is BYU a legitimate 10 win team? BYU will be a solid football team and can certainly beat the Irish is Notre Dame doesn't play well, but it's hard to say whether the Cougars will be as good as their record might indicate. Their schedule is an interesting one this year as they play five of their first seven games at home, then play only one more time in Provo after October 13th. They'll have a few games to watch out for such as at Utah, at Boise State, Oregon State and at Notre Dame and Georgia Tech, but, for the most part, they should win a bunch of their games. Winning nine or 10 games again is not out of the question, but it'll be hard to determine is they are really that good of a football team.
OVERVIEW
BYU should be a good football team. Their road schedule looks really difficult with trips to Utah, Boise State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, San Jose State, and New Mexico State. All of those games, with the exception of maybe New Mexico State, will be tough to win. Throw in the fact they play only one home game in their final five contest and the schedule does not do them any favors. Still, with the talent they have coming back this is going to be a good football team and they will definitely make another bowl game.
Against Notre Dame, BYU could be looking for an upset to hang their hat on. This is a trap game for the Irish as it's sandwiched in between their annual rivalry game against a very good Stanford team and their road contest against national title contender Oklahoma. If ND isn't ready to play, BYU will beat them. If they show up, odds are the Fighting Irish will win.
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